Reviews (1)

Gardening seventy years ago....
Editor and writer Michael Pollen has added Richardson Wright's THE GARDENER'S BED BOOK (first published in 1929) to the Modern Library Garden Series. Although Wright included an entry for every day of the year plus a longer piece for each of the first 11 months, I read about ten pages a night and thus finished it in about a month. Wright was the editor-in-chief of House and Garden for thirty four years. He and his wife were upscale, maintaining homes in New York City and Connecticut. He had a hired gardener to help him mind his acreage and apparently room for pigs and chickens.Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. Gardening / General   

Reviews (2)

A rich and inspiring look at gardens!
I found this an excellent and far-reaching book, beautifully organized into six "metaphors"--faith, power, ordering, cultural expression, personal expression and healing. This is a book for someone interested in exploring the deeper meaning and symbolism of gardens throughout history and in a variety of cultures, as well as the contemporary art of the garden and the exciting trend in community gardening.I found the section on healing particularly moving.

generally good but a bit esoteric and queer at times
This book was very theoretical, not very practical. It had a lot of examples, some of which were very interesting. But some of the examples were quite strange and weird which makes the book sometimes a bit nonsensical. I would recommend it if you are looking for examples of overly-spiritual gardens not for normal everyday gardening. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Design    3. Essays    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardens    6. Landscape    7. Religious aspects    8. Social aspects    9. Symbolic aspects    10. Architecture / Landscape    11. Composers & musicians    12. Garden design & planning    13. Landscape art & architecture   

Reviews (10)

Inspirational
I love this book so much that I bought several copies and gave them as gifts to gardener friends and relatives.The photos are stunning and the author is opinionated, but I enjoy that.Highly recommended.

For avant-gardist gardening snobs
Thomas Hobbs is, at least in the persona he presents in this book, an avant-gardist gardening snob.He sees gardening as a fashion-driven art, where trendy plants are to be discarded as soon as they become too popular with the petit bourgeoisie, for whom his contempt is made clear on almost every page of text. Some of this stuff can't be spoofed, because it's impossible to be more catty than Hobbs here (block quotes preceded by ** and italics presented as ALL CAPS):
Most beautiful gardening book I've ever seen
As a garden designer and writer, I travel widely to broaden my horizons. Prior to a recent trip to Vancouver, I had thought that I had seen it all - there simply were no more new garden design inspirations anywhere for me. Then I saw Thomas Hobbs garden and was completely blown away. His garden is the most beautiful I have ever seen. I discovered this book (which includes his garden)when it won an award at from my garden writers group. Like his garden, it is the most beautiful book I have ever seen. Even though I live in Florida, I am filled with new ideas, particularly for mixing textures and foliage color. Thank you, Thomas, for this exciting inspiration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Garden Design    3. Gardening    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardening/Plants    6. General    7. Landscape    8. Landscape gardening    9. Gardening / Garden Design   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Essays    3. Europe - General    4. Europe - Italy    5. Garden Design    6. Gardening / Horticulture    7. Gardens    8. Gardens, Italian    9. History    10. History: World    11. Italy    12. Landscape Architecture And Design    13. Landscape Design And Planting    14. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    15. Garden design & planning    16. Gardens, Italian--History    17. History / Europe / General    18. c 1700 to c 1800    19. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Anthropology - General    3. Customs & Traditions    4. Essays    5. Ethnobotany    6. Flowers    7. Flowers - General    8. Gardening / Horticulture    9. History    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Social Science    12. Social aspects    13. Sociology    14. Anthropology    15. Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural   

Subjects:  1. Botany (General)    2. Essays    3. Flowers - General    4. Gardening    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. Gardens    8. Horticulture (General)    9. Flowers    10. Gardening / Essays   

