Climbing roses, the scent of herbs, and vibrant blossoms on paths winding through garden rooms… Join us as we explore the tales of two writers and their gardens – one in Sissinghurst, England, the other in Jackson, Mississippi. Award-winning authors Vita Sackville-West and Eudora Welty were deeply inspired by and connected to their gardens, Vita designing Sissinghurst Castle’s gardens and Eudora tending the garden at the home where she lived and wrote for 75 years. Donna Bingham, avid Tulsa gardener, will share how these two accomplished authors expressed their passions, frustrations and triumphs in gardening through their published works and personal writings.
- 10:30 a.m. Refreshments
- 10:45 a.m. Writers with Dirty Hands – presentation by Donna Bingham
- 11:30 a.m. Brunch
Enjoy brunch and presentation under a tent in The Holmes Family Square atop the Tandy Floral Terraces. Garden attire – flat shoes recommended.
$65 for Garden Members; $75 for Non Members
Limited seating. Purchase reservations online or call 918-289-0330, M-F.
Vita Sackville-West is best known for designing and creating the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle with her husband, Harold Nicolson, after they bought the estate in 1930. Vita’s more popular writings include her novels The Edwardians and All Passion Spent. With her fame in creating the Sissinghurst gardens, Vita wrote a weekly column, “In Your Garden”, for The Observer newspaper from 1947 until her death in 1962. In 1947, Vita was inducted into the Order of the Companions of Honour and the Royal Literary Society. The Garden at Sissinghurst Castle is arguably one of the most famous twentieth century gardens in England.
Eudora Welty was awarded the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Optimist’s Daughter. Decades of working with her mother in their home garden are evidenced by the many references to flowers and plants in Eudora’s short stories and novels. Eudora Welty received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honor and was chosen as the first living writer to be published in the Library of America series.
Donna Bingham is an avid gardener at home and in our community. She is an art and garden docent at Philbrook Museum of Art, a Linnaeus Gardener, a member of the Tulsa Botanic Garden, the Tulsa Herb Society, and the Mayor’s Volunteer Team at Woodward Park. Donna’s love for flower gardens has taken her from the childhood world in her grandmother’s garden to the gardens of the United Kingdom and Europe. She continues her arts education as a lifelong learner in the Art History Department at the University of Tulsa.
Readers, book club members and gardeners: You may wish to enhance your experience by reading prior to the event! Below are suggested books:
One Writer’s Garden, Eudora Welty’s Home Place by Susan Haltom and Jane Roy Brown
Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst: The Creation of a Garden, by Vita Sackville-West & Sarah Raven
GraceKelly, Sissinghurst Castle – Southeast Gardens, CC BY-SA 3.0
