Reviews (2)

Most enjoyable writing I have found on the Japanese garden
The author made Kyoto his home after graduating from Cornell University's department of landscape architecture, first as a research fellow of Kyoto University, and later as a landscape architect and writer. He is currently adjunct professor at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and splits his time between lecturing and praticing landscape architecture from his offices in Ithaca, New York.
A Leisurely Look at the Spirit of Gardening
The Art of Setting Stones is a distillation of Mr. Keane's considerable knowledge and experience of Japanese gardens.Mr. Keane is a successful and sought-after landscape architect by profession, but his writings on Japanese gardens are scholarly yet accessible, informative yet enthralling.He consistently demonstrates a synthesis of profession and intellect, art and soul. Read more

Subjects:  1. Anecdotes    2. Design - General    3. Essays    4. Gardening    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. Gardens    8. General    9. Japan    10. Japanese Gardens - General    11. Kyoto    12. Nature    13. Keane, Marc P    14. Nature / General   

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

Reviews (7)

SMALL size
I ordered this book and returned it due to the extremely ridiculous small size. It is about the size of a CD. I had read this book in the library at the full size and the small size ("Compact edition") doesn't even compare. If you really want this book, get the full size. Otherwise it isn't worth it.

book SIZE
My order just came and was I disappointed.The book is beautiful yet the size is absurd.Measures 5 3/8 by 6 1/4 inches.This is not stated anywhere in the book desription.I just assumed it would be the standard 8 1/2 by 11 inches.I KNEW it wasn't the coffee table size but this size is just not suitable for this type of book.I will be returning it.

The Most Fabulous Book of Flowers!
This is one of the best flower books I have ever seen! Richly illustrated, with many details, and glorious color! I am a painter, so these are very important for an illustrated book. A must have for all flower lovers! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Flowers    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants   

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

Reviews (1)

a gentle, sublime, and moving read you will return to
This book strikes me (maybe that description is too harsh for such a book) as an informative, healing, and spiritually-thoughtful book. I felt like I was being wrapped in a glowy, enveloping, surrogate home every time I picked it up, which is more often now since I seek more comfort these days in our insecure world. The writer chronicles each month of the year in terms of gardening, so that you are doing something garden-related, even in the Winter months, when most of us are just pipe-dreaming of the first sprout of the year. There are so many ideas and so many questions the writer poses to you, many involving your inner self, that it will take some time to process it all. Luckily, you can work on these questions monthly, and pick and choose whichever month of the year you want to pore over (I couldn't resist). There are also sonnets and other literary entries by various writers, which will surely make you ponder or simply smile. This book made me take notice of all the life around me, down to the grass growing outside, and to live more in the season and the moment. You may be inspired or spurred to take action once reading this delightful book, and don't be fooled by its docile, calming nature. Great change can spring forth from such quiet contemplation. I have begun to live this truth. Maybe it will help you live a more healthy, vivacious and thoughtful life, or maybe it will just bring you home. Either way, it will certainly help you create change within yourself and your life. I think in just the small excerpts I would read at times, I would gleen some replenishing freedom for my oft-parched soul, and it is sometimes just what I needed. I hope you, too, find some freedom in just such a book. Ultimately, this is a useful book that was written to guide you through your spiritual growth AND your gardening (it doesn't get much better than that) in a way that a gardener can understand and relate to, to the molten, stormy core. I must say that there are many things in this book which I did not mention, as I am sure you will find them yourself, with your own unique perspective.I thought I found this book; but truly, this book found ME. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. Healing - General    7. Spiritual    8. Spirituality - General    9. Gardening / General   

Reviews (1)

A wonderful book!
This is a wonderful book to keep by your bedside or to share with friends and family. It's more than a book about gardening, although gardeners everywhere will love it. This book celebrates the human spirit. It shows us the power of a dream, the ability of one person partnering with others to transform her corner of the world. These stories remind us that we all have the power to bring peace and harmony into our world. Read more

Subjects:  1. Anecdotes    2. Essays    3. Gardeners    4. Gardening    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. Gardens    8. General    9. Motivational & Inspirational    10. United States    11. Gardening / Essays   

Reviews (1)

Beyond Gardening
What a fun book!Stronger than Dirt is a funny, fun, interesting look into the world of farming -- through formerly non-farmers' eyes.Told in a "he says, she says" format, you're able to see both sides of a funny -- and true -- story.Ms. Schaye's descriptions of the heat, sweat, labor, and truly beautiful countryside contrast with Mr. Losee's idealistic, optimistic, and realistic descriptions of the -- heat, sweat, and labor -- that went into starting their farm in Upstate New York.Their "truthful" and "no-holds-barred" writing style lets you feel their pains, triumphs, and successes almost first-hand.Even though my thumb is beyond black and I am not really into gardening, I enjoyed this book for the unusual and charming story that it is.I found myself laughing with their humor, and wincing with their setbacks, and I loved hearing about their families' reactions. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Family farms    3. Farm life    4. Gardening    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. New York    8. Pine Plains    9. Schaye, Kimberly    10. Gardening / Essays    11. Losee, Christopher   

