Diary of a Plantswoman: A Year of Design and Experimentation in My Garden

A month-by-month tour of the renowned naturalistic garden designer Jacqueline van der Kloet’s home garden--a visual feast of perennials, trees, grasses, shrubs, and bulbs that have inspired a generation of gardeners and designers.

From a pioneer of the New Perennial movement, My Garden showcases the practice and process behind Jaqueline van der Kloet’s leading-edge, naturalistic planting experimentations, rooted in her site of experimentation for the past forty years: her home garden. Jacqueline has established a design process emphasizing naturalized bulbs and other plants that intermingle in every month of the year, supporting biodiversity and embracing the natural tendencies of plants.

With an elegance admired the world over, each corner of van der Kloet’s garden reflects an important aspect of her creative process, sharing down-to-earth wisdom from her own little piece of paradise. Enter into this stunning, innovative garden and discover:

-Visionary techniques and methods for tending and cultivating a natural garden, training one’s focus to shift along with the seasons
-Lists of Jaqueline’s favorite plants by color, with insight on inspiring and unexpected combinations
-Snapshots of specific spots in her garden, documenting the subtle shifts in each plant as it traverses the seasons’ rhythms
-A glimpse into the conceptual frameworks for many of her international projects
-Inspiration for your home garden, with ideas for maintaining interest throughout every season, even in the cold and snow

Jacqueline van der Kloet is an internationally acclaimed garden designer and one of Holland’s best-known gardening authorities, whose advice is sought by designers and landscape architects around the world. Her designs are prized for their beauty, naturalized schemes, and bold uses of color. Van der Kloet’s client list includes some of the most prestigious public gardens in the world, including Holland’s famous Keukenhof. In North America, she teamed with Piet Oudolf for innovative plantings at New York’s Battery Park, New York Botanical Garden, and Chicago’s Lurie Garden. Her work includes many private gardens as well, and she frequently contributes to international exhibitions.