In “Not Your Mother’s Garden”, Deborah Chud takes the audience on a photo tour of her highly
unusual Piet-Oudolf-style New Perennial garden and describes the design principles underlying
it. Many of the plants are unfamiliar—even to experienced and knowledgeable gardeners.
These “New Perennials” were all taken from a distinctive, non-traditional canon of plants, and
they exhibit the naturalistic qualities valued by the New Perennialists. What’s new about New
Perennials, and what can they do for you? Walk through her garden with her to find out.

Deborah Chud is a retired Massachusetts physician turned garden maker, consultant and
educator. Her 6 years of research on New Perennial gardens, including NY’s High Line,
Chicago’s Lurie Garden, the Oudolf Meadow at Deleware Botanic Gardens, and Oudolf Garden
Detroit, generated the most comprehensive existing database of New Perennial plant
combinations and led to the creation of her own highly unusual New Perennial garden. In the
fall of 2020, she presented her work as part of “Piet Oudolf: How Does He Do It?”--an
international event organized by Piet Oudolf’s co-author, Noel Kingsbury, under the aegis of
gardenmasterclass.org. She has also presented to members of the following institutions and
organizations: Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, the United
States Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C., the Ecological Landscape Alliance, the Northwest
Perennial Alliance, Toronto Botanical Garden, and Delaware Botanic Gardens. The latter 2
public gardens contain Piet Oudolf-designed sections. She lives in Chestnut Hill, MA and spends
most of her time consulting and coaching home gardeners—both in person and virtually.

This exciting workshop is brought to you by the West Tisbury and Vineyard Haven libraries.

Please contact amcdonough@clamsnet.org for the Zoom link.