A Few Thoughts On Books

A few thoughts on books!

Gardening books are excellent gifts. Just ask Vicar Ellacombe, also known as Canon Ellacombe.  And I quote:

“I suppose no one who loves his garden is entirely without books on his favourite subject; and, indeed, I have always found that a lover of gardens and flowers is also more or less a lover and reader of books.”

(Vicar Ellacombe, by the way, wrote several books in his day, 1822- 1916.)

If I were going to start a literary society for gardeners, I’d be tempted to name it after Canon Ellacombe, just because of that quote.

About a dozen years ago I wrote,

“Such a society should have someone in charge of it with a name like Lady Daphne Hortus-Wellington-Cloverberry.  Her parents would be Lord Neville Hortus-Wellington-Cloverberry and Lady Agnes Hortus-Wellington-Cloverberry.  Lady Daphne would also have a brother, Lord Basil Hortus-Wellington-Cloverberry.  Lord Neville and Lady Agnes would have a dream that someday their daughter, Daphne, might fall in love with a good botanist or horticulturist who could help them return the gardens of their estate, known as Cloverberry Castle, to their former glory. Lady Daphne and her botanist husband would live nearby in Cloverberry Cottage.”

Lady Daphne would have an excellent library of gardening books, of course.

As someone who owns a lot of older gardening books, the second thought I have on books is that when you open older books you need to “mind the book fairies.”

I wrote the following instructions quite some time ago.

““Please mind the book fairies when you open up old gardening books.  Open the books slowly and turn the pages gently to give the sleeping garden book fairies a chance to gradually wake up and get their bearings. Some of them have been sleeping for over 50 or 100 years, and when anyone has been asleep that long they aren’t going to jump up at the first crack of light. It would also be helpful if you turned your head for a minute or two to allow them to leave quietly without you watching their every move.  Don’t worry that the book fairies will be lost and confused. They  will only be confused for a minute or two until a garden fairy finds them and takes them by the hand and shows them the proper hospitality that one should show a book fairy who has been asleep for so long in an old gardening book and then all of a sudden is woken up.”

My third and final thought is that signed books are also excellent gifts. If you’d like a signed book or two from me, order soon! If you order books this week, I promise I will put them in the mail within 24 hours of the order.

Each book will also be accompanied by one book fairy!

Order using this link and reach out if you have any questions!