ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people are to be thanked for their help with this book. Many have never visited my gardens, but they have provided me with many of the plants and seeds and bulbs and shrubs that fill those gardens. They have been instrumental, through their exquisite catalogs and with their superb plant materials, in making my gardens the interesting sources for most everything Kevin and I used in the photographs for this book.

I especially want to thank, in no particular order, the following plantsmen and women: Brent and Becky’s, Van Engelen, B&D Lilies, Van Bourgondien Nursery, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Vilmorin, David Austin Roses, Marders, The Bayberry, Landcraft Environments, Broken Arrow Nursery, Glover Perennials, Hardscrabble Farms, Surry Gardens, Burpee, Home Depot, Proven Winners, Annie’s Annuals & Perennials, Rainbow Iris Farm, Peony’s Envy, Klehm’s Song Sparrow Nursery, Opus, Hillside Nursery, and Old House Gardens.

And a great big thank you to my current gardeners who nurture the plants and tend to my gardens all year long: Ryan McCallister and Wilmer Artiga and the Katonah crew, Alex Silva and his East Hampton crew, and Michael Harding and his Seal Harbor crew. Thanks also to all the fine hands who have cared for all of my gardens in past years.

Kevin Sharkey and I would also like to extend our thanks to our editorial director, Ellen Morrissey; managing editor Susanne Ruppert; senior associate editor Bridget Fitzgerald; Nanette Maxim; the designer of this volume, Mary Jane Callister; and all the photographers and stylists who aided us while flowers were cut, backgrounds were styled, and arrangements created. Thank you as well to Maison Gerard for graciously loaning us the beautiful tulipiere by Matthew Solomon, pictured on this page.

And thank you to my longtime publisher, Clarkson Potter, for allowing us to make such a lavish, beautiful, useful book—our ninetieth, give or take one or two!