One Man's Garden
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Gardeners trapped inside on a rainy day need only two things to get by—a cup of chocolate in their left hand and One Man’s Garden in their right.” —Southern Living
This “wonderful” essay collection from the former Washington Post columnist and author of The Essential Earthman (Horticulture) offers a harvest of sharp observations and humorous adventures gathered during a year in the garden—along with much down-to-earth advice.
“A year’s worth of wry observations about the peculiarities and pleasures of gardening . . . His book, designed primarily for small town gardens of less than a quarter-acre, and written from the relatively balmy perspective of Washington, D.C. (climatic zone 5), is the perfect makings of a winter read for those planning next year’s garden. Mitchell’s chatty style is entertaining as well as informative . . . Water gardeners in particular will enjoy Mitchell’s obsession with water lilies, other aquatic plants and fish.” —Publishers Weekly
“An experienced gardener/environmentalist who mixes solid gardening information along with the right blend of humor and human interest.” —Library Journal
“Every page is filled with his irascible, wholly unpretentious voice. He never tries to be funny or erudite. He just is.” —The New York Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Washington Post columnist Mitchell ( The Essential Earthman ) brings together a year's worth of wry observations about the peculiarities and pleasures of gardening in this anthology. His book, designed primarily for small town gardens of less than a quarter-acre, and written from the relatively balmy perspective of Washington, D.C. (climatic zone 5), is the perfect makings of a winter read for those planning next year's garden. Mitchell's chatty style is entertaining as well as informative, and he mixes details of garden advice with liberal doses of Johnsonian philosophy, appropriately noting the vanity of human wishes, the defeat of a gardener's best intentions, and the joy of the unexpected and unplanned. While it contains some unnecessary repetition (perhaps less noticeable when the material was published as a weekly column), the collection manages to include a surprising range of topics, plants and personal asides. Water gardeners in particular will enjoy Mitchell's obsession with water lilies, other aquatic plants and fish. Other essays touch on wildlife in town gardens, and the ineradicable nature of bindweed. The book is divided into 12 chapters corresponding to months of the year, each introduced with an attractive line drawing by Susan Davis.
