"McCullough is on a mission to debunk thinking that American gardens are simply picket-lined lawns or copy-cats of esteemed European and Japanese cousins. After road tripping from sea to shining sea, he has carefully curated a list that undoubtedly proves the point. American garden designers are creating distinctive gardens with an All-American flair. They embrace the industrial grit of the Midwest, the hospitable grace of the South, the indigenous...

"Throughout her long and storied life, Rachel Bunny Mellon's greatest passion was garden design. She and her husband, Paul Mellon, one of the wealthiest men in America, maintained homes in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Antigua, and Upperville, Virginia, and she designed the gardens at all of them. She also designed gardens for some of her dearest friends, including the Rose Garden and the East Garden at the White House, at the request of President...