The last of the photos from the Ohio trip

November 04, 2025

The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...

Here are a few odds and ends from our brief trip to Ohio a few weeks ago.

Marion, Ohio is about 20 miles north of Marysville. It is probably best known as the birth place of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. This was his residence from 1891 - 1921.

A few miles away is the tomb and memorial of Harding and his wife Florence. The memorial resembles a Greek temple and is made of white marble. It was begun in 1926 and completed the following year.