Gardening Books for the Cold Days Ahead (Plus 2 Giveaways!)

The holidays are just a couple of days away, and I don't know about you, but I am more than ready for a break! I can think of nothing better to do than to curl with with a hot mug of coffee, a few sinfully good holiday cookies and a great gardening book.

In case you are hoping to do the same in the days to come, here are a few terrific gardening books that are bound to inspire:

Books about Specific Types of Gardens:

The Bold Dry Garden: Lessons from the Ruth Bancroft Garden 

by Johanna Silver

The subject of this book is Ruth Bancroft, a dry gardening pioneer, and the acclaimed public garden she created in Walnut Creek, California. In this book you'll discover the interesting history behind her garden, as well as the design principals that helped to create it. There are even helpful profiles of the plants that make this garden so unique. As you can tell from the cover, this is a visually stunning book filled with amazing photography.

Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style

by Joseph Tychonievich

In recent months, I have heard lots of talk that rock gardens are back in fashion, but with a bit of a modern twist. This makes Joseph Tychonievich's new book very timely. To get you inspired, the book showcases a variety of rock gardens from around the world. Once your interest is piqued, there are plant profiles of 50 of the best rock garden plants, and practical ideas for creating and maintaining your own rock garden.

Books for the more Philosophical Gardener:

Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes

by Thomas Rainer & Claudia West

This is another book with a tremendous amount of buzz. It aims to reinvent the way we think about urban spaces by designing landscapes that look and function more like they do in the wild. While the book suggests a new way of thinking, it is also offers practical ideas on creating plantings that are as vibrant as those found in naturally occurring plant communities.

Garden Revolution: How our landscapes can be a source of environmental change

by Larry Weaner & Thomas Christopher

This next book is not for everyone, but for the gardener who is looking for a better, smarter way to garden. Larry Weaner, who is a leader in the world of ecological landscape design, shows readers that choosing the right plants for a site can eliminate the need for weeding, irrigating and other time-consuming practices. 

Interesting Reads:

Biodynamic Gardening

by Dorling Dk

Does growing strong, healthy plants using the help of the moon and natural cycles sound a bit out there to you? Then this is the book that might change your mind! Biodynamic Gardening is a very useful and readable guide on using biodynamic techniques in a home garden. This book offers lots of practical advice and fully illustrated step-by-step instructions.

Garden Flora: The Natural and Cultural History of the Plants in Your Garden

by Noel Kingsbury 

This is a gorgeous book filled with botanical illustrations, watercolours and paintings, as well as contemporary photographs of plant species. Garden Flora delves into the heritage of plants and the journey they have made to our modern gardens with fascinating tales of plant hunters, breeders and gardeners throughout history.

A Book that is Inspirational:

Image on the right taken from The Art of Gardening © Copyright 2015 by the Chanticleer Foundation. All rights reserved. 

Published by Timber Press, Portland OR. Used by permission of the publisher.

The Art of Gardening 

by R William Thomas and the Chanticleer Gardeners

Not a new publication, but rather one from last year, this is a book that still deserves a mention. It's filled with terrific photography, and expert advice from the team of gardeners that manage one of the most influential public gardens in the U.S.A.. This book will happily see you through the bleak winter months ahead.

Books Filled with Ideas:

Raised Bed Revolution

by Tara Nolan

I did a full review of Tara's book earlier this year which you can read here. I thought I should mention it again because it has such a great array of projects (not all of them traditional raised beds). 

Gardenista

by Michelle Slatalla

From the hugely popular gardening blog called Gardenista springs a book of the same name. This thick, weighty book features 12 stylish gardens, trendy design ideas, planting guides for a variety of gardening zones and color palettes, and a range of DIY projects.

Herbs & Useful Plants:

Cattail Moonshine & Milkweed Medicine 

by Tammi Hartung

The plants in your backyard have amazing stories to tell and fascinating uses you probably don't know about. In her new book, Tammi Hartung reveals the untold stories of 43 Native American plants and celebrates their modern versatility.

