BY DIANA DICKINSON PHOTOS CARSON DOWNING
HOME GARDENERS WE LOVE
74 | May 2019
Q You wrote your
first book about
houseplants 40 years
ago. What do you
think of their new
popularity?
A Plants’ therapeutic
powers are timeless.
The act of nurturing
one relieves stress,
anxiety, and
depression. You don’t
need an outdoor
space—a windowsill or
tabletop will do.
Q Any plans for
another book?
A Every time I drive
somewhere I write
my memoirs in my
head. One of these
days I’ll actually
get the writing into
the computer.
Q How would
you describe your
garden?
A I use a lot of
symmetry in my
design: pine needle
paths, lattice
archways leading to
and from the garden,
raised beds, and
containers
throughout. I try to
create little rooms
where I could feel as
though I’d left the
house without ever
getting in the car.
Q Any lessons for
new gardeners?
A Sometimes when
gardening you can
become too focused
on one spot. It’s
important to stop,
walk away, and look
at it from a new
perspective. If all you
do is merely take a
step back, you risk
stumbling over the
wheelbarrow.
Q What plant are
you currently excited
about?
A Coleus are
incredible summer
plants. ‘Alabama
Sunset’ can get
waist-high by
midsummer. I also love
the gorgeous green-
and-burgundy foliage
of ‘Fishnet Stockings’
and the trailing
‘Swiss Sunshine’.
Q What’s new in
your garden?
A My big discovery
this year has been to
turn conventional
round tomato cages
upside down. I pull the
three or four legs
together and hold
them in place with a
small, overturned clay
pot. I use the cages
this way for dahlias,
clematis, morning
glories, black-eyed
Susan vines, and
mandevillas,
not to mention
tomatoes.
Q Do you have
a favorite tool?
A Yes. My
yellow-handled
pruners. They were
given to me by
former Mayor Ed
Koch on the opening
of the New York
Flower Show in 1986.
Q It has been
said that gardeners
are defined as
much by the plants
they despise as
by those they love.
Is there a plant
you dislike?
A The Buddhist in me
tries not to be
judgmental. Then I
haul off and
pronounce “a
truckload of mulch
and a dozen ‘Stella
de Oro’ daylilies doth
not a garden make!”
Personally, I aim not to
plant in my garden the
same plants I see
driving about town. ■
GARDEN SAGE
A visit with Elvin McDonald, our legendary former garden editor and the author
of 75 books (and counting), is a lesson in plant history, design, and charm.
E
lvin McDonald’s numbers are impressive. At 14 he founded
the American Gloxinia Society. He has written and taken
photographs for more than 75 books , and his The World
Book of House Plants has sold more than 3 million copies.
Elvin spent 30 years as a garden editor (fi ve of them here at Better
Homes & Gardens) and has won dozens of awards. We visited the
82-year-old plantsman at his West Des Moines, IA, home and talked
about trends, passions, and the healing power of plants.
Elvin’s timeless
books are
out of print but
available on
eBay and Amazon.
Our favorites:
Little Plants for
Small Spaces
The World Book of
House Plants
Plants as Therapy
