Happy Birthday, Master Gardener Tasha Tudor!

Dear Reader,

Born in 1915, Tasha Tudor was a renowned children’s book author and illustrator. She illustrated one of my favorite childhood books, The Secret Garden. Tasha was also known for her gardens and way of life.

Her grandfather was a yacht designer. Her father, William Starling Burgess, was an aviation pioneer and her mother was an artist. Tasha had an unconventional upbringing. Her family was friends with such creative thinkers as Alexander Graham Bell, who introduced Tasha to gardening at a very young age, and John Singer Sargent, who painted her brother. 

She was a unique, strong minded woman who enjoyed exploring and preserving the old ways. She designed her Vermont gardens as if they were a painting or vignette, creating hidden nooks. According to the biographical Tasha Tudor’s Garden, by Tovah Martin with photos by Richard W. Brown, Tasha spoke to her plants as though each was a dear friend. And single hollyhocks and pansies were her favorite flowers.

If you’d like to learn more about her there is a terrific video on Amazon about her life, Take Joy: The Magical World of Tasha Tudor. The title tells you much about Tasha’s philosophy of life. Little children will love Tasha’s own books such as Pumpkin Moonshines or The Corgiville Fair.