I must admit that the more I see the work of Piet Oudolf, the more I love it. The simulated meadows of flowing grasses and waves of colorful perennials which look like nature only better. His designs remind me of the “just rolled out of bed” woman’s hairstyle that was popular a several years back. [...]

Have you ever marveled at botanical illustrations and dreamed of someday adorning your gardening  journal with your own illustrations? Back in 1991 I had such a thought. Several of the books in my collection are there merely because of their detailed watercolor or pen and ink illustrations. How artists capture the essence and fine details [...]

Talk about a classic.  Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbshas held a position on my bookshelf for over 20 years and I still find a reason to dust it off at the beginning of each gardening season. This book contains all the herbs you know and a few you probably don’t. Take Wahoo, Euonymus atropurpurea, which [...]

I started composting a couple of years ago with moderate success. This was probably due to the fact that I was a lazy composter. Let’s face it, if you throw garden waste into a pile it will eventually rot. So I would toss all my clippings in a pile and then wait almost a year [...]

Another paperback to find a home on my shelf is Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System. Published in 1982 by Mary Appelhoff. If you have been pondering the idea of creating your own worm bin, this book will tell you everything you need to know in a [...]

Normally smaller paperback gardening books don’t find a home on my bookshelf. It’s not because they aren’t useful, but I find them more of a read and pass along book. This book however is one that I’m almost afraid to loan out. It is chocked full of so much useful information that I refer to [...]

More is good right? Who wouldn’t want more of something? Well how about more vegetables than you ever thought possible? Sounds a bit  like an infomercial line, right? But in this case it does have  merit. Yes, it is a bit of an exaggeration, but you really can grow more vegetables with the method explained [...]

On the third day of gardening books,  we combine both practicality and beauty in a two for one. If I have one complaint about the Western Garden Book, it is its lack of photos of the plants it references. The illustrations do clearly show you the details of the plants, but nothing beats colorful photo [...]

On the second day of of this 12 day series, let’s take a look at a book from the other end of the gardening spectrum. As The Western Garden Book is practical Gardens of Revelation: Environments by Visionary Artists (How Artists See) is thought provoking. I remember seeing this book in my gardening book of [...]

For the next twelve days I will be celebrating the the beginning of the holiday season by  highlighting  some of my favorite gardening books. One of my favorite Christmas gifts (and that of many gardeners) is a new book. Christmas is the perfect time to give a gardener a book because we are stuck inside [...]