Three books for gardeners to enjoy

By Theresa Rundle, Henrico Master Gardener
Although I am a Master Gardener, I don’t have a degree in any garden-related subject. But I love plants and gardens and nature. And I love to READ! So if you want some recommendations on three inspiring books, check these out. They are current publications, and all are available through the Henrico County Libraries.

First – Beatrix Potter’s Gardening for Life by Marta McDowell. This is a delightful book full of beautiful color plates of Mrs. potters drawings and sketches. They are such lively and accurate pictures of all that she loved: her home, garden, flowers and animals. She turned acres of her farm into designed gardens but still left plenty of room for natural acreage and farm animals. Just lovely, fun reading!

Next – I recommend Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy. Mr. Tallamy is considered to be an absolute authority and advocate for natural gardening. His book educates us to be good stewards of our urban and suburban acreage through planting native trees, shrubs and plants. He encourages us to greatly reduce our use of herbicides and insecticides to promote insect and bug life. This in turn will aid our bird population. The birds seem to be in such decline. This book helps us to understand what we can actually do and is a great inspiration.

And lastly – I am not a native Virginian and so was not familiar with Southern Living magazine’s Garden Editor, Steve Bender. But goodness! I am so happy that I read his informative and hilarious book, The Grumpy Gardener. It is an A to Z guide with a multitude of advice on plants, plant choices, plant problems, insect issues, site suitability and hilarious examples of his humorous outlook on gardening. Get ready to chuckle and glean some really good tips!

Happy Reading!