Blooms and Dreams: Cultivating Wellness, Generosity, and a Connection to the Land

Wildluxe blogger Gillingham debuts with a lushly illustrated tour of the vibrant gardens and livestock pastures on her farm. The author recounts how she became disillusioned with the transient rewards of her lifestyle as a luxury travel writer and found purpose after relocating her family from Los Angeles to Bainbridge Island, Wash., and becoming a hobbyist farmer. Alongside photos of Gillingham and her daughters tending to vibrant gardens of peonies and dahlias, she describes the intensive research she undertook to learn how to maintain a farm and the bumps she hit along the way, including a middle-of-the-night hunt for escaped sheep. The author outlines her garden design process, which balances such practical concerns as which plants grow best together with aesthetic ones about how garden beds will appear in photos. Because the payoff from gardening sometimes arrives years after planting, it cultivates resilience and patience, the author contends, remarking that the activity led her to value “long-term health and wellness over short-term fun and instant gratification.” There’s some advice sprinkled throughout on how readers might follow Gillingham’s lead, but the real appeal lies in the gorgeous visuals that offer a peek into her lush and gorgeous estate. Cottagecore enthusiasts will page through this with sheer delight. (Aug.)