Quick Takes With: Stephen Orr

You may recognize Stephen Orr’s name because he has been writing about gardening for most of his career. But it’s also likely you won’t, because Stephen (@steporr) has spent more time behind the scenes quietly shaping garden tastes for decades. Most recently, he was the editor in chief of Better Homes & Gardens, arguably the largest garden-focussed publication in the world, for nearly a decade. Before that he served as a garden editor at Martha Stewart Living, Domino, and House & Garden.

This spring, Stephen is debuting his third garden book, The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting With Nature Through Plants (he’s also launched a newsletter of the same name). A collection of essays, it’s more personal than his earlier books, The New American Herbal and Tomorrow’s Garden. In it he shares lessons from all the places he has gardened over the years, including his current garden on Cape Cod.

“My goal is to get everyone gardening,” Stephen says of his writing. “I think getting more people to garden (either in a big or small way) can greatly help humanity.” The easygoing, often humorous voice in his essays, and in his Quick Takes answers below, offers just the kind of gentle reassurance that invites in gardeners of all levels of experience. Read on for his musings on nostalgic blossoms, plants with a big scent, garden chaos, and more.

Photography courtesy of Stephen Orr.

Your first garden memory:

Going to the plant nursery with my dad on a bright West Texas spring day in our old Buick to buy six-packs of alyssum, sweet William, and marigolds. I remember the smell of the bagged fertilizer at the nursery and my excitement that came from the fact that our car, Bessie, had a hole in the floorboard and you could see the asphalt zooming past. I still grow these plants because of those memories.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

For me, gardening and cooking are inextricably linked and I always love reading anything by Elizabeth David. She helped introduce Mediterranean cooking to the UK after the austerity of WWII rationing. I recommend her essay books: An Omelette and a Glass of Wine and Is There a Nutmeg in the House?

Instagram account that inspires you:

I enjoy following my friend Sarah Raven (@sarahravenperchhill) because she loves flowers and cooking as much as I do (maybe more). Sarah writes books and has a beautiful garden in East Sussex and a nursery business. She’s great with horticultural technique, so I always learn a lot from her videos and podcasts. [See Sarah’s Quick Takes here.]

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic:

Order plus chaos (or vice versa).

Plant that makes you swoon:

So many! Lilacs, hyacinths, lilies, lilies of the valley, tuberose, phlox, mignonette, heliotrope—anything with a big scent.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Japanese knotweed.

Favorite go-to plant:

Lately I’ve been loving the tall native phlox ‘Jeana’. It has a lovely scent and doesn’t get mildew like other phlox.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

I want to grow camellias but it’s impossible for me.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

The road to being a good gardener is lined with dead plants.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Suburban, HOA-approved perfect lawns, and symmetrical tidiness.

Old wive’s tale gardening trick that actually works:

Dish soap suds kills aphids.

Favorite gardening hack:

Take a lot of photos of your garden as a visual journal so that you remember what worked year to year. It’s easy to lose track.

Every garden needs:

Visual barriers such as hedges or walls provide a sense of discovery—even in a small garden. You don’t want to see the whole thing at a glance from the back door.

Favorite hardscaping material:

Pea gravel.

Tool you can’t live without:

Scuffle hoe for weeds.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in:

Don’t be afraid to cut from your garden. I view my entire property as a cutting garden.

Go-to gardening outfit:

Barefoot, shorts, old t-shirt, Hawaiian surfer straw hat.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, and seed company:

I love Turtle Tree Seeds, who sell open-pollinated, biodynamic seeds. They also have a really cute t-shirt.

On your wish list:

I’m pretty content, but I always want to have the opportunity to keep planning and dreaming in the garden.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

I love Wave Hill in New York City and the Huntington Desert Garden in Los Angeles.

The REAL reason you garden:

Because I love flowers and it gets me off my phone and out of the scrum of humanity. My perfect day is warm enough to be able to stand in the sprinkler if needed. I have a good playlist on while I garden. A thermos of iced tea (black tea with mint and lemon verbena). And our dog Pokey is waiting ever patient nearby with his ball.

Thanks so much, Stephen! (You can follow him on Instagram @steporr.)

To see our full archive of Quick Takes, head here.