Spring has sprung, and being a Doper, my thoughts naturally turn not only to my garden, but my library of gardening books. I’ve got way too many of them (just as I’ve got way too many books on just about any subject that interests me – but that’s a different thread). These are of three varieties:
[ul]
[li]Technical and reference books – plant IDs, propagation techniques, etc.[/li][li]Coffee-table books (a.k.a. garden porn)[/li][li]Literary books – essays, meditations, etc. Unlike the other two kinds, these may have absolutely no illustrations whatsoever. :eek: [/li][/ul]
I have a lot of all three kinds – but this thread is about the third.
One of the books I’m currently reading in Eleanor Perenyi’s Green Thoughts, a series of essays (some only a page or so, some going on at some length) arranged alphabetically, so it starts with Annuals, Asparagus, Autumn, Azaleas and Rhododendrons … and ends with Weeds, Wild Flowers, and Women’s Place (a long essay I haven’t gotten to yet). I’m enjoying it – I’m reading it an essay or two at a time in between other books. (This, BTW, is part of the Modern Library’s series of reissues of classic literary garden books, several of which I’ve bought, but this is the first I’ve read.)
The series editor on this is Michael Pollan, who’s another writer I like very much. I strongly recommend his Second Nature. He starts out with high ideals and becomes a gardener. Another book by Pollan (which I’ve recommended here at the Dope multiple times before) is The Botany of Desire, about humankind’s quest for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control as illustrated through our interrelationships with four plants (apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes). I’ve regularly recommend the first book to other gardeners – I’ve recommended the latter to non-gardeners as well.
So – what else should I cram into my gardening library?