Column: Greene Ink…Garden Plans Amid Winter’s Throes
1.15.10 – Garden Plans Amid Winter’s Throes
Winter’s chilly conversation seems to invoke a keen longing for warmer days, along with aggressive and abundant plans for spring. The colder the weather, the more grandiose these plans become. In our home, this inclination means mapping out new configurations for our small backyard garden and establishing which plants will reside therein. Our children even have a say in the process, which—we flatter ourselves–cultivates a lifelong interest in backyard gardening.
Over the last few months, I’ve reviewed a slew of gardening-related books, mainly on choosing the proper plants for individual places, both edible and ornamental. Garden Anywhere, for instance, focuses on folks living in tight spaces, low-budget gardening with realistic advice; The Book of Weeds allows avid gardeners to stock up on information to preempt troublesome intruders before they have a chance to take hold; Right Rose, Right Place harbors succinct and informative advice on one of the most popular and gratifying ornamental plants in the US; A Short History of the Honey Bee inspired our family to make plans to purchase a bee cabinet, which will sit in the corner of our garden during the upcoming spring, right by the honeysuckle vine.
Future reviews in this category are forthcoming over the next two months; I am in the midst of reading a highly-informative book for the planners among us, titled The Well-Designed Garden, the review of which is due out in SBR’s upcoming February issue. When the biting wind imbues you with despair, take heart; soon your hands will be kissed with sunlight and digging contentedly in the heady, moist earth once again.
–Meredith Greene
