From the editor.

It's been said that few writers have ever been as fascinated by and as knowledgeable about flowers and gardens as William Shakespeare. This passage from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" gracefully paints a picture of air almost mystical world alive with sweet-smelling blossoms and dew-covered petals. Nearly 30 scenes in Shakespeare's plays take place in garden settings, and the lore and imagery surrounding specific plants often play an important role in the action.

The Bard's enthusiasm for the botanical universe was passed along to many of his fans, who still place flowers on his grave every year, as they have since his death in 1616. Today, "Shakespeare gardens" exist around the world--from New York's Central Park to the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park in Montgomery, Alabama, to the botanical gardens of Johannesburg, South Africa. These carefully tended plots are filled with the plant specimens Shakespeare had in his own home garden in Stratford-upon-Avon and wrote about in his plays and sonnets.

Humble and unassuming as she was, Eudora Welty probably wouldn't have dreamed of placing herself in the same category as Shakespeare. But like the great poet, Welty also drew inspiration from the natural world that surrounded her. Her now-beloved writings often included references to perfumed roses or obscure varieties of camellias, perhaps her favorite flowers among the many she enjoyed. Like Shakespeare, she knew that flowers have their own language, their own way of helping to tell a story without words.

But Welty didn't just write about flowers--when her hand wasn't holding a pen, it was often holding a trowel. She spent long hours cultivating and nursing hundreds of colorful blooming plants in the gardens around her Jackson home. "I like the work in the yard, never get tired, and can think out there, or maybe it's dreaming," she once wrote.

After a lengthy restoration process, Welty's own gardens are now open to the public, giving visitors a unique glimpse into the life of the writer just as Shakespeare gardens do for those who want to immerse themselves in his world. The simple beauty of the Welty garden is highlighted in this issue in "A Writer's Roots," part of our special section devoted to gardening that begins on pg. 69.

There's no doubt that Shakespeare's poetry and Welty's prose can still be an inspiration even to amateur gardeners who don't know a daylily from a dahlia. For starters, you may want to include one of these writers' favorite flowers--like Shakespeare's foxgloves, aka "dead men's fingers," or Welty's multicolored camellias--in your own garden. Whatever you do, heed the writers' advice and find a special plant that speaks to you--your very own muse.