Through a year of pictures of her garden, the author describes the passing of the seasons in South Central Pennsylvania with personal anecdotes, quotations, seasonal recipes, and a detailed plant and tree inventory. She describes her philosophy of landscaping: that it must be in tune with the spirit and sense of place. That is her guiding muse as she develops the environment around her 1870’s farm house.
Clare Barrett Lyons was born in Queens, NY and grew up in Rosendale, NY. She graduated cum laude with a B.A. from Fordham University in the Bronx, and received her M. S. from Boston University. She lived, worked and gardened in Vicenza, Italy for three years and moved to Central Texas in 1979. She moved to Central New York in 1989, and moved to Hagerstown MD in 1996. She was a tenured college professor until retirement in 2005. She is a licensed Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer, and has bred and trained horses on her horse farm in New Woodstock, New York. She also is a landscape painter and quilt designer. Her antique business specializes in antique and vintage textiles. She lives with her husband Larry, and four dogs, two horses, a cat and assorted chickens. She has a son and daughter, a step-son and daughter, two granddaughters, and four step-grandchildren.