72 Damn Deer
December 22, 2022
74 Cricklewood Secret Garden
January 20, 2023
Out of the Garden, Into the Books
I call that picture “The Tunnel of Love.” You’ve heard me say “I love all things plants.” Well give me a garden full of plants plus a life full of books, and I am in heaven!
I am sure some of you readers must have a shelf of books like these…
Even though I’ve been a “Plant Professional” for years now (could be decades, who’s counting), I still reference books like these for inspiration and ideas. Or just because I need a dose of happiness.
It is now January and while many plants are sleeping, let’s grab a gardening book or magazine, do some drooling…and make plans for the New Year.
Or just be entertained!
A reader emailed me about a year ago saying that my style and sense of humor in my writings reminded her of the Oregonian garden columnist, Dulcy Mahar. (That’s a huge compliment, and I thank you so much.)
When Dulcy passed away in 2011, her husband compiled 20 years of her newspaper garden columns and published 2 books. I took my reader’s advice and bought them immediately. I have read them both, laughing at every page turn—one because Dulcy is funny, and two because I TOTALLY relate!
Describing Dulcy flailing her arms, motioning here and there while walking through garden spaces not yet planted, one admirer wrote, “She sees gardens that aren’t there yet.”
YES, THAT’S ME TOO. You know that famous line from The Sixth Sense, “I see dead people.” Well like Dulcy Mahar, I see gardens!
Her vocabulary is much larger and more refined than mine. She doesn’t seem to write like she would speak—unlike me who just blurts out my words whether on paper or in person.
Here are a few excerpts of her writing for kicks and giggles:
Dulcy: “Plant Collecting…is it wrong?”
Me: How can something that feels sooo good be wrong!! LOL
Dulcy on signs you have a plant obsession: “When meeting someone who has an interest in the same plant group, you can sustain a conversation on said plants for 20 minutes without noticing that all your guests have quietly excused themselves.”
Me: This happens when Mike is with me and I get into a plant conversation with someone. The conversation ends and Mike’s no longer with me.
Dulcy: “ARE YOU OBSESSED? Let’s count all the ways.”
Me: Counting could take hours and my plants would miss me.
Dulcy: “My friend Cheri is a squealer, she literally squeals with joy when she spots a plant or ornament that she loves. I can hear her on the other side of the nursery.”
Me: OMG, Aunt Patti could say the same about ME.
In another article, Dulcy makes a list of what sets “the passionate gardener” apart from “the diletantes.” Her number 5 is, “You know there’s no plant called a coton Easter.”
(I pray I don’t have to explain this to you.)
Number 9 is, “You’d rather be gifted with fine garden tools than something from Victoria’s Secret.”
I agree with Dulcy on this, but no one should buy me tools. EVER. Not without me. Mike did once and got a scolding—how does he know what I like without being told exactly? Though for my birthday he surprised me with a whole pallet of my yum-yum potting soil, Black Gold. (I LOVE Mike!)
Dulcy’s number 10 sign of a passionate gardener: “You have gardened after dark with a flashlight.”
SO TRUE! And I would add to her list that when it snows, I am out first thing in the morning in my PJs with a stick, whacking the snow off my plants so they don’t lay over or snap.
Number 15: “You have had the grit to actually remove a healthy plant that wasn’t working.”
Been there. Done that.
Number 16: “When you purchased a vehicle, your choice was influenced by how well it could transport plants.”
Who me?
Number 18: “There are days when you call up a friend and say you’ve just got to visit a nursery. You get points here only if you don’t actually need something.”
That’s how AP and I roll on days we just got to get away for a fix.
Number 19: “You have fibbed about what you actually paid for a plant.”
Haha! Don’t tell Mike.
Number 21: “A great deal of your shower or bath time is spent dreaming about what you’d like to do in the garden.”
True except 24/7 and IN NEED OF a bath.
Dulcy also writes about “THE SUPPORT CREW” and says, “Now let us thank our better halves.”