Editorial Review

Mitchell is a miracle in the world of garden writing, where so much careful prose instructs with patronizing intent. Henry Mitchell blazes, bullies, roars, then whispers, awed by the beauty he enables us to see through his eyes. This is a man who once took two weeks off from work so that he could watch his iris bloom. Here his failures and foibles are cataloged along with his triumphant successes. He grew water lilies from seed, achieving a single plant instead of the expected 50, but as he admits, 50 would really have been a bit much, while one seedling water lily became a source of considerable delight to the proud parent. To prevent heat stroke in water-lily season (Washington, D.C., summers are fierce), he cooled off by eating iced Walla Walla onion sandwiches as he gazed at the flowers for two or three minutes at a stretch before the intense heat won out. Quirky, funny, wise, and impassioned, this book is a lasting treat, the kind that rewards each year's rereading with fresh insights and heartfelt laughter. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Gardening essays to beat the winter blahs....
Okay, it's the middle of winter, Christmas is past, and now is the time to break out the gardening catalogs and begin plotting the new growing year. According to Henry Mitchell, we can enjoy the garden year-round if we plan strategically and the middle of winter is a good time to begin. This book is a delight
This book is a delight and a pleasure to read aloud. The author has helped us focus on spring planting even though the wind chill factor has been -35 degrees most of the weekend. One Man's Garden helps "cure" thecabin fever that rages at this time of year in the northeast. Well worththe money it's a refreshing window into the love of gardening. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Washington Metropolitan Area    6. Gardening / Essays    7. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)   

Reviews (5)

Heartily disappointed.
I have no problems with the premise of the book -- that is why I am read it. I have always believed strongly in an intuitive approach to garden design. The problem that I have with reading this book is the excessive wordiness. Several online reviews of her life's work say more in a paragraph or two than the entire first half of the book -- and say it much better. Messervy is a master at saying the same thing with seventeen varieties of repetition. ENOUGH! -- LET'S MOVE ON, JULIE!
A book on the psychology of gardesn
Unlike most garden books that focus on individual design elements of gardening, this one focuses on how to identify the atmosphere and mood of the garden you want to create.The author tells readers to think back tothose places that have given them the greatest joy and ease, either aschildren or as adults, and to use the memory of these places in creating aretreat or garden of the mind in one's own yard.You should read this bookbefore all others

Putting Foundations Under your Dream Garden
Messervy has found a way to codify something that seemed vague to me: the "feel" of a landscape, or how a person reacts to a space.She breaks landscape forms down into 7 "archetypes," lists the features of each, then suggests ways to use this new understanding in designing your own yard or garden.I suddenly realized, for example, that the narrow, paved alleys coming off my tiny city backyard weren't necessarily the problem and disappointment I had always considered them, but were featuresI could play up and turn to advantage.(They had always tempted me to walk to the end -- now I just have to make that journey worthwhile.)I was just bursting with ideas after reading this book, able to look at my tiny space with new eyes.The archetypal business isn't just pleasantly mystical but is also practical, backed up with sophisticated but down-to-earth ideas.It's a different kind of garden design book that gets you to think of the overall "f! eel" (not look) you want first (the step missing from most gardening books), and then figure out how to actually construct it -- a satisfying blend of mythic/artistic with practical and well-organized.(And as a bonus, the photos are drop-dead gorgeous!) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Design    2. Essays    3. Garden Design    4. Gardening    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. Gardens    8. Pictorial works    9. Garden design & planning    10. Gardening / Essays   

Reviews (5)

Another delightful read!
This is the second volume in the Merry Hall trilogy, a set of books that focuses on Beverley Nichols' home life while he resides at Merry Hall, not his work life (which is presumably covered in his multi-volume autobiography). Where the first volume focused almost exclusively on the rehabilitation of the garden portion of his newly-purchased property, Laughter on the Stairs focuses on the re-doing of the house, interspersed with stories of local goings-on.
Wonderful Reading
Magical writing and so descriptive, from another era, gossipy, funny and at times thoughful. Great insight into Beverley Nichols life. Recommend this to anyone who enjoys gardening and life in general.

Life in the big house....
In LAUGHTER ON THE STAIRS, Nichols continues his tale of the restoration of Merry Hall and it's grounds.Just after WWII, Nichols purchased a derelict Georgian House and it's tattered grounds, and with the help of his 'man' Gaskins, and the able Oldfield, who had worked the grounds for most of his life, he began a restoration project.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1899-    2. 20th century    3. Authors, English    4. Biography    5. England    6. Essays    7. Fiction    8. Gardeners    9. Gardening    10. Gardening / Horticulture    11. General    12. Homes and haunts    13. Nichols, Beverley,    14. Popular English Fiction    15. Surrey    16. Gardening / Reference    17. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)    18. Nichols, Beverley    19. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (2)

charmed by gardens
The best word for this book is "charming." It will satisfy anyone who enjoys gardens and fabulous illustrations and quotes.If you are a fan of Laura Stoddart's artwork, then this book is a must have.It is a great not-too-small-not-too-big size, excellent quality, and makes a great conversation piece on the coffee table.You don't have to be a gardener yourself to enjoy Stoddart's charming collection. I live in an 11 story apartment, with no yard of my own, but reading this book makes me feel as though I've taken a trip to the countryside.

