Pioneering American photojournalist Frances Benjamin Johnston never planted a garden of her own until she was in her 80s, but she masterfully recorded hundreds of others on hand-painted glass lantern slides used for her horticultural lectures. Nearly 300 of those images, recently unearthed by the Library of Congress, appear in Gardens for a Beautiful America, 1895–1935: Photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston (Acanthus Press, $80). Author Sam Watters has meticulously identified the landscapes, which range from humble backyards to noble estates (shown is Italy’s Villa d’Este, 1925). The collection is also on view at the Library of Congress’s website, loc.gov .
