It’s cold and bleak and I won’t be able to put spade to soil for another 3 months, so please recommend me some books to carry me through.
I just finished The Orchid Thief, and I’ve been reading In the Land of the Blue Poppies by Frank Kingdon Ward. I’m also a big fan of Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire.
So let’s share some more books about plants and gardening to keep us enthused for spring!
Michael Pollan wrote another book: Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education. It’s about his creating his own garden – and, naturally, all kinds of other stuff as well. I liked it very much.
The Essential Earthman, One Man’s Garden, and Henry Mitchell on Gardening by Henry Mitchell. Home Ground and The Gardener’s Eye by Allen Lacy. Making Things Grow Outdoors by Thalassa Cruso. Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi.
Most of the books are collections of essays; Thalassa Cruso’s book is an exception, being more a story of how she and her husband transformed a long-neglected estate back into a pleasant piece of property over a period of several decades. The authors come from all over, and have very strong (and in some cases, sharply contrasting) opinions on gardening matters. I read many of these books years ago, and they’ve still stuck with me.
One of my all-time favorites is Gardens of Obsession. I think good taste is highly overrated.
Really enjoyed The Orchid Thief and have owned Making Things Grow for years, rereading it every now and then.
Does anyone else get Green Prints? It is a gardening magazine unlike any other, it is not glossy, not full of adverts, very down to earth (no pun intended.)
Sometimes it can be a bit Chicken Soup for the Gardenerish, but sometimes, especially in the middle of February, I am in the mood for that kind of stuff.
Not exactly about gardening, but related and a most enjoyable read. :“A Book of Bees”, by Sue Hubbell. As a longtime gardener I’ve come to be fascinated by honeybees, and how and what they do for us. Where would we bee without them? It’s just a smattering of tech stuff, with a lot of warmth, good humor, common sense and the joys of nature. I highly recommend it.
Some good suggestions here! I’ve been meaning to read “A Book of Bees” for a long time but completely forgot about it. And I’ll definitely check out the other Michael Pollan book.