Reviews (5)

REMINDS ME OF GIFTS FROM THE SEA
This author has a way with description and words.It's almost soothing to read her book.She reminds me of Anne Morrow Lindburg in her book GIFTS FROM THE SEA.I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to slow down, relax and get blessed in the process.

You don't need a green thumb to enjoy this beautiful book
At first glance, Laurie Kehler's Gardening Mercies looks like another pretty gardening book--which I happen to love--but then once you enter the pretty pages, it's so much more. A wonderfully written devotional with depth and wisdom that draws the reader closer to God, but unlike many devotionals, is light on the saccharine, heavy on the 'real.' And funny, too! An example: "I used to be a high-maintenance morning person. Before I found out my thyroid was too slow, mornings were almost a battleground between my husband and me... I was like the TV character Maude on steroids." You can't get much more real than that! Thanks, Laurie, for writing such a refreshingly honest devotional that I could relate to--and for not being afraid to get your hands dirty: gardening--and life--involves hard work and deep digging before we can get to the beauty. This one has it all, even for gardeners like myself: lovely descriptions of beloved flowers--and gorgeous illustrations--spiritual probing and wisdom, candor, and great touches of humor!

Sure to bring growth in your garden and in your soul!
From a reader who has bookshelves filled with devotionals, I have to say that "Gardening Mercies" is one of my favorites. I was pleasantly surprised by the heart-felt stories, the deep spiritual applications, and especially by Kehler's honesty concerning the matters of the soul. As a wanna-be gardener, Kehler's book gave me even more appreciation for the flowers that I tend. And as a Christian striving for a closer relationship with Christ, I am reminded that the Lover of my soul can see a deeper beauty in me than I can imagine and will faithfully tend His own. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Devotional    3. English    4. Essays    5. Gardeners    6. Gardens    7. Meditations    8. Prayer-books and devotions    9. Religion    10. Religion - Inspirational/Spirituality    11. Religion - Prayer & Spirituality    12. Religious aspects    13. Spirituality - General   

Reviews (2)

A beautiful discussion of the soul-enriching wonders of gardening
Journalist and award-winning writer Donna Sinclair presents The Spirituality of Gardening, a beautiful discussion of the soul-enriching wonders of gardening. Chapters discuss gardening as connection, balance, memory, healing, hope, spiritual practice, and resistance throughout the ages, and the beautiful full-color photography throughout illustrates breathtaking close-ups of flowers and wide-angle views of trees at sunrise and sunset. The thoughtful text reflects upon the author's personal awakening through gardening, ancient parables, the bounty of the earth, being thankful for the joy of life, and more. The Spirituality of Gardening is not a practical how-to book, but rather an inviting treasure especially for gardening and book lovers, to be savored for personal inspiration and reflection.
Inspirational Writing and Beautiful Images
This book is a 'must have' for anyone who loves gardening! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Prayer    3. Religion    4. Religion - Inspirational/Spirituality    5. Spirituality - General    6. Gardening    7. Mind, body, spirit: disciplines & techniques   

Reviews (9)

Green Thoughts
Interesting tidbits of information not found elsewhere.Author carps constantly which gets in the way of enjoyable reading.Author doesn't know there is a US beyond the East Coast.

Adored this book
What a wonderful experience to spend time with this intelligent, funny, morally secure woman. She's an elegant writer with a wealth of gardening knowledge.Her views on organic gardening, composting, etc. are now widely recognized as correct.Her taste, which she does not hesitate to reveal, is impeccable. One of the best gardening books I've ever read. I hope the years since this book was published have been very kind to Ms. Perenyi and her Stonington, Conn. garden.

