I'm currently reading OUR LIFE IN GARDENS, a wonderful book by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd, a couple living in Southern Vermont who run a landscape design business. The chapter titles progress alphabetically through an eclectic range of topics, including "Arborvitae," "The Bay Tree," "Forcing Branches," and "Hedges." It's a lovely book, simple and eloquent and full of stories about the various successes and failures encountered during 40+ years of gardening. Useful bits of information are scattered through the stories, including tips on how to grow tender plants beyond their recommended zones (just as useful here in New Hampshire as in Vermont!), the different shapes and sizes intended to increase the longevity of Bay trees, and various arrangements which can be made to overwinter camellias and banana trees. The book also introduces and comments on the history of several plants, including Cyclamen, in an effort to shed light on the plants' preferences and peculiarities. Rife with latin names and lacking photos or illustrations beyond the beautifully executed ink drawings at the beginning of each chapter, I fin
d it necessary to tote out my enormous copy of
The American Horticultural Society's A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants as I read through each chapter-- photos of the plants in question are helpful for those of us who aren't familiar with all the plants in question. The necessary cross-referencing hasn't dimmed my enthusiasm for Eck and Winterrowd's book, however-- the flow of their beautiful prose would be lost if interrupted by grainy black and white shots, or by overblown, overwhelming color shots. OUR LIFE IN GARDENS isn't for the pedestrian reader; it can be quite technical at times and requires a real interest in plants and garden design. Expertise is not required, only interest, so even this fledgling gardener has heartily enjoyed settling down with two of my favorite books and dreaming away the end of winter. I look forward to reading some of Eck and Winterrowd's other titles; more information on their other titles and pictures of their gardens can be found by visiting
the North Hill website.
I'm currently reading OUR LIFE IN GARDENS, a wonderful book by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd, a couple living in Southern Vermont who run a landscape design business. The chapter titles progress alphabetically through an eclectic range of topics, including "Arborvitae," "The Bay Tree," "Forcing Branches," and "Hedges." It's a lovely book, simple and eloquent and full of stories about the various successes and failures encountered during 40+ years of gardening. Useful bits of information are scattered through the stories, including tips on how to grow tender plants beyond their recommended zones (just as useful here in New Hampshire as in Vermont!), the different shapes and sizes intended to increase the longevity of Bay trees, and various arrangements which can be made to overwinter camellias and banana trees. The book also introduces and comments on the history of several plants, including Cyclamen, in an effort to shed light on the plants' preferences and peculiarities. Rife with latin names and lacking photos or illustrations beyond the beautifully executed ink drawings at the beginning of each chapter, I fin
d it necessary to tote out my enormous copy of The American Horticultural Society's A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants as I read through each chapter-- photos of the plants in question are helpful for those of us who aren't familiar with all the plants in question. The necessary cross-referencing hasn't dimmed my enthusiasm for Eck and Winterrowd's book, however-- the flow of their beautiful prose would be lost if interrupted by grainy black and white shots, or by overblown, overwhelming color shots. OUR LIFE IN GARDENS isn't for the pedestrian reader; it can be quite technical at times and requires a real interest in plants and garden design. Expertise is not required, only interest, so even this fledgling gardener has heartily enjoyed settling down with two of my favorite books and dreaming away the end of winter. I look forward to reading some of Eck and Winterrowd's other titles; more information on their other titles and pictures of their gardens can be found by visiting the North Hill website.
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