Short Version: My 2025 gardening motto, perhaps my motto for all gardening going forward, is taken from The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. "Don't let us make it tidy...It wouldn't …
Arsenic and Old Gardening Books
Short version: It is possible that the covers of books published in the 19th century may contain arsenic, lead, or other heavy metals that could be harmful to one's health with prolonged …
What Is a Dandelion Summer?
What is a dandelion summer? According to M. C. Beaton, who wrote about it in the cozy mystery, The Skeleton in the Closet (2001), a dandelion summer is a hot summer, foretold by an abundance of …
Gardening by Myself
Yes, I am reading another gardening book from the past. This time I have gone way back... Not to the 1950s. Not to the 192os. Further back than that. Grab your button-up shoes and …
Leaning Toward Autumn
The title for this post comes from a quote from The Golden Circle: A Book of Months by Hal Borland with paintings by Anne Ophelia Dowden (1977). In the chapter for July, Borland wrote, "The …
But I Want the Old One!
I like to read old gardening books and magazines. But the danger in reading old gardening books and magazines is that you are introduced to old varieties of flowers and vegetables and then you …
