Marjorie Harris, Master Gardener Extraordinaire

Born in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan in 1937, Marjorie Harris graduated from McMaster University in 1959 in Honours English. She then did graduate work at the University of Toronto, studying with Northrop Frye. In the first half of her career she was a free-lance writer, editor, producer, and radio commentator. During this period she has worked at a number of Canada's leading magazines and newspapers, such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, and the Toronto Star. Her early articles have focussed on many diverse subjects, including design, art, feminism, politics and consumerism. She has also written or co-written a number of books, including Historic Canada (1984), Everyday Law: A Survival Guide for Canadians (1984), Times to Remember (1986), and How to Make Love to a Lobster (1988).

Harris's career changed considerably in 1988. In that year she contributed articles and columns to magazines and newspapers primarily about gardening. She also appeared on CBC radio's Metro Morning as The Urban Gardener. Since that time she has written at least 15 books on gardening. They offer practical advice and encouragement, information about specific plants and flowers, and a view of the world in keeping with the beauty, serenity, and healing power of nature. In her first gardening book, The Canadian Gardener (1990), Harris talks about an epiphany that transformed her life: "It was a painting that drew me into gardening. For years it hung on our living room wall, a painting by the Canadian artist Louis de Niverville filled with plants in lush, sensual colours. I loved it, and after some time, figured that, just maybe, I could make a garden that would be like the painting." Although Harris has written many books about gardening, the most recent being How to Make a Garden: The 7 Essential Tips for the Canadian Gardener, her crowning achievement as a writer in this field is Botanica North America (2003). This monumental work is a tour de force, an illustrated guide to the native plants of North America from a historical and botanical perspective. In many ways the book is a reflection of Marjorie Harris's own garden situated in Toronto's Annex. "I am a gardener, and I use native plants in my garden...."

McMaster University Library acquired Marjorie Harris's archives in July 2005 and March 2006. The finding aid to her archives can be found at http://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/findaids/h/harris.1.htm
Her own website is located at http://www.marjorieharris.com

To write and to garden are the two passions of my life. The garden is beyond being a hobby or a pastime. It is a library, it is a teacher, and to be in the garden is to be part of something so wonderful and beyond all our control that we cannot help but learn something about nature every time we hit the dirt. We are the stewards of this planet and by making good gardens and practising good garden techniques we can leave it just a little better than we found it.

Link to Marjorie Harris Gallery