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...
That first photo is a stunner, Phillip! I noticed one tree in a neighbor's garden across the street has developed some color but I can't imagine ever getting much of a display in my own garden.
ReplyDeleteIt's finally starting to feel like autumn, isn't it? I was a little worried we wouldn't get much of anything this year. What is that ghostly white shrub in the last photo, please? It doesn't look like the ghost bramble, which - other than birch - is the only white winter presence I know of... It's a great break from all the darker barks that will emerge as the leaves drop.
ReplyDeleteAnna, those are just painted twigs in an urn (if you are referring to the white branches on the far right).
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