With winter still upon us, and actual gardening a ways off, it is a good time to peruse some favourite gardening books. Northumberland Master Gardeners would like to share some of their favourites with you.
Judy Harris recommends Success With Rhododendrons and Azaleas by Edward Reiley. Timber Press 2004. The book is illustrated with more than 110 striking colour photographs and contains advice on every aspect of rhododendron growing, from soil preparation and landscape design to advaned propogating and hybridizing techniques.
Judy’s second favorite is The Greater Perfection by Francis Cabot. 2001
It is the story of creating the beautiful garden at Quatre Vents in
Quebec. I enjoy gardening books that describe gardeners establishing
their gardens.
Tanya Crowell shares a book that she has been looking at a lot lately. It is called New Wild Garden by Ian Hodgson. Frances Lincoln 2016. It combines new approaches to a more naturalistic design with the practical side of growing wildflowers. Tanya is thinking about losing some lawn and trying to establish some “wild ” areas.
Christa Bisanz is reading a book called Wintering – The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. Riverhead Books 2020.
It is an intimate, revelatory book exploring the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down. Lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter.
Christa passes along a favourite quote from the book: “The tree is waiting. It has everything ready. It’s fallen leaves are mulching the forest floor, and it’s roots are drawing up the extra winter moisture, providing a firm anchor against seasonal storms. It’s ripe cones and nuts are providing essential food in this scarce time for mice and squirrels, and it’s bark is hosting hibernating insects and providing a source of nourishment for hungry deer. It is far from dead. It is in fact the life and soul of the wood.”
Like many people Joy cullen has pretty much abandoned books and prefers to search the internet She finds the Isesli Nursery website www.iselinursery.com a good resource for conifers.