3 comments about The Potting-Shed Papers: On Gardens, Gardeners, and Garden History.

1. 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.

   Speaking of men, I would have found Elliott's book far more interesting if I hadn't read Henry Mitchell, Allen Lacy, Michael Pollan, and Beverly Nichols and noted their apparent willingness to mention "female gareners" they had known and/or admired. Also, other garden writers have done a better job of covering the men Elliot discusses. For example, if you want to know more about Johnny Appleseed and apples, read Michael Pollen's BOTANY OF DESIRE.

   Other than his patronizing tone and disregard of female gardeners and naturalists, I suppose the most irritating aspect of this book is Elliott's apparent disregard for nature. In my estimation, he approaches gardening as a battle to be waged, not an activity to be enjoyed. Unlike his Welsh and English neighbors for whom he has thinly disquised scorn (and one assumes this includes Prince Charles owner of a profitable organic gardening operation in Wales), Elliott never met a machine he doesn't like. He doesn't cultivate his plot working in harmony with the rhythms of nature, he crucifies it. He says he owns a very large rototiller which he uses to plow the earth with such enthusiasm he brings down fences. (In some circles, this is known as rape.) Anyone who knows anything about gardening knows overworking the soil destroys humus. Humus is the good stuff you need to retain moisture and nurture plants. Organic gardeners advise planting half digested material from the compost heap directly into the garden. Half digested is the opposite of finely-ground particles produced by machines with gas powered engines.

   I use organic gardening techniques and year after year have produced magnificent and productive plants loaded with flowers and fruits and vegetables. I don't own a single gas guzzling tool. I use tools powered by my own arms and legs. I'd be willing to bet my garden and my body are in better shape than Mr. Elliott's.




2. 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.



3. Those of you who have stacks of seed and plant catalogs at your bedside (some of them wrinkled from having been repeatedly dropped during bathtub reading) - those of you who get giddy from the perfume of the first spring rain hitting the compost pile - those of you who can name more varieties of roses than the names of members of your family, must have this little book.
   
   Non-gardeners simply won't understand, and that's OK. We can keep this gem to ourselves!

No comments about Crazy About Gardening: Reflections on the Sweet Seductions of a Garden.

5 comments about Plant This!: Best Bets for Year-Round Gorgeous Gardens.

1. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, and if your character has been developed by an unremitting rainfall that blots out the sun all winter and even soaks the Portland Rose Parade in early June, and if you know a gardener who has not read this book, and if you have not shared your enthusiasm about this book with them, do so now. But wait -- if you don't know who Ketzel Levine is, tell them about this book after you've read it, and after you've read Levine's columns in the Oregonian, and after you've heard her talk to T.C. Boyle talk about his garden on NPR, in her series on celebrity gardens.
   
   Although I've been writing about gardens for 20 years, my ignorance was vast and cherished, until I read this book. For the first time, I understand a little about the plants that surround me. Humor is a valuable communication tool, and Ketzel Levine has learned how to use it as a carrier wave. I haven't had this much fun since I read The Egg and I.
   
   It's not too early to consider this book as an ideal holiday gift, six months from now. I ran across my first copy in Powell's, and was transfixed: THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO KNOW. My girlfriend is getting a copy this week, and she'll adore it.
   
   Best of all, it seems to be undiscovered. A lot of people haven't read it yet; have been doing an informal survey of fellow and sister gardeners and garden-magazine editors, and only a few have read it. It should be on every gardener's bookshelf.



2. There were several things that Ms Levine didn't consider, she should have, I think, said she was really focused on gardens for our region, (I live in Seattle) but didn't seem to take into account some v. troublesome plants that have included on the noxious or obnoxious (a real list!) weed list with the state. Budalia (butterfly bush) for instance. The other concern I had was the inputs needed for some of the suggested plants. I would strongly suggest Mary Robson's two books on gardening for Oregon and Washington, both Month-By-Month Gardening in Washington & Oregon: What To Do Each Month To Have A Beautiful Garden All Year (Month-By-Month Gardening in Washington & Oregon)Washington & Oregon Gardener's Guide
   In her books she considers the inputs that will be required by the gardener, easy of growing, water use, design considerations, they are both good guides for beginning and advanced gardeners.



3. I bought this for my daughter, who lives in the Pacific Northwest. i looked through it, and then ordered another for her, as it was so much fun I couldn't give it away! The plants she describes are P NW growers, and not of much use to me in the desert southwest, but I loved this book.



4. This is a beautiful book, with breathtaking original watercolors of each of the featured plants, with tons of information about the habit and culture of each. The author asks us not to hate her for living on the Oregon coast, where apparently you can grow ANYTHING. OK, I'm envious, but I don't hate her. But I can't forgive the fact that she neglects to provide USDA Hardiness Zone information for any of the plants, and only occasionally mentions that a plant doesn't like temperatures below 10F. That makes this book a big tease for the 250 million of us that don't live in the Pacific Northwest. It should come with a big warning: USEFUL ONLY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. I abandoned this beautiful book in a cafe because I had to get it out of my house.



