The Gardens of Los Poblanos

by Judith Phillips

New Century Gardens and Landscapes of the American Southwest

Published by: University of New Mexico Press

160 Pages, 8.50 x 10.00 in

Hardcover
9780826365224 | October 2023

$34.95

Buy

EPUB
9780826365231 | October 2023

$34.95

Buy

Description
Contributors
Acclaim
Table Of Contents

In The Gardens of Los Poblanos, landscape designer and garden writer Judith Phillips recounts the history of these world-renowned gardens and demonstrates the ways in which the farm's owners, designers, and gardeners have influenced the evolution of this unique landscape. Phillips showcases how the changes in landscape style and content are driven by cultural expectations and climatic realities, and she discusses how the gardens of Los Poblanos have helped preserve the deep agrarian roots of the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Although plants are always a focus for Phillips, she demonstrates how gardens are more than plants and how plants are much more than mere fillers of garden space.

Judith Phillips is a landscape designer, garden writer, teacher, and activist with more than thirty years of experience designing arid-adapted and native gardens in the high desert of New Mexico. She is the author of Growing the Southwest Garden: Regional Ornamental Gardening; Plants for Natural Gardens: Southwestern Native and Adaptive Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, and Grasses; and Natural by Design: Beauty and Balance in Southwest Gardens.

"The Gardens of Los Poblanos tells a fascinating story of the evolution and stewardship of a family estate that has evolved to embody sustainable landscape design, the cultivation of local foods, and the development of a thriving family business."--Gina Chorover, College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona

"Now more than ever before, our attention to the grace of plants and gardens--what they teach us about the past and implore us to learn for the future--is necessary. In her latest book, Phillips brings us on a journey that beautifully weaves together nature, culture, and cultivation."--Laura Paskus, author of At the Precipice: New Mexico's Changing Climate

"What a perfect combination: New Mexico's foremost garden-design author takes on one of the state's most treasured living historic landscapes, Los Poblanos Ranch. Anyone interested in landscape garden design or the creative culture of the Southwest will savor the many rich illustrations, the fascinating historical vignettes, and, above all, Phillips's knowledge and wisdom about planting in our semiarid environment."--Chris Wilson, author of The Myth of Santa Fe: Creating a Modern Regional Tradition

Foreword
Matt Rembe
Acknowledgments

Introduction. The Story of Los Poblanos
Chapter One. The History of Gardening in the Rio Grande Valley
Chapter Two. The Country Place Era of American Landscapes
Chapter Three. The Development of the Simms Country Place at Los Poblanos, 1932-1964
Chapter Four. The Private Family Gardens of Los Poblanos and the Return to Community, 1965-2004
Chapter Five. A New Preservation Model: Living History, 2005-2014
Chapter Six. Focus on the Future, 2015-2020
Chapter Seven. Coming Full Circle, 2021 and Onward

Glossary