The Liberty Hyde Bailey Gardener's Companion: Essential Writings

"Every family can have a garden." -Liberty Hyde Bailey

Finally, the best and most accessible garden writings of perhaps the most influential literary gardener of the twentieth century have been brought together in one book. Philosopher, poet, naturist, educator, agrarian, scientist, and garden-lover par excellence Liberty Hyde Bailey built a reputation as the Father of Modern Horticulture and evangelist for what he called the "garden-sentiment"--the desire to raise plants from the good earth for the sheer joy of it and for the love of the plants themselves. Bailey's perennial call to all of us to get outside and get our hands dirty, old or young, green thumb or no, is just as fresh and stirring today as then.

Full of timeless wit and grace, The Liberty Hyde Bailey Gardener's Companion collects essays and poems from Bailey's many books on gardening, as well as from newspapers and magazines from the era. Whether you've been gardening for decades or are searching for your first inspiration, Bailey's words will make an ideal companion on your journey.

John Stempien teaches history in Lowell, Michigan, and served as the first director of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum from 2006-2012.

John Linstrom is a writer and doctoral candidate in English. He edited the centennial edition of Bailey's The Holy Earth.

Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954) grew up on a farm in Michigan and went on to become Dean of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University, Chair of the Country Life Commission under President Theodore Roosevelt, and the "Father of Modern Horticulture." Simultaneously horticultural scientist and literary naturist, he authored more than seventy books, published thousands of articles, and founded or oversaw countless organizations.