Tangible Memories

About the Book

California may be the golden state but it is also a garden state. Innumerable gardens have been made since the Europeans first came, starting with the Franciscan missionaries.The gold rush was the defining period, leading to immense expenditures by newly rich miners.

This book discusses many simple but beautiful gardens created by waves of immigrants. Gardens were necessary for food but also represented repose and leisure. The nature and style of domestic and private gardens shape the landscape of cities and towns just as much as large civic architectural achievements.

About the Author

Judith M Taylor MD was born in London and educated at Oxford. A board-certified neurologist, she practiced and taught at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York for many years. During that time she became very interested in the history of botany as the foundation of medical history. After moving to California in 1994 she broadened and deepened this interest to include garden history and the migration of plants. The Olive in California: history of an immigrant tree was her first book. Dr Taylor has two grown sons and four grandchildren. She and her husband Irvin live in San Francisco.