Sweet humor....
THE SWEET LIFE is a short book filled with somewhat profound thoughts Laura Stoddart compiled from famous and not-so-famous sources and beautiful illustrations she apparently drew.She thanks her father for the words and her mother for the pictures.Those familiar with A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES might appreciate THE SWEET LIFE as the adult version of a garden of verses.Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Gardens    6. General    7. Home    8. Quotations    9. Quotations, maxims, etc    10. Gardening / General    11. Home & House Maintenance   

Reviews (1)

A New York Times Gift Book of the Year Selection
"The Gardener's Life is more frankly decorative, but it, too, offers variety and charm. Without the overkill of a shelter magazine, this book integrates its floral pinupswith nice old lawn-mower and picket-fence pictures, the better to dream up a well-rounded rustic fantasy."
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Subjects:  1. Anecdotes    2. Essays    3. Games    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Gardeners    6. Gardening    7. Gardening / Horticulture    8. Gardens    9. United States    10. Word & Word Search    11. Gardening / General   

Reviews (2)

A cozy read
Cast yourself back to England circa the 1920s-30s, snuggle up in a comfy chair by the fireside, and get ready to be drawn into the life of Beverley Nichols, the village of "Allways," and the story of how a centuries-old thatched cottage was restored. A great vacation from the 21st century, cell phones, and the hurried/harried life.

A Thatched Roof - Book 2 of the Allways Trilogy
Delightful reading by a wonderful writer.Although Nichols claim to fame is that of a garden writer, this book spends less time gardening (than the first) and more time repairing, and discoveringhis cottage at Allways.Nevertheless, whether read by a gardener or not, it is a wonderful and quick read as the author takes us in and out and up and down throughout his cottage as he attempts to make it not only habitable, but civilized.I look foward to the rest of this trilogy and his other 'gardening' books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cambridgeshire (England)    2. Country life    3. Essay    4. Essays    5. Fiction    6. Gardeners    7. Gardening    8. Gardening / Horticulture    9. Gardening/Plants    10. Home Gardening    11. Gardening / Essays    12. Other prose: from c 1900 -    13. The countryside, country life   

Reviews (1)

A must for anyone interested in gardening or history!
To truly understand something you have to dig into its past.An Illustrated History of Gardening gives gardeners a glimpse into how gardens have impacted civilization and how little of our art is new.When in thegarden I have a better connection with those who came before me.Lots ofhistorical illustrations, great for anyone creating a period garden.Alsodiscusses the tools of the gardener, most of my most dependable tools havebeen designed by ancient civilizations.Also gives ground to what allgardeners know, gardening is essential to civilization. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. History    7. Horticulture (General)    8. Pictorial works    9. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)    10. Reference / Handbooks & Manuals   

Reviews (1)

Another charming book!
If you've enjoyed other books by Beverley Nichols or those by P.G. Wodehouse, this is a book for you.The charming recipes and antedotes make for a delightful reading experience.This book is worth the cost for the Mayonnaisse chapter alone! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essay    2. Essays    3. Gardening    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardening/Plants    6. Gardening / Essays    7. Gardening: plants   

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. General    4. Lembke, Janet    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Vegetable gardening    8. Gardening   

Reviews (6)

Good specifics on pasture
I liked Logsdon't specifics on the effects of different kinds of pasture. I think he misses an important opportunity with his unstructured grazing--See Joel Salatin's Salad Bar Beef for balance. The intense management of grazing (Salatin) makes a more sanitary environment and eliminates the need for antibiotics. Salatin is indifferent to the choices of grass variety on which Logsdon devotes so much time. The two authors provide complementaryperspectives, including different details. Logsdon discusses fencing in some detail--I share his reluctance to depend on electric fence for boundaries-Salatin dismisses it and goes all electric. Both authors are persuasive advocates for grass fed beef.

interesting book
I found this book to be well writtten and thought out. It is full of interesting ideas some of which I will be trying myself.

