Plants, Colours or Books

Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia by John L. Fiala and Freek Vrugtman

What comes first the chicken or the egg. In this case what comes first the name of a plant or the name of a colour. It is surprising how many colours and plants are the same. The citrus family provide most with Orange, Tangerine, Lemon and Lime!

The Rose Expert by Dr D G Hessayon

Colourful books in The Expert series have made sure of one bank balance in the black not the red!

Lavender Lover’s Handbook, by Sarah Berringer Bader

The dark end of the colour spectrum produces Indigo and Violet both plants of the hue. Lavender and Lilac are also of a similar persuasion.

Magnolias: A Gardener’s Guide by Jim Gardiner

Not the colour of Magnolia paint that all the walls in my first house was painted by I do not know of a plant called a beige.

There is an Orange book prize and so I thought we should consider a garden book prize we could call it Apple Green or Bookworm awards.

On The Eighth Day God Created Allotments

On The Eighth Day God Created Allotments for Kindle by David Boyle
So allotments should be exceptional because God had just had a rest before he created them. If you are fortunate enough to have an allotment make good use of it and enjoy.

Blurb on the Book

‘There are few things the British treasure as much as their allotments. A few square metres of land, usually on the outskirts of cities, they are an oasis of calm in a busy world, a source of fresh vegetables and flowers, and a retreat into nature for city dwellers.

But what is the history of the allotment? Where did it come from? And what were the principles and ideas that created this quiet but powerful force in society?

In this brilliant slice of social history, David Boyle traces the story of the allotment back to the great medieval commons – and to the potent but half-forgotten ideology which, throughout the nineteenth century, asserted people’s right to grow their own food.

This book is partly the story of the politician who made it possible, Jesse ‘Three acres and a cow’ Collings, and his ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (and vice versa). But it is also a look at the original ideology of the allotment, its radical claims about English history, its representative interpretation of modern economics, and where it has led us to today – and what might happen if the guiding ideology of allotments makes further progress.

On the Eighth Day God Created Allotments will be enjoyed by keen gardeners, but also by anyone interested in the history of British society. It magnificently mixes personal stories and social, political economic ideas to tell a little-known but compelling and important story. ‘

Credits
Allotments at Berwick-upon-Tweed Allotments by muggers! CC BY 2.0

101 Garden Projects & Tips

101 Garden projects is an excellent small book offering simple but effective ways to transform a garden. The book is particularly aimed at the small garden. For example, tips include growing potatoes and herbs in pots. Most of the ideas are easy to execute and it simply provides a range of interesting ideas for you garden. There is a mixture between design ideas to growing vegetables and flowers.

Some of my favourite tips include:

• Taking root cuttings and making plants for free.
• Grow early strawberries using cloches.
• Simple design ideas such as the ‘dry river’ of pebbles.
• Plant early potatoes in large pots or bags in spring and again in September for new spuds out of season. (keep seed potatoes cold to stop them over sprouting.

The books is well illustrated with colour photos and simply explained. Would make an excellent gift for any gardener. It couldn’t be easier with projects including planting, pruning, composting, hanging baskets, lawns, ponds, greenhouses, indoor gardening and grow-to-eat ideas.

Keep Calm Carry on Gardening.

Gardeners’ World: 101 Garden Projects: Quick and Easy DIY Ideas by Helena Caldon only £3.77 from Amazon

Planting Combinations of Shape, Colour, Texture or Form

It makes sense to plan what plants you put where and therefore what plants will be next to other plants. At the extremes you wouldn’t put Cacti with bog plants and there are many combinations that would be ridiculous.

This book for March considers a range of reasons for combining plants to make good combinations.

Reasons for Good Combinations

• Mutual support in the form of prevention of insect attack or supply of nutrients.
• Bringing shape, colour, texture and form together in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
• Harmonising with natural features within the gardenscape or wider landscape.
• Good companions working in harmony enhance the garden. Conflict plants can distract from the overall garden.
• Seasonal variations and ground utilisation or crop rotation need to be taken into account

Planting combinations various books

How to Grow Winter Vegetables -February Book of the Month

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• Advice on how to come through winter with plenty of vegetables stored and for growing plants to withstand the winter.
• Growing tips for eating in spring during the hungry gap season of April, May and early June.
• Winter and early spring require a different kind of gardening to the summer months. Not a lot grows at this time but a well planned plot may nonetheless be quite full.

Who Wants to Read ‘How to Grow Winter Vegetables ‘

• If you have a hungry family to feed then have a read.
• If you like fresh home grown produce have a gander at this books ideas and advice.
• If you thought salad could only be grown in summer think again.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• High producers that take up little space make fantastic sense and this book has lots of help with salad crops, raised beds etc.
• I like the idea of winter making the garden an outdoor larder. That is OK if the soil has the chance to get reconditioned.

---

In Tune With The Moon Planting by Month

In Tune With The Moon 2012: The Complete Day-by-Day Planner for Growing and living in 2012 by Michel Gros

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• In Tune With The Moon has a biodynamic approach to gardening in harmony with the moon. It is a simple and green way to boost garden yields and live a better life.
• This detailed guide includes information on the waxing and waning moon and an abundance of gardening tips.

