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With wit and wisdom, an Oxford historian and Financial Times gardening columnist recounts his deep passion and appreciation for gardening.
Turn a shady yard into a sumptuous garden Shade is one of the most common garden situations homeowner’s have, but with the right plant knowledge, you can triumph over challenging areas and learn to embrace shade as an opportunity instead of an obstacle. Glorious Shade celebrates the benefits of shade and shows you how to make the most of it. This information-rich, hardworking guide is packed with everything you need to successfully garden in the shadiest corners of a yard. You'll learn how to determine what type of shade you have and how to choose the right plants for the space. The book also shares the techniques, design and maintenance tips that are key to growing a successful shade garden. Stunning color photographs offer design inspiration and reveal the beauty of shade-loving plants.
“Be forewarned that this book honors people like the woman in my hometown who paints the numbers of her favorite NASCAR drivers on her elephant ears, and a Tokyo gardener with over a hundred bonsai plants.” So says renowned garden journalist Felder Rushing in his new book Maverick Gardeners: Dr. Dirt and Other Determined Independent Gardeners. In this book, Felder delves deeply into the psychology of what motivates and sustains the Keepers of the Garden Flame. For thousands of years, a loosely connected web of unique, nontraditional gardeners has bonded people across race, culture, language, and other social conventions through sharing unique plants and stories. Found in nearly every nei...
Text and photos showcase the amusements of innovative gardeners, ranging from miniature doll houses and topiary animals to sculpture and outdoor collections
In my many years in the horticulture industry, especially in the teaching end, I've found that the vast majority of gardeners believe that the real challenge in gardening is to produce a beautiful garden with minimal care. However, the "true" gardener likes to push and is willing to make the needed adjustments, work, sacrifice, whatever, to grow some prized possession. And what on earth is wrong with that? If a gardener is so inclined, he or she is welcome to brag about having a perfect lawn, or growing the first Isoplexis canariensis in the neighborhood. Yet only a very tiny percentage of people want the challenge of growing really unsuitable plants, which involves not just extra time on th...
From Scout Media comes A Flash of Words—the fifth volume in an ongoing short story anthology series featuring authors from all over the world, but the first in which the stories are exclusively flash-fiction pieces. In this installation, no limits were set on genre, allowing the authors to lead the reader to destinations unknown; from ghosts on a flight line, to not-so-cuddly poodles, to finding love in the most unexpected of places. Within these moments of retribution and redemption—along with a slightly confused bear—these flash-fiction length stories will warm your heart, send shivers down your spine, and tickle your funny bone. Whether to be enlightened, entertained, or momentarily immersed in another world, these selections convey the true spirit of flash fiction.
In this book the author describes the way her garden evolved and how, without meaning to do so, she let it take over her life. She suggests moving away from planning, regimentation and gardening with the mentality of a stamp-collector. Frequently funny and always stimulating, she writes of the alchemy of gardens, of the 19th-century plant-collectors and plant illustrators and of the gardening philosophers, all fertilizing great thoughts along with their hollyhocks. She won the 1988 Sinclair Consumer Press Garden Writer of the Year Award.
In this rollicking read, Des Kennedy demonstrates his unerring skill with a satirical pitchfork. The 13 short pieces here roam widely and wildly, examining, among other things, common idiosyncrasies and the collective chaos of garden clubs. The book hilariously ponders the host of psychopathologies that afflict “plants people,” from weather phobias and general anxiety disorders to obsessive-compulsive behavior such as the chronic moving of plants. Whether discussing dysfunctional garden sprayers or malodorous urine collection schemes, Kennedy finds both the magic and the madness in one of life's most popular passions.
In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.
Best-selling novelist and garden columnist shares her reflections on gardening throughout a year.