Book Worm
Fall down the rabbit hole at St. Paul’s Terrace Horticultural Books
It started back in 1991 as a small side business for Kent Petterson, selling some of the garden books from his 500-title personal collection. Since then, Terrace Horticultural Books in St. Paul has evolved into a full-time online and in-store business with national and international clientele. “This whole thing grew out of my enthusiasm for gardening,” Petterson says, surrounded by the more than 15,000 books filling every nook and cranny of his six-plus room bookstore. A passionate gardener himself, Kent, alongside his wife, Abby Farr-Petterson, warmly welcomed customers to their home and other interim locations before finding this place in 2000. Terrace Horticultural Books has since evolved into a dirt-lover’s destination, offering one of the largest stocks of garden books, periodicals, catalogs, and ephemera related to plants in North America. From vintage seeds and tools to hand-illustrated plant catalogs to circa 1900 garden magazines, the store constantly changes to give its loyal customers that special something they simply can’t find elsewhere. Let’s just say that when Martha Stewart found herself with some free time in St. Paul a few years back, she spent the afternoon browsing (and buying) at this unique little slice of gardener’s heaven.
Photo by Eric Moore
ABOVE Gather a group of garden enthusiasts and enjoy “Tea at Terrace” by appointment in the lush gardens surrounding St. Paul’s Terrace Horticultural Books.
RIGHT Owner Kent Petterson’s passion for all things garden- and plant-related led him to amass a collection of more than 15,000 books—ranging from landscape design to botanical illustration to gardening history, and everything in between.
6 ISSUES (1 YEAR)
