A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Five Favorite Gardening Books

I was reading the post at Fairegarden http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/this morning. The post was about 5 favorite gardening books. Since I am a lover of books...especially garden books, I thought that I would put my two cents in. Maybe my books are different from the others. The first book is THE 3000 MILE GARDEN. It was a series on PBS years ago. It was a favorite of mine and sadly there are no DVD's available. I bought the book as soon as the series ended. It is an exchange of letters between two gardeners. An Englishman and an American woman. This book taken from the series is full of humor and has such a chatty style that makes you feel like you know these two people. They exchange climate facts, gardening tips, funny garden folklore, recipes and quirky tales and so much information from their very different gardens. Here is a book that I keep on my bedside table. It is full of garden folklore. Historical people who were wonderful gardeners. Tips on planting inside the house. Information about the critters who share our world. You can pick this book up and read just a chapter a day. I have read it and then reread it. I always find some new information in it.
This is the first little garden book that I owned. A friend gave me the book for my birthday one year. I believe that there was an offer from Betty Crocker where you could order it. It is a vintage book...as I am a vintage person. Tasha Tudor did the illustrations...I happen to love anything Tasha Tudor. The little book is full of information on simple gardening, herbs and how to plant them. I learned how to lay out a first garden using this book. It is such a cute book with it's beautiful illustrations.

When I first started gardening, I would watch the Victory Garden every Sat. afternoon. I came to know Jim Crockett and was so sad when he died and someone else took over the program. I do have the whole series of books...the flower gardening book and the indoor garden book etc. Whenever I have a question...I go to these books. They have never failed me. Marian Morash used to cook at the end of the program. I copied many recipes on Sat. afternoon. It was my favorite day of the week back then.


When I moved to Byron, Illinois...I decided to clear out the woods in the back of our property. I needed to have some books on woodland plants and trees. These field guides by Audubon can't be beat. I use it all the time to find out what different wildflowers are. The pictures are very true to life...in vibrant color. It is small enough to put in my purse or my gardening bucket, when I go to garden near the woods.


This is a new book to me. I know that it will be a favorite book as I enjoy books where two people exchange letters. I like to read books about women's friendships and if they are gardeners...that's a bonus. It is a collection of letters between Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence. These two women are kindred spirits. They begin an exchange of letters and relate information about garden catalogues, gardening, and some family information. I think that they began this correspondence in 1958 and kept it up until 1977. So far, I think that they seem like two very different women with a single passion...gardens.





As I said, I was reading a post at Fairegarden this morning, and Frances was giving her list of 5 favorite gardening books. She suggested that a gardening book would be a wonderful Christmas present for your favorite gardener...maybe you would like to buy a present for yourself. :)Winter is upon us and a garden book would be so nice to curl up with and read while it is snowing outside. This is the idea of Genevieve at
http://www.northcoastgardening.com/2010/12/five-books-for-gardeners/ I had never been to Northcoastgardening before, but after reading a bit...I know I'll be back. After reading about this
I got busy this morning and hauled out my books and made my selection. We are all so different and yet so alike when it comes to our love of gardens.
Balisha

14 comments:

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Balisha, I also read the Fairegarden Blog and ordered the book called Designing with Plants, one for me and one for my sister-in-law. Piet Oudolf first introduced Blue Paradise phlox so he must be a person I would like to know.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

The 3000 Mile Garden is one of my favorites - I've read it over and over, and now I've reserved the Two Women book at the library. I love this type of book. Thanks for the reviews.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

I also am a fan of Tasha. The books look very interesting. I have stopped reading books on gardening to some degree because my husband does not want me to have a garden. I cannot help but hope. I am, after all, new to his household and he has let me do what I wanted..so...no garden.
Maybe someday.
I hope so.

Anonymous said...

Your gardening books look very interesting. I have cookbooks and you have gardening books! I have a library of cookbooks. I love the old ones best. I feel I have found a treasure when I find an old cookbook to read.

Margie's Musings said...

Oh how I long for spring! We have a winter ahead of us and I am already tired of the wind. It makes me nervous.

Margie's Musings said...

Oh how I long for spring! We have a winter ahead of us and I am already tired of the wind. It makes me nervous.

Balisha said...

Hi Eileen,
I have many beautiful garden books with glossy pictures of flowers and container plantings, but my favorites that I read over and over are these. I hope that you and your sister-in-law enjoy the book that you selected. Have a nice snowy weekend...Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi...I believe your name is Jo...
I do wish that I could see that series again. I have even contacted WTTW, but they said that a DVD wasn't made. I have the book however, and I love it. I like this kind of book too...Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi Mona, I think that we wrote about our love of Tasha a while back. A friend of mine went out East and went to one of her book reviews. She loved it.
Your flowers are so pretty...you can plant in containers and not really have a garden. Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi Judy...I have gardening books and cookbooks. When I married Joe, I sold a lot of my books to a man.I said that his wife was a lucky lady to be getting all those books...he said, "Not for my wife...I'm selling them on EBay."
Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi Margie...I'm sitting here watching a heavy snow coming down. We have a blizzard warning for late tonight and dropping temps for tomorrow. I don't like this part of winter. I like to be able to get out and do what I want. We will probably miss Mass tonight. Joe can't take a chance on falling due to his back. Our winds will howl tonight I'm afraid.Maybe you could bake some Christmas cookies and have that nice warm feeling that baking gives..Balisha

Genevieve said...

Balisha - you've posted some wonderful gems that are new to me. This is the most fun I've had in years - getting to see everyone's dear favorite garden books. My favorite houseplant book is by DG Hessayan - I had no idea he wrote the one you mentioned too!

Anonymous said...

Dear Balisha, You have named some wonderful books! The K. White and E. Lawrence is going into my shopping cart right now. Thanks for the linkage and these suggestions. Now is the time for some serious escapism reading. :-)
Frances

Cristy said...

I was searching Google for "5 Best Gardening Books" and came across North Coast Gardening's list. That led to your wonderful list. Your list is awesome! So different from the other lists I read.

I have read the book of letters from Mrs. White to Elizabeth Lawrence and back. I loved it and resolved to find others by Ms. Lawrence. I found Gardening for Love. It was awesome, too. I would recommend it if you liked Two Gardeners. (They discuss this book in several places in the Two Gardeners book. It was published posthumously.)