There’s no better introduction to the “Gardens of Three Pines” than Miss Jane Neal’s. Jane, a retired schoolteacher, is famously the first murder victim in Louise’s beloved and bestselling series. Her garden provides a window into the type of person she was – and the community of Three Pines where she lived.
“‘One more question,’ said Gamache at the door, the bag of muffins in one hand and the door handle in the other. ‘You mentioned the Charles de Mills rose.’
‘Jane’s favorite. He’s not just any rose, Chief Inspector. He’s considered by rosarians to be one of the finest in the world. An old garden rose. Only blooms once a season but with a show that’s spectacular. And then it’s gone.’” – Still Life
Jane was known for her particular fondness for “old garden roses,” which she tended with expert care, and her favorite, the Charles de Mills rose. Beyond the roses, her garden was a riot of color and variety, featuring:
- Hollyhocks: Of the Alcea genus, hollyhock is generally found in Asia and Europe. The Streambank Wild Hollyhock is native to North America.
- Sweet Bergamot (Monarda): A mint that is indigenous to North America. The Native Americans used its medicinal qualities to cure stomach ailments, among other ailments.
- Charles de Mills Rose: An Old Garden Rose, first introduced in 1786, the Charles de Mills rose is known for its vibrant purple and crimson hues. The Charles de Mills was inducted into the Old Rose Hall of Fame in 2015.
Tell us about your garden?
69 replies on “The Gardens of Three Pines: Miss Jane Neal’s Garden”
I enjoy my garden more than almost anything. I started gardening at age 10 with a single-row flower bed; my paternal grandmother was a gardener, so it must be in my genes. Zinnias are still my favorite. My current garden includes gingers – butterfly, shell, pine-cone, and crepe; roses – old fragrant ones and a Peggy Martin & a Lady Banks, hydrangeas, red banana plants, curcumas, and Turk’s cap (red). I also have oaks, crepe myrtles, a Japanese magnolia and a Sweet Bay magnolia. Honeysuckle and Mexican Flame vine have found their way in, too. I’m going with fewer annuals in favor of heat-and-drought-tolerant perennials; we have either too much or too little rain here in south Louisiana.
I am a former Chicago girl living in Wyoming, in the Black Hills. My husband is actually the main gardener in our family, but I love my deck pots and whiskey barrels full of flowers. Every year I do a different color scheme, this year it’s purple, but I always have a barrel full of geraniums. The challenge here wasn’t so much what would or wouldn’t grow, it was what the deer would not eat and how high a fence to put around the big garden!
I just love reading all the comments made about their gardens. I have a garden north of Toronto in Canada. This year to my great surprise my yucca plant that I bought about 20 plus years ago,is blooming. I never knew they also can bloom. It is beautiful to see the white flowers coming out.
your yucca blossoms are edible.
I live in S. Calif. and hispanics tell me their nannas would dip the flowers in egg then bread crumbs and deep fry them.
have never been brave enough to make them but enjoy the flowers.
let me know if you try it!
We live in Tecumseh, the far south west of Ontario, the banana belt of Canada. There are yuccas all around here in flower every year.
My Italian neighbor does the same thing with zucchini flowers– delicious!
I am in coastal North Carolina: too hot for peonies and roses are too prone to black spot in heat and high humidity, so I turned to a bee garden of coneflowers, bee balm, mexican sunflowers, day lilies, black-eyed susans, asters and dahlias. They all seem to handle the heat and humidity. Lots of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds seem to enjoy it. I wish I could grow peonies here, however, pansies bloom from fall through winter and well into spring and I love having the yellow, blue and purple pansies blooming throughout the winter.
Love all the posts about gardens When my grandmother passed I dug out all her irises before the house sold and planted them all around her headstone What was left I planted around my house over 20 yrs and still have those beautiful irises
My garden as a child . My father’s prized dahlias, peonies, cosmos, four o’clocks (my job to gather the seeds), lilacs, roses and my all time favorite..hollyhocks. Here in the heat and drought of Florida most of what I like is a no go. Knockout roses , crape myrtle, azalea and day lilies mostly thrive. Shrubs and grasses.do well. The gardens in your memories will never fade or die.
Would be 100% better if accompanied with a picture of the featured flower or plant.
My thought exactly!
There’s an image at the top of this post.
I’m a vegetable gardener, primarily, who tends toward love affairs with heirloom tomatoes. Big ones, little ones, sweet ones and yellow ones. My Roma’s this year resemble those in Vito Corleone’s garden. May my 2026 sauce taste as sublime as his. Cin cin!
My garden is what the deer leave me.
Butterfly, hummingbird and bees adore my beautiful hummingbird bushes mixed in the garden with cone flowers, painted daisies, lavender, butterfly weed and lots of Monarda.
