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