She makes a list of things that make him or her better.
“Cheerfully unloads plants from the car without noticing the dirt that spilled on the floor.
“Never, ever asks how much those plants costs.
“No longer asks, ‘But where will you put it?’
“Allows extra time when going places in case you pass a nursery.”
Yup, all that describes Mike. But training him didn’t happen overnight I tell you.
“Under no circumstances has ardent opinions about what to do in the garden (unless he or she actually is willing to take up gardening).”
Which does NOT apply to Mike! While I’m deciding which evergreen tree should replace the dead flowering cherry tree, Mike says he wants an olive tree WITH FRUIT there.
Who DOES that in an ornamental garden?!
He says he would pick up the fruit. But Ladies, if you’ve got a husband, you think that’s gonna happen? Ha!
In her “TRACKING THE SEASONS” article, Dulcy says, “Impulses can overwhelm reason,” and writes, “the four seasons seem to be marked by a cycle of footwear: loafers, fuzzy slippers, tennies and flip-flops.”
I simplify. For me it’s boots and flip-flops.
Writing her “CHEATERS ALWAYS WIN” article Dulcy gives tips for a “no-stress gardening experience” saying, “Don’t try to keep up with the Jonses. You only have to satisfy yourself. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Gardening is not a competitive sport.”
Amen, Sister! I only wish I had known about Dulcy Mahar while she was alive.
Here’s another author I enjoy…
I don’t even know how I came across Ms. Stewart’s first book, “From The Ground Up, The Story Of A First Garden.” Luckily while I was reading it, I was also learning—slowly—how to garden without a high death rate.
I met Ms. Stewart about 9 years ago when she was a speaker for the Amador County Master Gardeners. I asked her, “You live in my home town, what street you live on?”
OMG, like she’d tell me. She just gave me this look like “are you high?”
With technology these days, I could find her address if I really wanted to, and then do a drive-by. Or better yet trespass and peek at her gardens over the fence!
I like her writing style because she dumbs things down so everyone can understand. And she tells the honest-to-god truth about gardening—which is that you will have more failure than success, but that the success outweighs the failure even in small portions.
Read her book. It will put you in stitches.
January is also a good time—especially while it is pouring cats and dogs outside—to sit by the fire and read a good novel with a gardening theme.
Here are some I’ve enjoyed…
And bring on the magazines like Country Gardens, English Garden, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, Garden Gate, Horticulture, Gardens, Better Homes & Gardens, and Gardens Illustrated. They can be so inspiring—and educational—as they immerse you in the world of plants and gardening.
I use to be a magazine-aholic back in the day, receiving a minimum of 8 various magazines a month in the mail. But a few years ago I did a deep-cleaning with myself and let all my subscriptions expire. Due to my aging brain, re-reading a 5-year-old issue of Garden Gate is like reading it new for the first time! Same for Fine Gardening.
I subscribed to Pacific Horticulture for just one year before immediately cancelling. It was like being in college again—way too many words and not enough pictures!
The real reason I stopped getting garden magazines is that 80% of the pictures don’t show reality. Pay close attention to the plants in a garden photo and you will notice there are full sun plants next to full shade plants. What?
Also notice the growth stage of any given plant. It’s often the wrong time of year.
This reminds what social media is like—which, except for this blog, I don’t participate in at all. Like those magazines it only showcases what’s “pretty” and not what actually occurs in gardens. Like death, deer and weeds!
Ahhhhh seed publications! Call them catalogs, magazines, whatever, seed publications can be as thrilling as novels for me and are keys to my soul.
I still prefer to read the catalogs in hardcopy and not on computer. For years my kids tried to buy me a Kindle and my answer then—and now—is a hard NO. I like to hold a book in my hands, smell it, flip the pages one by one.
Given all the time in the world, I’d be in a book store or a library (my favorite), starting from letter “A” at the first book shelf and reading my way through to “Z.”
Happy reading, Friends. And Happy New Year!!!
