2025.09.15

Charles W. Mann first became interested in gardening while he was a boy living on the southern estate of Thomas Fortune Ryan, a New York financier, where his father was manager of the greenhouses and gardens. He graduated from Ohio State University's Department of Horticulture in 1935. In 1947, Mr. Mann established The Flower Basket, a nursery and landscape service in Saugatuck, Michigan. He designed a series of garden rooms and outdoor living areas on his home grounds, adjacent to his nursery, erecting vistas through the use of elevations, terraces, sunken gardens and stone walls. This show garden was said to be unsurpassed for beauty of material, fine maintenance and artistry, a model that inspired many visitors to improve and beautify their own property. A former Virginian, Mann became lonesome for the azaleas and rhododendrons which / beautify the Old Dominion mountain vistas. After years of experimenting, he is credited with being among the first in Michigan to successfully grow rhododendrons, azaleas and hollies and was considered one of Michigan's foremost horticulturists.

Family HistoryNature, ecology, the landscape

Winthers, Sally

Mann's 1977-82 brown-cover photo album
Mann's 2000 garden with captions album
Mann's garden and house photos
Mann's green photo album
Nature photos by Charles Mann
Charles Mann newspaper clippings
Mann's tan photo album
Mann's garden photos taken by Pamperien/Yoder family members

06/01/2025

10/02/2025