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In The Gardener's Mindset, Stephen Orr, garden writer and former editor-in-chief of Better Homes and Gardens, examines the restorative power of gardening through a collection of essays and photographs while revealing his own challenges in the garden and offering advice on growing plants and vegetables at home. Inspired by the great tradition of twentieth-century garden essay collections by writers such as Vita Sackville-West, Elizabeth Lawrence, and Henry Mitchell, Orr helps readers understand not just how to garden but how to think about it. Alongside gorgeous photographs and easy projects that range from cultivating a color scheme to building a wildlife habitat, Orr delves into his personal gardening journey, pulling from the various gardens he and his husband have created over the past decades.
Orr’s distinct sense of wit and wisdom on every page lends the impression of having him by your side while on a personal garden tour. Whether kept on the nightstand as inspiration for the growing season or given as a gift, The Gardener’s Mindset will delight anyone interested in the analog pleasures of being outdoors.
Stephen Orr is the author and photographer of three books: The New American Herbal (Clarkson Potter/Random House, 2014), Tomorrow’s Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening (Rodale, 2011) and an upcoming book of essays The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting with Nature through Plants (Clarkson Potter/Random House, May 2026). He is also the editor of the monograph Nelson Byrd Woltz: Garden, Park, Community, Farm (Princeton Architectural Press, 2013).
Previously he was the editor in chief of Better Homes and Gardens. He was also executive editor at Condé Nast Traveler as well as garden editor at Martha Stewart Living, House & Garden, and Domino magazines. He writes regularly for his local newspaper the Provincetown Independent. After over three decades of living in New York City, he now lives and gardens in Cape Cod with his husband.
K. Michael Hays is the Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, as well as Interim Chair for the Department of Architecture. Hays joined the Faculty of Design in 1988, teaching courses in architectural history and theory.
Hays has played a central role in the development of the field of architectural theory and his work is internationally known. His research and scholarship have focused on the areas of European modernism and critical theory as well as on theoretical issues in contemporary architectural practice. He has published on the work of modern architects such as Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Hilberseimer, and Mies van der Rohe, as well as on contemporary figures such as Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, and the late John Hejduk. Hays was the founder of the scholarly journal Assemblage, which was a leading forum of discussion of architectural theory in North America and Europe.
Hays received the Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1976. From MIT he received the Master of Architecture degree in Advanced Studies in 1979, and the Doctor of Philosophy in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art in 1990.