Curious Gardens

One of my favorite books published in 2009 was The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. In it, a young boy named Liam discovers a hidden garden and with careful tending spreads color throughout his gray and dreary city. The hidden garden happened to be an abandoned elevated railroad and the author was inspired by a section of former elevated freight railroad on the lower west side of Manhattan known as the High Line.

The real High Line opened to trains in 1934, but as the decades passed and other modes of transportation developed, rail traffic dropped significantly. The last train ran in 1980. The tracks lay abandoned for years while various grasses, tree and shrubs thrived up there. In 1999, the non-profit “Friends of the High Line” was formed with the intent to preserve and reuse the land as public open space. Ten years later, their work paid off and a section of the line was opened as a city park.

Inspired by the book and nearly a year after it first opened, I finally had an opportunity to visit this now beautiful park and I encourage you all to do so as well. And, if you are looking to inspire a young gardener or looking for an environmental or a “green” book with a message or perhaps you are simply looking for a sweet story with charming artwork, check out The Curious Garden – you won’t be disappointed.





Check out author Peter Brown’s website:














For more information about the High Line:









Posted by Amy