Well, well, I hesitate to write it, yet here goes: Summery flowers are fading fast and mums are appearing all over town – beautiful colors livening porches and steps.
Our two books this week are about growing, arranging, planning and dreaming about what has been and could be in gardening.
“Lessons from the Great Gardeners” by Matthew Biggs (635.092 Big) is a treasure-trove storybook of gardeners from as early as the 15th century in Japan through the mid-20th century in the U.S.A.
And oh, my! How the styles have evolved. And just imagine hiring prominent botanists to design and supervise exotic areas for pure pleasure by uniting the house features with the garden scheme and the surrounding areas. Then there are the meditation aspects.
It is fun to read this author’s views of Thomas Jefferson’s grand efforts in and around Monticello. Along with all 40 prominent gardeners are the “Lessons” which are detailed so even this reader can understand (almost) all of them.
Women are prominent in this book and their thoughts are interesting and sometimes funny. New Zealander Bev McConnell states: “If you don’t like a plant, get rid of it, you won’t like it any better next year.” If you like plants and gardens, this is a great book to read, take notes for next year, and dream.
A wonderfully colorful volume is “Cut Flowers of the World” by Johannes Maree and Ben-Erik Van Wyk. Pictures are clear and detailed. For purists there are the accepted Latin names of each plant and the common name, plus the names of them in different languages with places of origin.
The book details the growing, harvesting, marketing and arranging of cut flowers for the public. Quite frankly, if this were a “foodie” book, it might be drooled-drenched as the content is so delectable.
Both volumes were donated to the library in honor of loved ones and are wonderful examples of Cary’s offerings.