I garden with vegetables, fruits and native plants on my 2 acres in Southeast Pennsylvania. I listen to the Gamache books via Audible as I weed. It slows me down, but I love every minute of it.
… Outstanding!
I adore Still Life! I have three copies, one autographed by my favorite author, Ms Louise Penny! And I have read and re-read it, because it is the foundation of Three Pines (where I visited last summer!) and Inspector Gamache and his Team, family and friends. As for gardens like Jean Neal’s, I only have those in my imagination. We live in Tucson, Arizona, in the winter where nothing grows but cacti, and we do have those. Water is a very precious resource so no plants that require watering are encouraged. And we live on a very large, not new, sailboat in Rhode Island in the summer, so no gardens here either. That is why reading in Still Life about Jean Neal’s glorious gardens is such a treat! One CAN have beautiful gardens through books! Thank You, Ms Penny, for Jean Neal’s gardens!
So wonderful that you enjoy visualizing a beautiful garden through these books! I love in Kingman, AZ & yes it’s hot, very windy these years &water is scarce. But I grow a few potted vegetables such as Swiss chard, basil, tomatoes & chives. It’s not easy but I love my greens! I also have a few lovely bush type potted plants that produce flowers. I’m always watering morning & night.
My garden is mainly purple and white coneflowers and sunflowers with a butterfly bush.
I identify with Gamaches and the contentment they find in their garden. Gardening is a life long pleasure learned from my mother. We recently retired and moved to a condo. Leaving the gardens I had developed and tended for 30 years was like losing a close friend or family member. But as with any other transition, I’ve adapted. Small spaces forced me to prioritize and make more deliberate choices. I’m still making mistakes and learning, but the flower boxes are overflowing with colorful annuals and the borders are full of perennials that give me a parade of blossoms. I still must share with the deer, rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels. Seems all God’s creatures enjoy gardens!
I tend a garden of 5 raised beds on the third floor senior apartments where I live. Currently we are growing lemons, clementine, tomatoes, strawberries, mint, borage, lemongrass, organo, cosmos, coreopsis, succulents, lavender, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, thyme, yarrow, echinacea, lemon cucumbers, roses and zucchini. It’s my Sanctuary, plus a wonderful way to meet my neighbors.
I love the Inspector Gamache series and look forward to the next book, the day after my birthday…my gift to myself. Reading about the various Gardens of Three Pines is going to be a real treat!
I agree, I buy the new Louise Penny book every year as my birthday present to me! I love to read the books and imagine life in Three Pines. If it was a real place it is where I would go to retire. They have a bookstore, a bistro, wonderful neighbours as well as an eccentric. What more could a person ask for.
I have a stealth garden – every summer it has expanded, while the front lawn has slowly been disappearing in favor of native perennials that are friendly to pollinators. It has been a long series of trial and error, since I started out trying to reproduce the one my great-grandmother started where I grew up in Upstate New York in our present home in central Maryland. The peonies, irises, spirea, and mock orange that Nana loved have thrived, as have the lilies of the valley in the heavily shaded area of my back yard, but the roses sometimes have struggled with our summer heat and humidity (not to mention hordes of hungry deer!). My rose beds are a tribute to loved ones who are gone, with the most recent additions planted in memory of my mother, whom I lost last April.
My garden in Kent,England has been tended for nearly 500 years. I have an apple and a tamerisk both over 100 years old. My Agapanthus and Acanthus are in full bloom along with lots of salvias and penstamons
I have a beautiful Charles de Mills rose bought for me by my son out 30 years ago, it has moved twice in England, and is now at home with us in Scotland. I love it, also love peonies and all perennial border plants. We have just moved to a much less windy garden, so we are excited to get to grips with a new garden, greenhouse and vegetable area. Our last move we hope. I
My garden came with the house we bought more than 20 years ago. I’m afraid family health issues are keeping me from giving it the loving care it deserves now, but I have been doing what I can. Lots of lavender, phlox, and a huge orange sedum give it color.
I love my Florida gardens filled with vinca, hibiscus, azaleas, etc., but drought conditions and watering limits this year have been a challenge in keeping my plants alive. Maybe sand and cacti would be better!!!
My garden was started 37 years ago when we bought our house. I started planting perennials- peonies of every colour- white, yellow, pale pink, fuchsia and red. My favourite however is the rare orange peony. I planted them in front of all my clematis which I also tried to get a variety of colours. I live in Calgary, under the arch (referring to the Chinook winds that blow during the winter to warm us) and the constant freeze/thaw conditions require old varieties with deep roots. That’s how I see the three pines, the gardens and the people in your books, Louise. Sturdy with deep roots. Great idea for another way for us to explore the books until the next one comes out.
My gardens are my glory! At present I have “volunteer” sunflowers from the birdseed droppings and Becky daisies (a gift from my Sister) and a wall of tall zinnias that bring me joy each year. The list goes on and on.