Sunny but cold today. I did hang the laundry outside, but it only got about half dry. Still, that's a few cents of electricity saved by running the dryer a shorter time afterwards!

Took Banshee for a walk; all the daylilies are coming up, the lilacs have very swollen buds, the rugosa roses are budding up, and crocus are poking their little noses up. All this is at least a month earlier than normal for our yard.

The book I ordered on growing and cooking Oriental vegetables arrived today. Looks pretty good; lots of vegetables I've never heard of before. I'm so eager to get to gardening it's silly. I know it'll still be too cold for over a month, even for the cold season crops. But indoor gardening is starting: the artichoke and cardoon seeds are soaking in warm water and will be planted in little containers tomorrow. They take a long time and they need to go out in the cold and then back to warm to trigger blooming, so they have to be fair sized while we still are in cold weather.

The Sewing Machine Classroom, by Charlene Phillips. Krause Publications, 2011

 A very good, basic, introduction to using a sewing machine; written clearly enough that a teenager would have no trouble with it but thorough enough- and with enough handy tips- for the sewist who is beginner to intermediate. Introduces basic stitches and feet that are usually provided on a modern machine, as well has having sections on fabrics, threads, installing zippers & buttonholes, types of seams & hemming, and simple decorative techniques like tucks and smocking. The spiral binding allows the book to lay open for easy reference while trying out the techniques.

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Gardening Book Review

Review: Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants for Gardens and Landscapes, by Kathleen A. Robson, Alice Richter& Marianne Filbert. Timber Press, 2008

At over 500 pages and a color photograph of each plant, this is book gives a wealth of information on each plant- a detailed description right down to the number of sepals and stamens, what it’s soil, sun/shade, altitude and drainage preferences are, where it’s native range is, propagation, and any special notes. Divided into sections of ferns, conifers, annuals, perennials and trees & shrubs, the plants are then arranged alphabetically. At the end of the book are lists of plants for special situations- drought tolerant, for bogs, to attract birds, butterflies and hummingbirds, for erosion control.

Because it’s not arranged by flower color like the Taylor’s guide is (and also because of its size) it’s not a handy field guide, but a book to sit down with at home and read. It has an extensive range- from the California redwood area on up into Alaska- so a lot of the plants won’t be found in our area. But if you are interested in using native plants, this is an excellent book. It will help you to not just find and grow the plants, but to grow them well. And because of the sheer number of plants in it, it’s a fun guide once you have some idea what you’re looking for. For instance, that clematis I’ve seen along the Clark Fork River? Clematis ligusticfolia. Timber Press books always prints quality books, and this one is well worth the price.

Great Gardening Book!

American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Perennials, ed. Graham Rice. Dorling Kindersley, 2006


This is a marvelous compendium of plants. Almost 500 pages of plant descriptions and beautiful color photographs make it a book that the curious gardener will dip into again and again. Plants are listed by genus and species, and a good number of cultivars are listed. Each genus is given a general description, followed by how it is best grown, how it’s propagated, and what pests it has. Then follows the various species within the genus, descriptions including origin, size, bloom time, color and size, scent and occasional tidbits about medicinal use or the like. One thing I love about this book as opposed to many other plant encyclopedias: it gives the American zone hardiness of the species.

But this is not just a straight encyclopedia; interspersed with the plants are sidebars and boxes with information on combining the plants to make beautiful vignettes that put plants with the same needs together, the structures of various types of flowers, plant history, diseases and pests of plants, and detailed propagation instructions for certain plants.

This book is great for looking up information, but it’s also wonderful for just leafing through it, stopping at reading at random spots- did you know that the Barlow type aquilegias make seed that’s true to type, while all other aquilegia’s promiscuously cross breed? And here I thought those Barlow girls were just as bad as their cousins! Drooling over this book has given me a lot of new ideas for the garden, and left me with serious zone envy.
 

The Jewel Box Garden, by Thomas Hobbs. Timber Press, 2004


‘The Jewel Box Garden’ is not your average gardening book. You’ll find no advice on composting or dealing with insects; this book is strictly about the aesthetics of gardening. Far more picture than text, it’s a book of inspiration, not instruction. The book is filled with vignettes of plants that are jewels on their own, and are supported by being used in combo with other plants and with planters, statues and other hardscaping. His theme is that you want to create beauty in the garden, and not copy what everyone else is doing. I can’t argue with that.

Hobbs lives, designs and gardens in Vancouver, B.C., so his palette of plants is much more extensive than what most of us have, and he’s pushed the it even further by using hot weather plants that he takes inside every winter. That’s more work than most of us want to do, but we can achieve the same effect with hardier plants. Hardy sedums and sempervivums can stand in for tender echevarias; there *are* hardy bamboos (and they are less apt to spread aggressively than the tropical varieties), hardy ferns, hardy variegated plants and hardy plants with dark, almost black foliage.

The photos are beautiful, but the text may be off-putting to some readers. Hobbs is snarky about the people whose gardens he doesn’t like, and if you have that sort of garden you’re apt to be insulted. Ignore those bits, though, and allow yourself to get caught up in his enthusiasm for what he’s doing.