Master Gardener Thomas Mickey, will be at the Milton Public Library, 476 Canton Avenue, on Sunday, February 23rd, at 2 PM, to tell the story of how Americans came to love the English garden.  As mass advertising and national magazines flourished in the 1890’s, seed and nursery catalogs were marketed across the country. These catalogs encouraged the romantic English garden style in essays, illustrations, and ads, as they depicted beautiful middle-class homes surrounded by sprawling lawns, exotic plants, and the latest garden accessories.  At a time when homeowners were eager to learn how to garden, it was no surprise that Americans everywhere loved the English garden, and that same style of garden soon appeared from California to Maine.

Thomas Mickey is a graduate of the Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College.  He posts regularly on his blog,  americangardening.net, and his garden column appears in the Patriot Ledger.  He is also Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Bridgewater State University, MA, and he has recently published a book by the same name as his talk: American’s Romance with the English Garden (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, c2013).  This is his fourth book on gardens.  This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library,  will be held in the Keys Community Room on the lower level, and is open to the public.  For more information, contact Jean Hlady, Adult Services Librarian, 617-698-5757 or visit the Library’s website, www.miltonlibrary.org