A pleasant surpise!
I picked up this book along with a half dozen or so others on small farms, pasture farming, and hobby farms. My intention is to turn 10 or so acres into semi-self reliant, possibly profitable (10 cents more than it cost would be acceptable), low maintenance farm.
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Subjects:  1. Agriculture - Agronomy    2. Essays    3. Forage plants    4. General    5. Grazing    6. Industries - Agribusiness    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Pastures    10. Crop husbandry    11. Technology / Agriculture / Sustainable Agriculture   

Reviews (2)

New Herb Bible Growing and Knowing Your Herbs
The book is well written and has excellent pictures detailing each herb.I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about many common herbs, their history and their uses.

Good overview....
THE NEW HERB BIBLE was written by a garden designer, a beautician, and an osteopath/naturopath.The authors provide a much useful information about the major herbs used in cooking, cosmetics, and healing.Some of the material is quite good, but there are omissions and discrepancies the novice will not catch. The book is filled with many lovely photographs, a must for best selling gardening books these days, but not always an indicator the text is the most comprehensive, accurate, or current.Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Herbal Medications    6. Herbs    7. Specific Ingredients - Herbs, Spices, Condiments    8. Gardening / General   

Reviews (3)

Fun moments and gardening reflections.
While RADICAL PRUNINGS is fiction, any gardener will relish the opinionated reflections of one Mertensia Corydalis, a cutting set of vicarious garden reflections presenting the 'collected horticultural columns' and catalog of a prickly botanical advice writer. Any gardener will find it filled with fun moments and gardening reflections.
A fun read
This book is at times a hoot!A little confusing to begin with as I thought it was strictly a gardening book, however, anyone with a sense of humor (the darker the better) will get a kick out of the author's fictitious persona and hopefully, fictitious gardening columns.There are actually some pretty good horticultural gems, as well.

Radically Funny
Life at Miltonhurst is organized around two things--gardening and the Q & A column of one Miss Mertensia Corydalis. As for the rest--not so organized. She comes from a long line of expert gardeners--it is in her blood, but please, please, don't ask her about lawn care. This makes her blood boil.
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Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Fiction - General    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Humor    6. Humorous    7. Fiction / Humorous   

Reviews (1)

Outstanding Quide!
Very easy to use reference on PA gardening.Not only includes information on plants that do well in the state, but planting and care instructions.Extensive list of PA gardens to visit will keep you busy for years to come.Detailed zone chart for the state is provided.I would recommended this for the beginner as well as experienced gardener.Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Landscape gardening    6. Landscape plants    7. Pennsylvania    8. Regional - Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)    9. Gardening / Regional / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)   

Reviews (9)

nice photos, limited use
Although this book has beautiful photos and snappy dialogue, realize that it is a collection of essays. This book does not have chapters, per se, and not exhaustive discussions, but the essays are by two very experienced gardeners. Gardening advice is charmingly presented, but in a piecemeal fashion. It makes for entertaining and enjoyable winter reading but for more practical advice in dry climates with hot summers and cold winters, I find Lauren Springer's book The Undaunted Garden, to be much more helpful. It has plant lists that Passionate Gardening doesn't have. I read Passionate Gardening for inspiration and for vicarious gardening experience, but when it comes down to doing things, I use other books. Realize also, that Passionate Gardening isn't necessarily Xeriscape oriented, featuring at least a few essays where plants require regular moisture(e.g. the essay on lilies, and one on roses).

Fun and Fabulous!
This book is chock full of information for challenging climates and written with a wonderful sense of humor.I've read my copy again and again!Although not written for gardeners in the OH area, there are useful ideas and plant combinations that I have used successfully in my own garden.I LOVE this book - I wish they would write more.

A lovely, inspirational book
I'm a beginning gardener and live in Colorado.Springer and Proctor's book has inspired me and given me reams of useful information to improve my garden.I may not be ready to plant thousands of plants a year as they do, but their short essays have given me the ideas and information to focus on bit by bit.The photos, mostly of Springer's foothills garden and Proctor's city garden, are beautiful and excellent as plant combination possibilities.I can't recommend this book enough, particularly for Western gardeners. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - General    2. Agroclimatology    3. Climatic - General    4. Essays    5. Floriculture    6. Gardening    7. Gardening / Horticulture    8. Gardening/Plants    9. Reference    10. Regional - General    11. Techniques