No comments about Sleeping with a Sunflower.

1 comments about The Gardener's Guide to Life: Timeless Lessons Based on the Principles of Gardening.

1. I was shopping for vegetables yesterday morning in a local grocery store. I was en route to my brother's nursery to give a children's workshop on plants with special emphasis on Fathers' Day. A dear friend was in the gift section and was reading this book. She said she just couldn't stop reading it. She showed me a few of the quotes. One that caught my attention was the one by Victor Hugo, "Nothing awakens a remininscence like an odor." I commented that this sure was true. A little while later, she sought me out in the store bearing a little brown bag marked "paid." She had purchased the book for me. I was delighted. Many of the book treasures I have in my life have come to me by way of a friend. I read it all on Fathers' Day morning and decided to give it to my father. Criswell's introduction story about radishes was my motivation to give it to my dad. He is a 75 year old retired farmer and now has a tiny garden on which among other things he sows radishes. I have always loved to garden, too. I especially like the way the author has divided the book in sections for gratitude, planning, diligence, attention, silence, optimism, patience, perserverance, lifetime learning, time, reverence, and enjoying the bounty. There is nothing that can nurture my soul more on bended knees than getting my hands in the dirt. Seeds truly are a miracle. I think so every time I put sunflower seeds in the ground and patiently and lovingly watch them become giant sunflowers. I also really enjoyed quotes which dealt with the "weeds" in our lives and how we perceive them. The book is a quick uplifting treasure for the silence of an early summer morning. I highly recommend it to gardeners and non gardeners.

5 comments about The SENSUOUS GARDEN.

1. i bought this as a gift, then i bought it for myself, and now i am buying it for my mother-in-law. it is really a lovely book: gorgeous and general enough for gift giving.



2. Apparently this book won an award, but I did not know that when I bought it. In general I keep well away from gardening books, but when I saw this I could not help myself: the pictures are just too stunning. So far I only glanced at the text here and there but I am quite impressed. This book seems to be admirably designed to raise awareness of how a garden strikes the senses. I can imagine that anybody designing a garden may find this an invaluable book.



3. The words are as beautiful as the photos of the gardens. It makes you want to go out and plant a garden this moment. This is one of my favorite gift books. I have copied some of the words and keep them on my computer for quiet moments or to send to someone in an email. A perfect book. I never tire of reading through it.



4. This is an incredible book, and it isn't just for gardeners or those who like flowers. This book can be read by all to their benefit. The pictures alone are worth the price, but what the author has to say along with his pictures has radically changed my view of the world and the beauty of nature.

   For instance, recently when I was in Ft. Lauderdale on vacation I was sitting on the patio of our hotel looking at the ocean and the lovely palm trees. Suddenly I noticed patterns and shapes I had never seen before. I noticed that on the different palm trees the configuration of the palm fronds make up intricate, harmonious patterns that were fascinating. With one eye on a palm frond, I traced the source at the tree trunk up to the tip of the frond. On the inside at the branch of the frond there were openings, kind of in a triangular pattern, but each slightly unique. I must have stared at that frond for 15 minutes. My husband must have thought I was crazy.

   This book opened my eyes to beauty that does not hit you between the eyes sometimes. Sometimes it does. But I am learning that there is a world within a world of the tiniest bit of nature just waiting for my senses to soak in and ENJOY.

   Buy the book...and read it. You don't have to read it like you would a novel. It is one that you can put down after a time, think about what you have seen and read, then pick it up later on to learn more about how nature and beauty are more present than we can possibly conceive of.




5. I garden year round, am a photographer of sorts, and I collect garden and art books. THE SENSUOUS GARDEN by Monty Don is a new kind of book with a fresh approach to garden photography, one that takes the viewer up-close-and-personal and arouses the five senses as well as what Don calls the sixth sense or intuition. I don't know if my intuition is involved, but Don's photographs affect my various senses and the whole effect is greater than the sum of the parts. This is a beautiful book filled with beautiful pictures.

   In a few instances, Don has photographed places I know (gardens in Spain) but all of his photos have been taken from a unique angle which pinpoints the essence of the thing photographed. Too often, photos are taken with the frame of reference in mind..i.e. the frame. Don's photos are so physical I can hear the tinkling bells and falling water. I can taste the juicy fruit. I can touch the soft rust and white bib of the bluebird. I've seen bluebirds before, as many as five at one time. They are clever and quick and flit away before I can retrieve my camera. But Mr. Don got the photo I wanted. I can only marvel, and sit and enjoy the bluebird a while longer.

No comments about More for Your Garden (In Your Garden).

5 comments about Out in the Garden: Growing a Beautiful Life.

1. That is probably too mean a title for a very, very personal book, yet it seems appropriate. Mr. Riddle is a sincerely down-to-earth person, it seems, and when he says something is "purdy" I suppose he means it. His A-shucks persona gets in the way of some very good advice, however.

   But this is not to say that Mr. Riddle is a poor writer -- far from it, or that he does not know his subject -- he is a classically trained horticulturist and writes a well-received garden column for Elle Décor magazine. He knows what he is doing.

   There is not much in this book to learn, or that you cannot learn elsewhere -- but as the travel industry says, half the fun is the journey. The process Mr. Riddle uses to refine his design ideas is the real essence of the gardening parts of the book. His humanity and the depth of his friendships provides the soul of the memoir part of the book.

