My guests (plural!) this week are author Margo Rabb and horticulturist Chris Fehlhaber. It’s the first time I've had two guests on the podcast, and my first face-to-face interview. I learned of Margo’s work through a beautifully moving piece she wrote for the New York Times called “Garden of Solace.” The garden she refers to is Chanticleer, which is about 15 minutes from where I live and one of our favorite destinations. It was great to have Chris join us at Margo's suggestion, as he plays a key role at Chanticleer and has deep insights into the nature of gardens and our relationship with them. The three of us explored topics like the healing power of gardens, sadness and grief as experiences that don’t need to be “fixed," links between my guests' respective passions of writing and gardening, and the love we find in relationships in which we can be ourselves.

So there’s a lot to look forward to in this discussion. Other topics we touched included:

The beauty of Chanticleer Garden, in the suburbs of Philadelphia

The move that unearthed losses in Margo’s life

The love and passion that are felt through the time and toil invested in a garden

Finding magic in a garden

Gardens as a conduit between us and other people

The ubiquity of death in the garden

Finding rebirth in a garden’s death and decay

The complicated mix that is grief

Being cheered by spending time with a garden and simply being present

The sense of physical safety that’s possible in a public garden, perhaps especially for women

The parallels between growth in a garden and the natural human tendency toward growth

Discovering as a writer a story that wants to be told

The uncertainty that both writers and gardeners work with

The difference between a sterile “healing garden” and a great spirit-filled garden

Gardening for yourself first

The honesty we find in plants and gardens

Our instinctual movement toward gardens and nature when we’re in pain or overwhelmed

Margo Rabb at The Ruin at Chanticleer Garden. (Photo by Leo Reid)

Here are links to Margo's two published books (affiliate links):

Cures for Heartbreak

Kissing in America

Chris mentioned a lovely book about Chanticleer called The Art of Gardening (affiliate link), which he was kind enough to gift to me after our interview. It's filled with inspiration for garden design and rich descriptions of the gardening philosophy at Chanticleer.

Here is information about writer and artist Edward Gorey, whom Margo referenced a couple times in our discussion.

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Kissing in America and Cures for Heartbreak. Kissing in America was named a best book of the year by the New York Public Library, the Chicago Public Library, and the American Library Association.

Look for her forthcoming book, Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, which will be published in the spring of 2021 by HarperCollins.

Margo's essays, journalism, book reviews, and short stories have been published in outlets like the New York Times, the New York Times Book Review, the Atlantic, Slate, Salon, Marie Claire, Seventeen, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on NPR.

She received the grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in the Atlantic fiction and American Fiction contests, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award.

Margo grew up in Queens, NY, and lived in Texas, Arizona, and the Midwest before moving to the Philadelphia area with her husband and children. Find Margo online at her website and on Twitter.

Chris Fehlhaber is assistant horticulturist at Chanticleer Garden. He completed degrees in Landscape Architecture—Natural Resources and Environmental...