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In Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, the reader will visit 21 private gardens behind tall hedges, down quiet lanes, or tucked into bustling neighborhoods. Here, gardening knowledge and plants themselves have been passed down through generations, culminating in a wonderful depth of expression from artists, designers, writers, conservators, and other experts whose gardens are included.

 

These gorgeous private gardens are products of years of hard physical labor, financial tradeoffs, responding to constant threats of damage by tornadoes, floods, deer, unwanted development--some combination of challenging constraints. But as all gardeners know, constraints are necessary to push the limits of resourcefulness and creativity.