Creating a Garden Retreat: An Artist’s Guide to Planting an Outdoor Sanctuary

A garden is more than the sum of its parts—a garden can be anything one wants it to be. What’s important is that it have a heart. Through ethereal illustrations, textile designer and artist Virginia Johnson takes the reader on her own garden journey, from blank slate to dreamscape. Over the years, she has transformed a small, narrow city lot into a garden that is personal, carefree, wild, and welcoming. It all began with a fence to allow her children to play freely but safely, and over the years has turned into a city-dweller’s “secret garden.” Hornbeams, with their elegant shape, are the heroes of her garden, and the overall palette reflects an  artist’s lens—peonies, hollyhocks, roses, and hydrangeas abound. Johnson explains her process with ease and clarity, bringing her ideas to life through words and illustrations so that readers can be encouraged and empowered to start their own garden journeys. The book is organized into clear chapters—Trees & Shrubs; Vines; Flowers; Seasons; Edibles; and more.