My mother Rosemary’s garden was never just a collection of plants. For more than six decades, it was her canvas, her sanctuary, and her legacy — a cottage garden that grew alongside our family at our home in Chesterton, Indiana, near the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
I grew up watching my mom in the garden, playing with my brother while she worked, and listening to her talk with Mrs. Rand, our neighbor, about the latest blooms. Those childhood mornings planted something in me that took decades to understand.
The Garden Itself
Mom tended the garden at our family home in Chesterton — a property with more than 125 years of history. Over time, she shaped it into what Australian gardener Mary Davis would call “a medley of soft shapes and harmonious colors.” She filled it with dozens of native plants from Northwest Indiana and Midwestern perennial staples: phlox, daylilies, coneflowers, hostas, black-eyed Susans, and much more.
Dutchman’s Breeches in bloom
Rosemary at the garden’s entry path
I photographed the garden for over ten years. During the last year of Rosemary’s life, I walked with her through it, capturing her favorite views — the way summer light fell through the white arbor, the rust and orange of the fall border, the silence of the garden under its first winter snow.
“The garden took shape with dozens of native plants from Northwest Indiana and Midwestern perennial staples. I have photographed them for over 10 years.”
Collin Canright, from the book’s introduction
The Almanac Connection
The quotes that begin each month’s photos come from A Midwestern Almanac: Pageant of the Seasons, a book written by our neighbor Mrs. Rand and her husband, Dr. Austin L. Rand — a curator at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
In the 1950s, my grandfather Warren R. Canright asked the Rands to write the nature columns that eventually grew into their book. The almanac has been part of our family’s world ever since — and organizing the photo book around its seasonal structure felt not just natural, but necessary.
The garden at peak summer — over 140 photographs like this fill the book’s pages
The Family Legacy
This book is, at its heart, a family project. My father John — a photographer — contributed a number of his own photographs of the garden from past years. The book’s title owes itself to him.
It’s also a tribute to my grandfather Warren R. Canright, who ran the family newspaper and print shop. He focused on all aspects of the community, including its natural history. I learned the craft of media arts and publishing watching him work.
Tended the cottage garden in Chesterton, Indiana for over six decades. The garden was her canvas, her sanctuary, and her gift to everyone who visited.
Photographed the garden for more than ten years, and walked with his mother through it in the final year of her life. A journalist and communications professional based in Chicago.
Ran the family newspaper and print shop in Chesterton. In the 1950s, he commissioned the Rands to write the nature columns that became A Midwestern Almanac.
What’s in the Book
With over 140 photographs across 116 pages, Rosemary’s Garden follows the garden through four seasons. Each season has its own section of three chapters — one per month — with opening quotes from A Midwestern Almanac. Every photograph has a caption identifying plants by their common and scientific names. An annotated bibliography lists gardening books from Rosemary’s library and plant books from mine.
The book is published in a limited hardback first edition of 250 copies. This is not a mass-market title — it’s a carefully made object, printed to last.
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Only 250 copies will be printed. Secure yours — or give it as a gift for the garden lover in your life.
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