5. This very practical book is not only fun to read, but I want to plant everything in it ASAP. I no longer feel like a novice and am confident that I will have success, armed with new knowledge and understanding of some of the planting suggestions. I now have a new gardening "bible".
   
   Kaycie Wood

5 comments about The Wildest Place on Earth: Italian Gardens and the Invention of Wilderness.

1. John Hanson Mitchell has spent the past two decades prowling a square mile or so of suburban woods and fields in Eastern Massachusetts, searching for its past and speculating on its future, and in the process producing 4 books (Ceremonial Time, Living At the End of Time, Walking Toward Walden, and Trespassing) dealing with the nature of place and its affect on the people who live there. His latest book, The Wildest Place on Earth, may at first glance seem, if not exactly a detour, at least a stroll down a side street, away from his favorite square mile of land known as Scratch Flat, but read on and you will find that Mitchell is once again exploring in small spaces.

   In The Wildest Place on Earth, Mitchell sets out to discover the nature of the American wilderness and the influence of Italy�s tamed landscapes on the American experience. In a series of rambles that span decades and move effortlessly from the history of Renaissance gardens to American conservationists, and the Hudson River school of landscape painters to encounters in America�s overcrowded and over-loved wilderness parks, Mitchell pokes and prods and writes of the past. This book is part travelogue, and part informed speculation as Mitchell comes to realize that wilderness is perhaps more a concept than a true reality for most of us, and that the wildest place on earth may be his own somewhat haphazardly planned backyard garden that has grown over the past decade into a lush and relaxing presence.

   Mitchell writes much in this book about the Greek and Roman myths and how they influence, even to this day, what we see and feel as wilderness. The god Pan is always present, and the history of mazes and labyrinths makes for some fascinating side trips through Italy. If you are looking for a few good modern-day gardening stories, he supplies those as well.

   The editor of the Massachusetts Audubon magazine Sanctuary and the winner of the 1994 John Burroughs essay award and the 2000 New England Bookseller�s Award, Mitchell is a graceful stylist who will win you over as he rambles an speculates�much like a close friend who you may not always agree with, but you can�t stop listening to those provocative opinions.




2. Like a ramble through a garden, or through the twists and turns of a maze, Mitchell takes the reader on a casually structured walk through memory, opinion, and speculation. He jumps from topic to topic in an engaging manner without exploring in any great depth his subjects -- the history of gardening in Italy and America, a few favorite writers (Thoreau, Wharton), his own large garden, his personal history, encounters with interesting people, the American conception and use of wilderness, urban encroachment, mazes and monsters, some colorful myths and stories. Nor does he need to go deep. His attempt in these related essays seems to be to introduce the reader to a great variety of ways of thinking about gardens, to provide different pathways through the subject, different perspectives. And he succeeds. Despite his overly ambitious subtitle ("Italian Gardens and the Invention of the Wilderness"), which suggests a strong unifying theme that the book is not disciplined enough to provide, he continually evokes the beauty and mystery of gardens as places of internal as well as external discovery. Constantly on the lookout for an iconic, sexless Pan, Mitchell finds the demigod in humans, goats, decorative statues, the center of a maze, and, ultimately, in the enduring metaphor that survived the arrival of Christianity not just to exist on its own, but also to inform the imagery of Satan. There are several startling moments as he gently guides us on his personal journey, such as the fact that in the 1960s scientists discovered lead from auto exhaust embedded in Arctic ice, or his encounters with an unnerving hiker in one of our national parks. Throughout, Mitchell's abiding faith in the garden, in the importance of human contact with the earth, sustains the book's meditative and thoughtful tone.



3. This book is a pilgrimage. Not a linear pilgrimage that sets off from a given point and progresses towards a distant goal, but a pilgrimage through a labyrinth or maze - a circular pilgrimage, if you will.

   The writer, a naturalist with a home and garden in eastern Massachusetts, is at home also in the wilderness of the western United States as well as in thr historic gardens of Italy. He traces for the reader the influence that the great gardens of Italy, part cultivated, part bosky wilderness, have had on the development of both the gardens and the wilderness of the U.S. But the book is not so simple and direct. Through it runs the theme of the labyrinth, its symbolism of the complexities of nature, its paradoxes, twists and turns.

   The true spirit of wildness is seldom to be found, the writer says, in our large "wilderness" parks polluted by ATV's, rangers and over-run camp sites. Human connection with the land is most strongly felt in our gardens - not the front yard with its neatly mowed lawn and well-pruned foundation planting but a truly creative garden with wild spaces and vistas that welcome wild creatures. We can save some land from developers, build small parks, add in gardens with their boskyness (lovely word, that) and create our own web of wilderness even in our most built up areas,

   Did the nature god Pan die with the birth of Christianity and the idea of dominion over all the creatures of the earth? The writer is optimistic that he did not and that the true spirit of nature can be revived, one natural garden space at a time.

