Books & Blooms: A Garden Tour That Plants Inspiration

Books & Blooms, the annual event to raise funds for theCornwall, Conn. library, began this year with a motivating talk to gardeners and (ahem) non-gardeners alike. On Friday, June 8, the guest speaker, Lynden B. Miller, a leading light in public garden design, spoke about how her training as a painter has influenced her work. Accompanied by a slide show, she gave a preview of her garden in Sharon, which was on this year’s garden tour, and shared “before” and “after” photos of many of the public gardens she has designed in the five boroughs of New York City since 1982. Her main message: good open space can change city life, and her charge to the standing-room-only crowd was simple but profound: “Let’s all do everything we can to make the world more beautiful,” she said. A reception followed the talk. [Lynden B. Miller with one of her greatest fans, Roxana Laughlin.]