National stereotypes are inevitably misguided, often emerging from an obvious minority to inaccurately represent the whole. Thus we get the posh, eccentric English and the rude, foreigner-hating French ... both at odds with the majority of their countries. And for America? Time and time again, we get the coasts. Travel shows, documentaries or the experience of most European visitors are all the same. New York, perhaps a few other stops on the East Coast, then on to California. It's as if anything further than 150 miles from an ocean doesn't matter. And the opinions of those coastal people come to represent the supposed opinion of America.
As a Missourian, this has never ceased to enrage me. Categorising America on the basis of New York and LA is about as relevant as judging a person based on his hands and eyes. You might get lucky, but you're more likely to be drastically wrong.
The Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis
I'm used to benign ignorance of the Midwest, so that wasn't what really wound me up. Rather, it was Don's interview with the New York garden designer, who asserted that Americans really don't garden. It's too much trouble, it's too hot, they're afraid of nature, all they want is lawns, etc. Don seemed to take this bait hook, line and sinker, using it as the thesis for his whole episode. The designer's description might have been accurate for New Yorkers (I went to University with a resident of that city who thought the cows in the model farm at the Lincoln Park Zoo looked quite dangerous), but it doesn't bear much resemblance to the world I know.
I come from a land of rolling green suburbia, where almost everyone practices some sort of gardening. Some efforts are modest, some elaborate, many deeply respectful of native plants. The delicate Missouri primrose and the majestic purple coneflower share my home state. Every American city I've inhabited has had several amazing nurseries (aka Garden Centres) specialising in native plants, English perennials, garden design, etc. Magazines such as Southern Living, Martha Stewart Living and House and Garden are awash with garden features, and never seen to have trouble finding new gardens to feature. August always brought a glut of friends and neighbours sharing the excess from their vegetable patches.
The middle of the country is laden with impressive botanical gardens, most of which offer advisory services and classes to the home gardener. St. Louis' Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the finest of its type in the world, modelled on Kew Gardens and established by an Englishman, Henry Shaw, who'd made his fortune selling pots and pans to immigrants heading West. The Dixon in Memphis is a gracious and varied southern garden wrapping around a grand house now turned into an art museum. In Dallas, the gardens surrounding the historic DeGoyler house show how people strive to create gardens even in hostile and uninspiring landscapes, and succeed admirably. No doubt there are similar examples in every town from Cincinnati to Denver, Houston to Minneapolis.
Another critical difference of the Midwestern suburb: It's just a short ride to rolling farmland. I grew up buying corn from roadside stands, picking my pumpkins from the patch and being able to choose from a variety of farmers' markets. I didn't live in the country, but I was deeply aware of it. As, I believe, most Midwesterners are. Don's assertion that Americans are scared of nature or unaware of its links to their personal gardens was laughable in the context of my experience.
Ironically, the one exception to this "flyover country" ignorance seems to be election coverage. This primary season we've seen copious coverage of towns and denizens of Middle America. The political reporters have, in advance of their other BBC colleagues, finally figured out that there's more to America than its urbanised coasts. I live in hope that others will follow their lead.
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