Valerie Easton, author of A Pattern Garden

Valerie Easton is a weekly garden columnist for the Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest Magazine. She contributes articles on gardens, homes, and the people who make them to numerous publications, including Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Gardens Illustrated, and Country Gardens. Before "retiring" to write full time, Valerie was a horticultural librarian for 18 years at the University of Washington. She lectures widely for garden shows and plant societies, as well as teaching writing workshops.

A Pattern Garden: The Essential Elements of Garden Making is Valerie's latest book. She also authored Plant Life and co-authored Artists in Their Gardens, and she's just completed a garden murder mystery. She lives with her husband and a Wheaten Terrier in Seattle, and on Whidbey Island, where she's just completed a new garden.

She created her last garden in her early 30s when, according to herself, she had all the energy and time in the world — it was naturalistic, rewarding, and so much work it wore her out. Her new garden is tiny, highly-designed, and uses inexpensive, utilitarian materials. Its one-note color scheme, which includes edibles, is more about creating spaces for people than for plants.

Her entire garden is featured in the December/January 2007 issue of Horticulture magazine.

Copyright ©2007 Timber Press, Inc. Text excerpts from A Pattern Garden copyright © Valerie Easton. Photographs copyright © Jacqueline Koch, except photos on Bridges, Gates, and Shelters pages copyright © Allan Mandell; and photo on Water page copyright © Richard Hartlage. All rights reserved. Posted with permission of the publisher.