One in a series about the unsung hero, the vol­un­teer gardener.….…..

This past Sep­tem­ber my sis­ter Mary Lynn took me to see the gar­dens at Cran­brook House, located near her home north of Detroit. Built in 1908-​09, the estate was built by George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth (why do rich peo­ple always have 3 names?) in Bloom­field Hills, Michi­gan. Although it was late in the sea­son for a Michi­gan gar­den, every­thing looked pretty great to a Socal gar­dener used to parched vis­tas. A lot to credit is no doubt due to the unsung heroes of pub­lic gar­dens every­where, oth­er­wise known as the Gar­den Auxiliary. In 1971, Henry Scripps Booth, a son of orig­i­nal own­ers George and Ellen Booth, orga­nized an aux­il­iary to tend the gar­dens and improve the acreage around Cran­brook House. In 1974, a sim­i­lar aux­il­iary was formed to assist in pre­serv­ing, improv­ing and extend­ing the use­ful­ness of Cran­brook House as a cul­tural cen­ter. In early 1977, the two bod­ies merged to cre­ate the Cran­brook House and Gar­dens Aux­il­iary, now more than 500 mem­bers strong, to sup­port Cran­brook in car­ing for the well-​being of the Booths’ his­toric manor and gar­dens. We reap the rewards of the work of these vol­un­teer gar­den­ers who step up to tend the beau­ti­ful pub­lic gar­dens not only in the US but all over the world.

www​.cran​brook​.edu/

Love the patterns!