"Astonishingly, half of all the private gardens laid out on Long Island during the Country Place era (ca. 1890-1940), and even a few significant public landscapes, were designed by women who, for the first time, hung out their shingles in a business heretofore reserved to men. This well-illustrated book covers in depth the work of six designers - Beatrix Farrand, Martha Hutcheson, Marian Coffin, Ellen Shipman, Ruth Dean, and Annette Hoyt Flanders - and looks at a dozen other less-well-known women, comparing their lives and careers and discerning interesting patterns, above all their determination and their shared passion for excellence. It focuses on the Long Island projects that constituted a large part of their work, bringing to life these pioneering women as individuals and professionals."--BOOK JACKET.