More great garden books
Are you looking for an outstanding garden book, one that's a keeper and you refer to over and over?
I asked some of my fellow garden writers to recommend the best garden books they read last year. (Click here to read the first part of this discussion, which is filled with even more recommendations.)
Mentors in the garden and in life
鈥淢y favorite is 鈥樷�� by Colleen Plimpton ($16.95, paperback, Park East Press)," says Martha Stoodley, who blogs at .
鈥淚t is a series of short stories about family, friends, life, plants, and how they all tie together over the course of a lifetime. Really, it's soulful and delicious.鈥�
If you鈥檇 like to see what others think, Martha also provided a link to of 鈥淢entors in the Garden of Life.鈥�
And here鈥檚 of Colleen reading from the book.
Dan Clost, who writes for a Canadian newspaper and is the author of 鈥�,鈥� also recommends 鈥淢entors in The Garden of Life.鈥� In fact, he calls it his 鈥渇avorite read鈥� of the year.
" 鈥楳entors in the Garden of Life鈥� is different from any gardening book I have read,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he pages are filled with the people who colored Colleen's life with the love of gardening. This is a testimony that graces the folks who passed on gardening knowledge, mostly, to her from the earliest days 'til present.
鈥淥ne of Colleen's abilities is the knack of bringing these people to life, so much so that their personages form in your mind so clearly that you might have a conversation with them.鈥�
'Thoughtful Gardening'
Along with several writers in yesterday鈥檚 post, Carolyn Ulrich, editor of , recommends 鈥�Robin Lane Fox's book 鈥淭houghtful Gardening鈥� (Basic Books, $29.95). 鈥淗is short essays are interesting, informative, and based on 40 years of gardening, writing, and traveling to gardens around the world,鈥� she says.
鈥淲hile I was taken aback by his negative opinions of some environmentalists and organic gardeners, I think he is mainly reacting to starry-eyed enthusiasm that can be based more on wishful thinking than evidence. The book is 鈥榯houghtful,鈥� and it does encourage us all to think more cogently about our own positions.鈥�
a wonderful video of Mr. Fox鈥檚 garden and hear him talk about gardening.
Shrubs and vines for your garden
鈥淎s someone who has purchased shrubs from the Gosslers [] for probably close to two decades, I loved their first book, "The Gossler Guide to the Best Hardy Shrubs: More than 350 Expert Choices for Your Garden" by Roger Gossler, Eric Gossler and Marjory Gossler (Timber Press, $34.95),鈥� says Betty Earl, who regularly blogs here at Diggin鈥� It.
鈥淔or all those years, I have enjoyed their casual, but always information-laden catalogs. So I was thrilled when these very practical, experience driven descriptions gleaned in the catalogs were expanded to their 350 favorite shrubs, in book form,鈥� she says.
鈥淭he book has, as most books usually do, advice about the care and maintenance of shrubs, plant categories, and lessons learned from people's gardens. The A to Z plant profiles of the 350 favorite shrubs include the best characteristics of each shrub, the height and spread, and optimum growing conditions; all this accompanied by colorful photographs of the shrubs.
鈥淗owever, for me, the highlight of the book,鈥� she adds, 鈥渋s in the introductory chapters, especially in one titled 鈥楬ow Not to Kill Your Plants,鈥� which gives plenty of advice on how to select, buy, plant, and nurture the new 鈥榮hrubby children.鈥� How can the reader not love such sage advice as, 鈥楩inally, don't be afraid to ask a grower how they raised the plants you are about to buy. Consider it an open adoption: You want to know about the birth parents, what neighborhood the plant came from, whether drugs were involved, and so on. These simple questions can affect the ultimate survival of any purchase.鈥� "
"I'd like to recommend "" (Allan Armitage, Timber Press, $29.95) as a top book of 2010, one that's been needed for a long time," says Sharon Thompson, well-known South Carolina garden writer and speaker.
"It's full of excellent advice delivered in Armitage's usual humor on a plant category that seems so benign at first planting, but can turn on you in the proverbial blink of an eye. He covers the good, bad, and ugly of vineage, introducing little known but well-behaved substitutions for some of Vinelands worst thugs. Suitable for all levels of gardeners."
'Edible Landscaping'
Cathy Wilkinson Barash, who鈥檚 written of her own, including 鈥�Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate,鈥� made a to-the-point comment: 鈥淥f course, I think Ros Creasy鈥檚 '' (Sierra Club Books, $39.95) was a great new book last year."
She鈥檚 talking about the new edition of "The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping," originally published in 1982, which became a classic that growing food didn鈥檛 have to take place in the backyard or be strictly utilitarian.
Calling this book a revision does it an injustice. This book is all new 鈥� and waiting to show a new generation of gardeners that they can have a gorgeous garden and eat it too, as Ros says.
Also a big fan of 鈥淓dible Landscaping鈥� is Nan Sterman, garden designer, TV host, and speaker who blogs and is the author of 鈥溾�� and 鈥淲aterwise Plants for the Southwest.鈥�
鈥淩os Creasy's new 鈥楨dible Landscaping鈥� gets my vote, hands down,鈥� Nan says. 鈥淚t is without a doubt the most beautiful book I've ever seen, and one of the most important books of the year. Her first edition jump-started a revolution in gardening back in the early 1980s. This new edition will have an even bigger impact as a whole new generation is primed for exactly what it offers.
鈥淎nd, in the intervening years,鈥� she adds, 鈥淩os has become the consummate photographer and writer. The book is fabulous.鈥�
I agree that the book is fabulous and will have a more detailed review next week, so you鈥檒l know just why you need to own this gorgeous book.
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Judy Lowe is a long-time garden writer and blogger. Her latest book, about how to create many different types of , has just been published.
