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Pendrench

(1,389 posts)
Sun Nov 9, 2014, 09:38 PM Nov 2014

Looking for book suggestions about gardeners

Hello -

I was wondering if anyone here would be able to suggest a few good books about gardeners and their gardens.

I'm not really looking for "how to" books....more along the lines of gardeners telling their stories about their gardens (how they got started, successes and set-backs, etc.)

I guess you could say that I'm looking for inspiration...I'm hoping to start a flower garden next year, and I would love to read about other gardeners and their gardens.

Thank you very much.

Tim

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Looking for book suggestions about gardeners (Original Post) Pendrench Nov 2014 OP
Dunno from books, but... Erich Bloodaxe BSN Nov 2014 #1
Hi Erich - Pendrench Nov 2014 #5
Our very own NRaleighLiberal could probably help you. femmocrat Nov 2014 #2
Hi femmocrat - Pendrench Nov 2014 #6
Lots of good ones... TygrBright Nov 2014 #3
Hi Bright - Pendrench Nov 2014 #7
I used to enjoy Allen Lacy's columns a lot, so blackcrowflies Dec 2014 #11
Louise Riotte PADemD Nov 2014 #4
Hi PADemD - Pendrench Nov 2014 #8
How old? Spaldeen Nov 2014 #9
My favorite memoir-y story of urban gardening is intheflow Nov 2014 #10

Erich Bloodaxe BSN

(14,733 posts)
1. Dunno from books, but...
Sun Nov 9, 2014, 09:49 PM
Nov 2014

over on Daily Kos, one of the flower gardeners there has been posting weekly diaries about her trials and tribulations in gardening for the last decade or so, and they're all archived. Look for user 'Frankenoid', or the 'Saturday Morning Gardening Blog'.

TygrBright

(20,987 posts)
3. Lots of good ones...
Mon Nov 10, 2014, 12:11 AM
Nov 2014

"Elizabeth and Her German Garden"
"Green Thoughts"
"Onward and Upward in the Garden"
Anything by Allen Lacy
"The 10,000 Mile Garden"

There's an awful lot of them out there, the trick is paring down the list!

helpfully,
Bright

PADemD

(4,482 posts)
4. Louise Riotte
Mon Nov 10, 2014, 08:52 AM
Nov 2014

"Beloved Story author and life-long gardener Louise Riotte passed away in 1998 at the age of 89. She wrote 12 books on gardening, companion planting, and garden lore, among them the ever-popular Carrots Love Tomatoes, which has sold approximately 515,000 copies."

http://www.amazon.com/Louise-Riotte/e/B001H6IT68

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening
http://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277/ref=la_B001H6IT68_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415627396&sr=1-1

Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Love-Garlic-Companion-Planting/dp/1580170285/ref=la_B001H6IT68_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415627154&sr=1-2

Pendrench

(1,389 posts)
8. Hi PADemD -
Mon Nov 10, 2014, 09:04 PM
Nov 2014

Thank you for the links...Ms. Riotte sounds very interesting - I'll be sure to check out her books

Tim

Spaldeen

(219 posts)
9. How old?
Wed Nov 12, 2014, 07:00 PM
Nov 2014

The best "garden story" book I read was Success With Small Fruits, E.P. Roe (1881).

It was written by THE E.P. Roe, the 19th century novelist.

I would also recommend The Home Acre, also by Roe, published in 1887.

You won't realize you're reading a book on gardening until it is too late!

intheflow

(28,879 posts)
10. My favorite memoir-y story of urban gardening is
Sat Nov 22, 2014, 09:08 PM
Nov 2014

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Gardener, by Novella Carpenter. A close second would be Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. Both are non-fiction, written by real people doing real gardening. They are both far more ambitious that you sound, but the Kingsolver book might prove especially inspirational to you as part of the reason she writes it is to inspire people t garden. However, these memoirs are really about vegetable gardens. I'm a librarian who loves to garden both flowers and veggies, but I can't think of a single memoir about flower gardening.

On edit: you got me thinking about flower gardening memoirs. Found one I'm going to read now, maybe it will interest you, too. It is:
Slug tossing and other adventures of a reluctant gardener, by Meg DesCamp. Sounds really funny and maybe even inspirational.

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