Woman's work.....
Eleanor Perenyi's book GREEN THOUGHTS is a memoir of sorts. She apparently never wrote another book on gardening, but as Alan Lacy says, sooner or later every writer who gardens will write a book about gardening. At the time her book was published in 1981, she had worked in her own garden in New England for a number of years. She says she had been gardening for 30 years, but does not indicate if she is including the years she lived in Hungary her birthplace. She was an immigrant who migrated first to Europe and then to America where she worked in New York as editor of Madamoiselle and lived and gardened in New England.Her detailed observations about gardening are of limited use to those who live and garden elsewhere in the States. However, Perenyi has many wise 'thoughts' that can be acted on in almost any garden, including the advice `don't be overly neat' - something that's taken me a while to appreciate.Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. History    7. Home Gardening    8. United States    9. Gardening / General    10. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Botany (General)    2. Essays    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants    5. History    6. Horticulture (General)    7. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    8. Nature    9. Plants - General    10. BOTANISTS    11. BOTANY_HISTORY    12. British Isles    13. Gardening / General    14. Gardening: plants    15. PLANTS    16. Plant life: general    17. Science / Botany   

Editorial Review

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "sensuous" to mean "affecting the senses, especially aesthetically," and Montagu Don's Read more

Reviews (5)

Entertaining the Sixth Sense....
I garden year round, am a photographer of sorts, and I collect garden and art books. THE SENSUOUS GARDEN by Monty Don is a new kind of book with a fresh approach to garden photography, one that takes the viewer up-close-and-personal and arouses the five senses as well as what Don calls the sixth sense or intuition. I don't know if my intuition is involved, but Don's photographs affect my various senses and the whole effect is greater than the sum of the parts. This is a beautiful book filled with beautiful pictures. Opened my eyes when I thought I could see
This is an incredible book, and it isn't just for gardeners or those who like flowers.This book can be read by all to their benefit.The pictures alone are worth the price, but what the author has to say along with his pictures has radically changed my view of the world and the beauty of nature. The words are as beautiful as the photos
The words are as beautiful as the photos of the gardens. It makes you want to go out and plant a garden this moment.This is one of my favorite gift books. I have copied some of the words and keep them on my computer for quiet moments or to send to someone in an email. A perfect book.I never tire of reading through it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Gardens    6. General    7. Home Gardening    8. Reference    9. Senses and sensation    10. Gardening / Techniques   

Reviews (3)

Trip down memory lane...via the garden path
The TWO GARDENERS in question are Katherine White of New Yorker fame and Elizabeth Lawrence who wrote a garden column for years for the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. White's columns on gardening written for the New Yorker magazine were compiled by her husband E. B. White (CHARLOTTE'S WEB, STUART LITTLE) and published after her death in 1977 in the book entitled ONWARD AND UPWARD IN THE GARDEN.Lawrence wrote a number of books, including THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE and THE LITTLE BULBS. Her book THE MARKET BULLETINS was completed by the New Jersey gardener Alan Lacy. The market bulletins were wonderful publications farm women in the South used to communicate information about seeds, plants, animals, receipts (what they called recipes), and other items they for sale or being sought. Elizabeth shared a good deal of information about the market bulletins which were not published north of Virginia with Katherine whose one interests lay with garden catalogues when their friendship began. Letters, we've got letters
As the editor of TWO GARDENERS/KATHARINE S. WHITE AND ELIZABETH LAWRENCE, I welcome hearing from readers. I am now writing the biography of Elizabeth Lawrence and would benefit from hearing others' understanding of her, both in these letters and in her books.Emily Herring Wilson

The inspiration for a modern perennial garden!
Delightful!The correspondence of 19 years between White and Lawrence is insightful, informative and elegant!Their letterse (far more elegant than e-mail) give us glimpses into life in the 60's and 70's and beyond.This book, which is expertly edited by Emily Herring Wilson has inspired a perennial garden at our Wisconsin home and a renewed interest in the writings of E.B. White, not to mention the writings of Katharine White and Elizabeth Lawrence.These two career women and ladie were supportive and encouraging of one another for 19 years! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Charlotte    3. Correspondence    4. Essays    5. Flowers - General    6. Gardening    7. Gardening/Plants    8. Maine    9. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    10. North Brooklin    11. North Carolina    12. Women    13. Women gardeners    14. Biography: general    15. Gardening / General   

Editorial Review

Like books, some flowers are merely pretty to look at, while others are pure romance. Read more

Reviews (4)

A useful starting point for the non-specialist
While I must bow to the expertise of the first two reviewers, who seem to have done much more research on the topic of flowers and their meanings than I have, I found the book to be a useful initiation into a subject I previously knew nothing about. I am currently online looking for other books on the subject because I found it so compelling. Think of it as an art book, not a reference.
If you are looking for something to lay on a table & look pretty, you may find something worth buying in this book:The cover is very pretty, and the subtitle, "Myth, Language & Lore" gives a suggestion of depth and sensitivity.If, however you have any intention of cracking the cover in search of useful information, go find something else. A unique view of flowers, an enjoyable experience
This book is not to be bought as a reference book for a complete history of flowers and their names. It is a synergistic combination of pictures and words. It is to be experienced as a greeting card from the flowers to you,a photographic essay about flowers and the way they can touch you. Thewords and pictures are witty and inventive. See this book not as areference work, but as a special gift for a flower lover and you will bepleased. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Flower language    3. Flowers    4. Folklore & Mythology - Folklore    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. Nature    8. Reference    9. Symbolism    10. Symbolism of flowers    11. Floral crafts    12. Folklore    13. Gardening / Reference   

