Chatham Twp. Author Explores 'Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life'

When Marta McDowell received her advance copy of her newest book, "Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life," it didn't mean her work on the project was done.

In some ways, it meant it was just beginning.

Now McDowell, an avid gardener, has book signings and speaking engagements around town and across the country, with stops at libraries, museums, book stores and a nursery.

On Thursday, the Chatham Township resident is scheduled to speak at "Fall Talk & Tea at Cross Estate: The Gardens of Beatrix Potter" at 11 a.m. in Bernardsville. 

Other events at Sages Pages in Madison and d.j. crater in Chatham also are planned.

"Start your engines," she said.

"Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life" explores children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter's love of gardening and plants, and how that was reflected in the worlds she created for her characters, including Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle Duck.

It's written for adults, but McDowell expects anyone interested in gardening, children's literature or learning more about an interesting person's life will enjoy the book.

And Potter's life was interesting. She went from a "very fancy world to living in a farmhouse," McDowell said.

Potter "remade herself at a time when it was not easy to do that," she said.

The book has three sections. The first is about Potter's life, including her home Hill Top Farm in England's Lake District. The next section focuses on a year in her garden. The third section is a traveler’s guide, with information on how and where to visit Potter’s gardens today.

The book, published by Timber Press, is illustrated and filled with quotations from Potter's books, letters, and journals.

Chance visit

McDowell visited Potter's garden about 15 years ago when she and her husband took McDowell's parents on a vacation to England and Scotland. They threw in a visit to Hill Top Farm one free afternoon, McDowell said. That visit eventually turned into her latest book, McDowell's second about writers who gardened.

In 2004, McGraw-Hill published McDowell's book "Emily Dickinson's Gardens." That book also came about after a chance visit to a garden. While a corporate executive with Prudential, McDowell stopped a service area on the Mass Pike, spotted a brochure for Emily Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, and decided to visit on a free afternoon.

McDowell had studied Dickinson's poetry, but found it could be hard to understand. Learning about Dickinson as a gardener gave her a new way to understand the poet and connect with her poetry.

McDowell lives in the township with her husband, Kirke. She is an instructor with the New York Botanical Gardens, has been published in "Better Homes & Gardens" and other magazines, and is involved with local gardening groups.