It’s that time of year when Philadelphia row home owners with a green thumb fastidiously attend to their window boxes – selecting new plants to design an artful blend of colors, shapes and textures.
Sonja Dümpelmann is a historian of landscapes and the built environment who lived in Philly from 2019 to 2023. During this time, she researched how female reformers and activists in Philadelphia in the 19th and 20th centuries tended to window-box gardens both for charity and to spur urban renewal in rundown neighborhoods.…