Reviews (5)

Wonderful and quick read!
I brought this as one of those suggested sells, you know the "people who brought blah blah blah also brought this book" . . . so I did.And boy am I glad I did! Karel Capek is a wonderful author who struck a resounding chord in the heart and soul of this gardener.It was not only wonderfully clever but inspired me to tend to my little rooted, green outdoor children and give them bushels of attention, care and compost ASAP!!!Loved it!

Lowdown on Gardeners
This is the best book about gardeners I know of.With grace and humor, this book delightfully explores the glories and foibles of serious amateur gardeners.Any garden nut who reads this book without laughing and almost crying over this inciteful outing of the gardener's soul is a callous person indeed.

Eternal spring....
I don't know much about Czech literature, so I don't know if the Prague Spring had anything to do with the writing of Karel Capek, but I would not be surprised to discover a connection. "Leaves wither because spring is already beginning, because new buds are being made, as tiny percussion caps out of which the spring will crack....if we could only see that secret swarming of the future within us, we should say that our melancholy and distrust is silly and absurd and that the best thing of all is to be..living.."Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. Home Gardening    7. Gardening / General    8. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)   

Subjects:  1. Essay    2. Essays    3. Gardening    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardening/Plants    6. Urban    7. Gardening / Essays    8. Gardening: plants   

Reviews (1)

First-rate writers, who happen to garden
Two old friends, who also happen to be two of England's best known gardeners--correspond for two years in this absorbing and heart-warming book.The conversation was intended to be about their respective gardens and nurseries, and the reader who loves gardens will be richly rewarded.But the correspondence ranges much further--to music, food, family, friends, colleagues, and, inevitably , the weather. Beth Chatto's luminous intelligence and courageous openness set off the forthright and irrepressible Christopher Lloyd.This is a book about love, life, and plants, and a real winner. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening    5. General    6. Biography: general    7. Gardening/Plants   

Reviews (3)

Excellent history and biography of plant hunters
This book is in a way the "Laertus" of botanical explorers, full of information and gossip, descriptions of the historical periods in which the explorations took place, and the technologies and economics driving the field forward. All of this in a great, slightly sarcastic tone that makes it a real page turner. A fast paced overview of horticultural collecting
In the wake of reading ORCHID FEVER, I looked for other books that dealt with the plant hunters -- particularly of the 19th century. What I found was this wonderful book that is even broader in scope, providing a fastpaced review of highlights in mankind's never ending task of collecting,naming and growing plants. The author does not try to present onlysensationalized material, and doesn't try to be "complete," butinstead gives a wonderful and highly readable overview of the field. Highlyrecommended.

The triumphs and disasters in plant hunting
This exciting and in depth book contains excellent information on the many exploits of plant hunters around the world.It recites tales of both failures and successes.The author has a talent for weaving theseincredible tales into stories you won't soon forget. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Botanical specimens    2. Botany (General)    3. Collection and preservation    4. Essays    5. Gardening / Horticulture    6. Gardening/Plants    7. History    8. Life Sciences - Botany    9. Plant collecting    10. Plant collectors    11. Reference    12. Science    13. Botany & plant sciences    14. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    15. History of specific subjects   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Essays    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    6. Women    7. Biography: general    8. Gardening / Essays   

Reviews (2)

Humorous & informative gardening sketches
The short essays in this book are highly entertaining and informative, shedding light on many little-known aspects of gardening history.Elliott writes with humor and wit, and with a self-effacing posture that is disarming.

Macho gardener.....
Charles Elliott proves one thing, being an expert in one subject does not necessarily make you an expert in another.Elliott writes well and entertainingly, but his book THE POTTING SHED PAPERS leads me to believe he does not understand gardening or the natural world.To hear Elliott tell it, men invented gardening and have been responsible for gardening and exploring the natural word ever since. Has he never heard of Vita Sackville, Gertrude Jekyll, Katherine White, Elizabeth Lawrence, Eleanor Perenyi, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard, Louise Beebe Wilder, Margaret Murie, Katherine Scherman, Betty Flanders Thompson, Mary Austin, Maria Audubon, and many other women gardeners and naturalists? Oh yes, he gives them a nod here and there, but the focus of his essays are men and their experiences. Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Flowers - General    3. Gardening    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardening/Plants    6. Gardening / Essays    7. Other prose: from c 1900 -