Who Wants to Read ‘In Tune With The Moon ‘

• I should be one who reads this book as I have largely ignored the moon when sowing, planting and harvesting my garden.
• Green allotmenteers may find the tips and calendar useful.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• The moon is one factor but a gardens latitude and height above sea level may trump the zodiac
• We are all influenced by the cycles of the natural world and plants are no exception. However is the moon one of the influencers


The Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar: 2012 by Maria Thun and Matthias K. Thun

The original biodynamic sowing and planting calendar, now in its 50th year. This useful guide shows the optimum days for sowing, pruning and harvesting various plants and crops, as well as working with bees.

---

Green Gardening Book of the Month

Green Gardening – Practical advice from National Trust Gardeners

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• As it says in the title this book contains lots of practical advice from 10 gardeners at 10 different National Trust properties.
• Each gardener and garden takes a different theme based on organic and green gardeneing subjects.
• A strong feature is the tips section at the end of each chapter.

Who Wants to Read ‘Green Gardening’

• This book has been around for 10 years but is still a must read for those who have vague ideas about how green they should be when it comes to their garden.
• Those planning a visit to the National trust properties will get a foretaste of what to expect and see.

Buy from Amazon

There are numerous other books on Green Gardening from Little Green Books to Joey Green’s gardening Magic

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• You do not need to be a full blown environmentalist, ecologist or tree hugger to recognise that you can improve your gardening techniques by reference to nature.
• See and read Top Ten Green Gardening habits
• You can even find a use for glyphosate in a green garden context
• ‘Green Gardening’ is the common sense application of techniques that are in tune with nature without needing to become an eco-warrior

Great Gardening a Thoughtful Book of the Month Title

Thoughtful Gardening: Great Plants, Great Gardens, Great Gardeners by Robin Lane Fox

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• As you would expect from a Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at New College Oxford there are grand opinions and insights.
• As Garden Master of the college gardens the practical nature of the author lends the book to problems with badgers, to how to take root-cuttings or choose flowering trees. (A bit grand for my taste).
• Thoughtful Gardening ‘combines a principled view of the craft of gardening with dozens of new ideas for planting and visiting, and touching reminders of the power of literature and art to deepen what we see and realize in gardens of our own’ according to the blurb.

Who Wants to Read ‘ Thoughtful Gardening ‘

• Robin Lane Fox has written a weekly gardening column in the Financial Times since 1970. He has many followers who will be interested in this book his third gardening book but first for many years.
• The book is fine for dipping into and need not be read as one work.
• One reviewer says the book is suitable for the traveler who expects to visit or know about gardens in other countries
• ‘Thoughtful Gardening: Great Plants, Great Gardens, Great Gardeners’ to give the book it’s full title probably sums up the target audience as having great expectations.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• It looks like the Greats are what to read in Oxford. Sadly this is not one of my classics.
• ‘Thoughtful Gardening: Great Plants, Great Gardens, Great Gardeners’ contains 368 pages for £12.99. This and 40 years of learnered experience probably make this book good value.

---

Vegetable & Fruit Gardening Book of the Month

The RHS’s ‘Vegetable & Fruit Gardening’ new book edited by Michael Pollock will be published on 1st February. As you would expect from Britain’s leading gardening charity and authority on horticultural matters this work will be comprehensive.

What to Expect

• Everything you need to know about growing your own, fruit and vegetables. Kitchen gardening advice from the experts at the RHS.
• Practical advice on growing over 150 vegetables, herbs and fruit with the new edition of RHS Vegetable & Fruit Gardening
• You’ll find easy-to-follow step-by-steps of tried-and-trusted techniques.
• Specialist tips on seasonal tasks, yields per crop, sowing and harvesting times and controlling pests and diseases.
• Organic options and traditional gardening practices are combined with up-to-date methods to guarantee success.
• ‘The definitive guide to successful growing.’

Who Wants to Read RHS Vegetable & Fruit Gardening

• This is not a primer but it is accessible to those who are new to growing their own crops. It will form a good basis for a number of seasons of home grown food production.
• Allotment holders and those with an established vegetable plot will find new plants and ideas to augment their current skills and output.
• The book collector wants to keep up to date with the current RHS thinking. This is an excellent book for local libraries to stock. (If libraries still buy books)

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thought of the Month

RHS is a charity but has become very commercial in the recent past.
RHS should donate a large number of appropriate books such as ‘Vegetable & Fruit Gardening’ to libraries through out the UK.
This helps budding gardeners, increases the RHS brand awareness and fulfills part of their charitable remit.

English Roses Book of the Month

David Austin roses are not the cheapest to buy but they are up there with the very best. So with this book ‘The English Roses’ by David Austin himself. David is the creator of the English Roses, an entirely new style of roses that have achieved international recognition. They are available from the family business in Shropshire and from many garden center outlets.

What to Expect in ‘The English Roses’

• This revised edition includes 23 new rose portraits of the newest rose varieties by David Austin Roses.
• Some of David’s descriptions are a little too glowing, since he fails to acknowledge some of the roses serious shortcomings.
• Rose lovers will love its pictures alone, since it includes photos of the flowers with a substantial piece of the lower foliage, and each rose description does come with a line drawing of its growth habit.
• Comments about group plantings and recommendations concerning minimiums for plantings of each variety to get best effect are a good feature.

Who Wants to Read ‘The English Roses’

• Owners of the earlier edition may want the extra content of new rose introductions in the last 10 years or so.
• Rose lovers and those seeking scent in the garden will absorb this book.
• There are many books on roses and this fits in with a collection of books on the subject.

Available from Amazon