A Garden for Mother’s Day

It’s been said that Ryan Gainey has done for gardening what Martha Stewart did for housekeeping. A lifetime spent cultivating plants and digging in the dirt brought him global recognition and celebrity acclaim. Audrey Hepburn featured Gainey in her series Gardens of the World. He hosted two garden parties for her when she was a UNICEF ambassador.

He’s designed breathtaking gardens all over the globe and his own captivating Decatur garden is the darling of national home and garden magazines as well as the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s annual Connoisseurs tour, which he helped found.  With that very event returning this Mother’s Day weekend, I thought it a good time to stop by and chat with Ryan, not only about gardening and the Connoisseurs tour, but to discover what role the women in his family played in his choice to pursue a life and career in gardening.

The Connoisseurs tour, which features ten other spectacular private gardens around the city in addition to Gainey’s, takes place this Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. You can find out more here.