Healing Herbal Teas 

by Sarah Farr

Want to make your own herbal teas but have no idea where to begin? Master herbalist Sarah Farr offers 101 original herbal tea recipes that not only have health advantages, they taste great. In the book's pages you'll find recipes for blending and brewing teas that will reduce inflammation, ease digestion, boost your immune system and even help with seasonal allergies. 

The Giveaways:

Photos by Caitlin Atkinson from the book Plant Craft published by Timber Press. Used with permission of the publisher.

Plant Craft: 30 Projects that add Natural Style to your Home

by Caitlin Atkinson

What is a housebound gardener to do in the depths of winter? Get crafty of course! Plant Craft offers step-by-step instructions for 30 projects inspired by the natural world. 

Above you can see two of the projects from Caitlin Atkinson's new book. One the left is her "Staghorn Fern Shadowbox" and on the right is the "Rock and Sand Landscape".

Thomas Allen & Sons has kindly given me a copy of the Plant Craft to give away. Because I will have to send this book through the mail, I will have to limit entry in the draw to readers in Canada and the USA. 

Please leave a comment below if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open for the until January 1st. If you are not a blogger, you can enter to win by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page. You are also welcome to enter by sending me an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs: Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden, with 100 recipes 

by Signe Langford

I am thrilled to have a second book, and my first gardening/cookbook, to giveaway. And what a delight this book is! 

It's ironic that one of the biggest trends in modern gardening is reviving time-honoured traditions like beekeeping and keeping a small flock of hens. We want healthy, organic food even if we have to produce it ourselves. There is also something so deeply satisfying about living in a way that is more self-sufficient.

From the book Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs: Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden – with 100 Recipes, ©2015, by Signe Langford, Photography by Donna Griffith. Published by Douglas & McIntyre. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

I think Signe Langford states what her book is about much better than I could ever hope to do when she writes, "My goal with this collection of anecdotes, advice, recipes and reminiscences is to entertain, inspire, inform and, with luck, lead you down the garden path...all the way to the coop and back into the kitchen with a new or renewed passion for growing, raising and cooking your own amazing food."

From the book Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs: Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden – with 100 Recipes, ©2015, by Signe Langford, Photography by Donna Griffith. Published by Douglas & McIntyre. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

Over on the food part of the blog, there is more about the book, along with a Sweet Lingonberry Jam Omelette Recipe (seen above) that Signe and her publisher Douglas & McIntyre have nicely permitted me to share. This fluffy omelette would make for a great holiday breakfast, don't you think?

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Please note: I am going to do 2 separate draws. To enter the draw for "Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs" click here. 

I will announce the two book winners in the new year. Best of luck everyone!

Nature Books for Gift Giving (Plus a Giveaway)

In this post, Jean Godawa has drawn up a great list of nature book recommendations 

for holiday gift giving.

As a student, I accumulated dozens of books about the natural world. Most have long outlived their usefulness and have been replaced by updated scientific discoveries and the collection of infinite knowledge available on the internet. There are, however, a few books with broken spines, muddy fingerprints and loose pages that are never far from reach at my desk. They continue to serve me twenty years later. Those are the books that I love. Those are the books that are worth the shelf space they occupy. I keep that in mind when looking for gifts for fellow nature lovers and try to select books that they too will find worthy of their own shelf space.

  

Wicked Plants, Wicked Bugs and The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart:

Did you know that cashews are from the same botanical family as poison ivy and poison oak? For people of any age who love macabre stories, bestselling author Amy Stewart has written some wonderful books on the intoxicating, destructive, dangerous or deadly properties of plants and insects. The books are well organized and easy to read, with plenty of useful information such as common names, habitats and origins. Her descriptions of historical encounters with some of nature's bizarre flora and fauna is both informative and entertaining. The author and illustrator recently released The Wicked Plants Coloring Book  with "40 botanical atrocities to color and keep". Any or all of these would make great gifts for nature lovers with just a hint of a dark side.

