Reading in Early Spring

An Interview with gardener Carol J. Michel

Photo by Eilis Garvey on Unsplash

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” - Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

I’m reading Great Expectations for the first time and was struck by the accuracy of that line. Here in southern New England, now is indeed the time of year when summer and winter overlap, when you can feel seasonal change depending on where in the garden you stand.

I love March, and I love early spring. I love the first appearances of daffodils and hyacinths. I love the anticipation of what the rest of the garden will bring. This year, I wanted to give my garden—and myself—the best shot at a big harvest, so I’ve been reading everything I can, and not just Dickens.

I’ve read gardening books, blogs, and Substacks. This was how I discovered the work of Carol J. Michel, a gardener who does a little bit of everything: she gardens, writes books, keeps up a helpful blog, hosts a gardening podcast, and writes two of the most charming gardening-related Substacks out there: “In the Garden,” her weekly gardening diary, and “The Lost Ladies of Garden Writing,” which explores the writing of women gardeners of the past, many of whom are long since forgotten and whose writing is out of print.

I spoke with Carol to learn more about what motivates her to share her love of gardening through so many channels. Below is the interview.

Happy planting!

Amy

Amy: You write two gardening Substacks. Let's talk first about "In the Garden," in which you keep a "diary" of sorts about your garden each day of the week. It's as charming and funny as it is informative. What led you to this form? Why a diary-like approach to sharing your gardening with others?

Carol: I personally love to read diaries from "days gone by" including diaries my grandmother kept in the 1920s. For years, I've also had a habit of writing down a few snippets in the morning about the previous day. And some of my favorite books are epistolary novels. Plus there's my growing collection of books written season by season. In other words, I love books that show a chronology of sorts. So, when I was trying to decide how I might share about my garden on Substack that would make it different from what I write on my blog (which goes back 20 years!), I decided to write it as a diary. I "nibble" at it all through the week, adding an entry each day and going back and editing previous days until I wrap it up and send it off on Sundays.

Amy: Your other Substack, “The Lost Ladies of Garden Writing,” is about women garden writers of years past, many (most?) of them all but completely forgotten by modern-day readers. You share what's interesting about their writing and their approaches to gardening, and a little of what's known about their lives. What inspired you to become a ladies of garden writing historian of sorts? Was there a particular writer that sparked this interest?

Carol: I have always been attracted to old gardening books and have a growing collection of them. As I read some of them, I started to do some research on the authors and found that for some of these women, I really had to dig to find any information at all. But when I found information, it was fascinating, at least to me. I wrote about several of them originally on my blog where regular blog readers would find them. Then Substack came along, and I decided to separate the Lost Ladies from my blog and put them on a dedicated Substack, where I suspected a wider audience would find them. (I came up with calling them "Lost Ladies of Garden Writing" after listening to a few episodes of a podcast called "Lost Ladies of Literature.")

If I had to pick a particular writer who sparked my interest, I think it would be Elizabeth Lawrence, though she is far from lost. There's a biography written about her, plus a book of letters she exchanged with the New Yorker editor, Katharine S. White, and her garden is open for visitors as part of the Wing Haven Foundation in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Amy: Speaking of ladies of garden writing, you are a garden writer in venues beyond Substack (though certainly not a "lost" one). Tell us about your books and about your podcast! Do you have a favorite medium through which to discuss your love of gardening?

Carol: I think my favorite medium that shows my love of gardening is my blog, now on my website. I originally called it May Dreams Gardens and long-time garden bloggers and readers still know it by that name. My five books of "humorous yet helpful" essays on gardening include some chapters that started out as blog posts, plus new chapters not on my blog. Even my two children's books started out as stories I wrote for my blog. I met many wonderful gardeners through blogging, including Dee Nash, who is also a blogger and writer. We were at a GardenComm conference in Chicago in 2018 and listened to some of our fellow writers talk about how to start a podcast. We decided before the end of the conference that we would start one too. We call it The Gardenangelists, a word I made up by combining gardener with evangelist (we are evangelists for gardening, we love gardening and want others to love it, too.). We are now recording our seventh season!

Amy: Spring is almost here! What are you most excited to grow this year?

Carol: Of course, I'm excited to plant out my beloved pansies and violas, and I've already done that. I'm always excited, too, to get out into the garden on St. Patrick's Day and sow seeds for peas. I'll be doing that this afternoon!

Amy: If you could share just one tip with gardeners this season, what would it be?

Carol: Grow the plants you love, and love the plants you can grow.