   My advice if you buy this book is to read through it twice to pick up the bits you miss when you are rolling your eyes at his hokey expressions-- it is worth it.




2. I am really enjoying this book. I am not done yet, but I have already started looking at my garden differenly. I am thinking about getting some more garden books to help me improve my garden. This book is whimsical and delightful. The author writes with a wonderful style. I hope that he is allowed to stay at his rented bungalow forever. My only complaint is the books that Amazon suggests you should get if you enjoyed this book. They all seem to be about being Gay. This book is so much more than a book about a man coming out of the closet. I think anyone would like this book straight or gay. Have to go and stroll in my garden. Enjoy the book!



3. Out of all the gardening books I've purchased for our public library in the last four years, I would recommend Dean Riddle's book first and foremost to our readers as a balm to the soul, an inspiration to gardeners everywhere, and a plain old good read. The focus of the book is informative yet personal: it is the story of one man's coming of age in the garden, his connection with the strange and often-ignored vibrancy of the horticultural world, and his joyous appreciation of people, plants, dirt, sticks, old glassware, fried eggs, and just about everything else.

   For four months a year I read virtually nothing but gardening books of all types as our orders come in to the library. Very few of the writers are able to touch and inform readers at the same time, and it is this gift that Dean Riddle brings to his writing. The book is organized in such a way that Riddle is able to incorporate stories into his highly readable and clear descriptions of his own garden plans. Within the space of a few paragraphs, the reader finds himself in Dean's world. The fully-colored images and sensations of Dean's garden stay brilliantly painted in one's mind long after the book is closed.




4. The librarian at Skene Library in Fleishmanns, NY foisted this book upon me as I had missed Dean Riddle's personal appearance and reading. I politely took it home. I started to skim read and three hours later had finished the book and made a list of pages to return to for information. This book is a jewel of a read and a must for any Catskill gardener. I have had a "failed garden" for ten years in the Felishmanns area. I used to be a good gardener. Not in the Catskills! Mr Riddle provides a virtual how to manual for my next year's garden. But beyond the practical, it is a delightful, fast paced, funny read.



5. I first picked up this book on a whim in Dean's friend's shop in Phoenicia and assumed it would be just another gardening how-to book. Boy was I ever wrong! I have never had a gardening book inspire me in such a way! I wanted to go out straight away and work in the garden and smell the rich earth and let the sun warm my back. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of reading this book during the long Catskill winter! Now, I read Dean's book each and every spring to give me the inspiration to spend hours digging and planting, and I frequently browse for articles and/or other books written by Dean, or similar in style. (I haven't found any that compare!) Not only do I wish Dean was my neighbor, but I wish he would write another book! This book is one of the few that I am actually wistful when I finish the last page....I want it to go on and on.
   
   I also had the great fortune of touring Dean's garden during a garden tour 2 years ago...what a treat that was! I went home and wanted to rip everything out and start over, or at least have Dean come and advise me. His garden is every bit as beautiful and inspiring as his book.
   A "must read" for EVERY gardener!

5 comments about Gardening in Eden: Seasons in a Suburban Garden.

1. As an amateur gardener myself, Mr. Vanderbilt's book hit home with me. From going to the local nursery to the smell of freshly mowed grass to the lonliness of winter this book expresses the multitude of emotions gardeners experience throughout the year. A very delightful book! This is one book that will be reread by.



2. I love to garden. I can't get enough. But when there's too much sun or too much rain, I usually pass my time reading a good book. Recently, I came upon "Gardening in Eden" by this young author from my own home state. What a pleasure. Get a copy and read it after a long day in your garden. You'll find yourself appreciating your garden 10 times more!



3. This little book did what my husband has been trying to do for years-make me appreciate gardening. Mr. Vanderbilt has written a beautiful, funny book on his love of gardening. His writing style is friendly and conversational-you never feel as though he is trying to talk down to you. I can relate to some of his funny stories of animals invading his garden and he has some fun anecdotes about his goldfish and frog pond, which I enjoyed since we have a pond as well. If you are into gardening, or even if you are not-you will enjoy this fun, well written book.



4. This book was somewhat interesting, but it was too full of fluff for my taste, and I felt about 20 years too young to connect with the author's point of view. His observations meandered through his (very dated) memories of gardens past, with no conclusions drawn, no linkages to culture, no gardening advice, and so on. While some of the stories were amusing enough, it left me unsatisfied, like eating cotton candy when you are really hungry: a sweet taste but no substance. Unfortunately I can't recommend this one at all.



5. I purchased this book, without having read it myself, for my Mom as a gift for last Christmas because she loves to garden but is getting to the age where she can't do the things she loves anymore. She told me she read only a bit at a time so she could savor it. Only last week she told me again how much she enjoyed it and often thought of the beautiful pictures the author painted for her in her mind. If that isn't a favorable review, I don't know what is.

No comments about Gardens: A Literary Companion (Greystone Nature).

No comments about A Thyme for Peace.

1 comments about Between Gardens.

1. This exchange of letters between two friends is a real encouragemnt to slow down and look at what happens in our gardens, yards and all of nature, during the course of a year. The fact that one writer is disabled is a plus for this book. Her viewpoint is vital to the slowing down process. The memories these two women share about gardens are inspiring, expecially to those who are keeping garden journals or should be! It will help the reader to be more observant.

No comments about Gardens of Ireland.