Midwest Gardens

An exceptionally fine collaboration between gardener and teacher Wolfe and award-winning photographer Irving, Midwesterners both, this ``inspiration'' and ``practical guide'' showcases 22 outstanding gardens from the Upper Midwest. And though the Midwest is often considered too harsh climatically to yield gardens in the grand English style, Wolfe and Irving convincingly claim otherwise. Under the tutelage of such gardeners as Thomas and Helene James, for example, poetic borders of old shrub roses and European perennials can flourish in Wilmette, Ill.; in White Bear, Minn., Betty Matthew's collection of miniature roses and delphiniums thrives. Other gardens in this eclectic anthology bypass the perennial border, ranging from Russell O'Harra'ssic baroque displays of hostas to Polly Rabion's ambitious garden designed for handicapped visitors to Pat Armstrong's restoration of native Illinois prairie, in which she uses the traditional annual burn as a method of controlling weeds. Irving's photographs focus on color, texture, and small-scale patterns as they intimately detail the gardens, while Wolfe's text homes in on the creative strategies behind them. (Jan.)