Often a garden is a portrait, rich and revealing, of its creator. The remarkable garden of Harvey Ladew, sportsman and art connoisseur, is just such a portrait, etched in the rolling hills of southern Maryland. This program explores Ladew’s passion for gardening and how that passion, bordering on obsession, led him to create one of America's most original and eccentric gardens. The 15 rooms of Ladew's immense garden, built over more than 40 years, delight us with constant surprises and expressions of his wry sense of humor. It is filled with plants clipped into playful sculptural forms. Some recall Ladew's travels in France, England, and the Far East. Others celebrate his love of foxhunting, such as his self-portrait in topiary astride his favorite horse jumping a fence in hot pursuit of a fox. Like a good portrait, Ladew’s garden reveals the man but also speaks to the human condition. It embodies our ability to create beauty from the raw materials of nature and to evoke the power of humor to keep life in a healthy perspective. His garden also leads us on a journey back to the America of the 1920's and mirrors the values that governed the lives of members of the Gilded Age.

Program host Rebecca Frischkorn recounts the main events of Ladew’s life and discusses the way in which his garden became his most important form of self-expression. Using animated plans, she explores the development of this unique and captivating garden over time and examines the spatial relationships between the various garden rooms. The program also reveals through interviews with visitors and staff the challenges of maintaining this large and complex garden. They note how it continues to be a source of enjoyment and delight for thousands of visitors each year and is used as an educational resource for children of Baltimore's inner-city for the teaching of ecology and related topics in natural science.