The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie:

We move throughout the day from one place to the next with little regard for the natural world we pass through. Clare Walker Leslie inspires us to follow that old adage of stopping to smell the roses but in a fresh way. This book encourages you to explore your neighbourhood or walk around outside and notice the various elements, from the clouds in the sky to the fungus on a tree trunk. Filled with information and simple activities such a making a spore print from mushroom caps or pressing autumn leaves, this guide would make an excellent gift for nature-loving families with curious children.

Gardening for Butterflies by the Xerces Society:

Stunning photography with detailed information on butterfly biology and behaviour is presented in this book in a very informative and easy to read manner. It suggests suitable plants for a variety of North American regions and provides an alphabetical listing of those plants along with wonderful reference pictures and ideal growing information. If you know someone who is planning or designing a new garden or is just looking for information about plants (including trees) that will attract butterflies to their garden, this book would be a welcome addition to their library.

Garden Flora by Noel Kingsbury:

Noel Kingsbury has written and excellent reference guide on the origins of garden plants. Laid out alphabetically, Garden Flora delves into the heritage of plants and describes, among many other things, how they were crossed with others to give us the plants we use in our gardens today. Visually, the book is gorgeous, with reproductions of historical illustrations, watercolours and paintings as well as contemporary photographs of plant species. This book is well suited to gardeners and botanists who wish to delve further into the history of their current garden flora.

Peterson First Guides by Roger Tory Peterson:

There are so many field guides to help identify the plants and animals around us that it is difficult to know which one to choose. My most well-used guides have always been by Peterson. Whether you want to identify the caterpillar you found on the sidewalk or the bird at your feeder, there is a Peterson guide to help you. The smaller First Guides are a great start for any age and there is one for birds, butterflies, caterpillars and insects.  Any of these field guides would make great stocking-stuffers for nature lovers. 

 

Bee Time by Mark L. Winston and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald:

Both award winning books, Bee Time and H is for Hawk, are non-fiction accounts of the authors' personal relationships with nature. In Bee Time, Mark Winston describes his work in apiaries around the world and makes connections between his interactions with bees and with people. Helen Macdonald describes her immersion into the training of a goshawk while shutting out friends and family in order to deal with the death of her father. Both books are beautifully written. Upon finishing them, the reader is left not only with a great deal of knowledge about bees and hawks, but with a new understanding of human nature. If you know someone who is fascinated with nature and those that study it, both of these books would make excellent gifts.

A Child's Introduction to Natural History by Heather Alexander:

For readers aged 8 to 12, Heather Alexander provides a wealth of information about the natural world. The world's biomes are well described along with the living and non-living things contained within them. She introduces kids to the scientists and naturalists who have helped further our knowledge of the natural world. As an added bonus, the book includes patterns and paper for making origami animals.

A Wasp Builds a Nest by Kate Scarborough:

For younger readers, Kate Scarborough has written a book that can be read like a storybook but is full of accurate information on how wasps build their nest. Curious kids who wonder what it looks like inside a wasp nest will get a chance to see exactly what's happening in it at each stage of its development. The book is suitable for young nature lovers aged 5 to 8.

I could happily spend days in the library or bookstore leafing through books on plants or animals or the environment in general. The above are just a few suggestions that I think any nature lover would be pleased to receive. If you have read or used any of these books, I'd love to hear your feedback. Also, if you have any further recommendations for gift books, please do share them.

Blog post by Jean Godawa

About Jean Godawa: Jean is a science teacher and writer. She has been writing science-related articles for print and online publications for more than ten years. Jean holds a degree in biology and environmental science with a focus on entomology from the University of Toronto. She had conducted field research in the tropical rainforests of Asia and South America.

Thomas Allen & Sons has kindly given us a copy of the Garden Flora: The Natural and Cultural History of Plants in Your Garden to give away. Because we will have to send this book through the mail, we will have to limit entry in the draw to readers in Canada and the USA.

Please leave a comment below if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open for the until December 1st. 

If you are not a blogger, you can enter to win by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page. You are also welcome to enter by sending Jennifer an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

Please make sure there is a way for us to track down your email address should your name be drawn.