   This is the work of a respected nature writer who is stringing together ideas about wilderness and gardens loosely and creatively. It is both evocative and provocative, a mental ramble for an open and enquiring mind.




4. This book is a pilgrimage. Not a linear pilgrimage that sets off from a given point and progresses towards a distant goal, but a pilgrimage through a labyrinth or maze - a circular pilgrimage, if you will.

   The writer, a naturalist with a home and garden in eastern Massachusetts, is at home also in the wilderness of the western United States as well as in thr historic gardens of Italy. He traces for the reader the influence that the great gardens of Italy, part cultivated, part bosky wilderness, have had on the development of both the gardens and the wilderness of the U.S. But the book is not so simple and direct. Through it runs the theme of the labyrinth, its symbolism of the complexities of nature, its paradoxes, twists and turns.

   The true spirit of wildness is seldom to be found, the writer says, in our large "wilderness" parks polluted by ATV's, rangers and over-run camp sites. Human connection with the land is most strongly felt in our gardens - not the front yard with its neatly mowed lawn and well-pruned foundation planting but a truly creative garden with wild spaces and vistas that welcome wild creatures. We can save some land from developers, build small parks, add in gardens with their boskyness (lovely word, that) and create our own web of wilderness even in our most built up areas,

   Did the nature god Pan die with the birth of Christianity and the idea of dominion over all the creatures of the earth? The writer is optimistic that he did not and that the true spirit of nature can be revived, one natural garden space at a time.

   This is the work of a respected nature writer who is stringing together ideas about wilderness and gardens loosely and creatively. It is both evocative and provocative, a mental ramble for an open and enquiring mind.




5. Not so often do I come across a recently published work and call it a classic -- something worth preserving and handing down to the next generation -- but this is one. It is an honest man's reexamination of how to relate to nature. He wears his erudition lightly, and one has confidence that his thoughts are his own and hard-won.
   
   Like many classics, one gets the feeling that for every sentence written, there were ten he didn't write. The book reminds me in some deep sense of the old masons who taught me my trade. Their words were few, but long thought out, humble, and worth remembering.

No comments about The Japanese Tea Garden.

No comments about Seven Deadly Sins of Gardening: And the Vices and Virtues of Gardeners.

No comments about Sleeping with a Sunflower.

1 comments about Green Grows the City.

1. This is a good story about Beverley Nichol's first garden in the city--it gives us insight into his life in between his "country" days, which for his fans, is important. It is funny and very relatable.

2 comments about Bay Area Gardening: 64 Practical Essays by Master Gardeners.

1. Local master gardeners lend their insights on the peculiarities and special needs of California Bay Area gardens in BAY AREA GARDENING: 64 PRACTICAL ESSAYS BY MASTER GARDENERS. The San Francisco Bay Area's unique attributes, from mild climate and microclimates to changing soils, lends to a diverse gardening environment in turn: these essays are critical to understanding the Bay Area's special needs and should be on the reading lists and in the libraries of any local gardener.



2. This book would be good for beginning gardeners. These are short articles with very basic information much of it not just specific for Bay Area gardening.

2 comments about The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers.

1. If you find yourself wondering about wildflowers and how they were appreciated by those many generations before us, then this is a wonderful book to add to your library. I found various aspects of this book to be helpful, including the biographical notes on Pliny the Elder, Peter Kalm and many others. The author also lists regional names for plants; for instance Garlic Mustard is also known as Sauce-Alone. The book is easy to read, and gives interesting historical information from various sources on the medicinal and other uses of wildflowers. The line drawings add a nice touch. Keep in mind that the book is geared toward history and is not meant as a guide for identifying plants. Good companion books to this would be any of the Peterson's Field Guides to Wildflowers and/or Medicinal Plants.



2. There are things in this book I have never heard anywhere else. It is an unusual compilation of historical plant literature, which like much ethnobotany could one day simply vanish from the collective conscience.
   
   The historical anecdotes are wide-ranging and memorable, e.g. Arrow Arum tubers were a staple food of mid-Atlantic Indian tribes; Jimsonweed's strongly hallucinogenic alkaloids were a favorite tool of medieval "wenches... so skilled in [the] dosing of it, that they [could] make a man mad for as many hours as they [pleased];" the Pawnee Indians swore by a perfume made of crushed Columbine seeds...
   
   I cringe at the thought of how much plant knowledge was once commonly known and used, yet now stands on the brink of extinction. I liken it to a pile of never-published Bach or Vivaldi manuscripts rotting away in some attic, when they instead could bring joy to millions.