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Good Books - Good Gardening!

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Sheer amounts of gardening information can sometimes be a tedious chore and even pretty pictures and grand ideas can take on an increasingly saccharine flavour over the years, especially if there is no possible basis in reality. As I sift through my own stack of gardening books (not one would I want to part with), two writers gain more stature in my mind each time I look into their work - Lois Hole and Hugh Johnson. They at first, seem like strange bedfellows but it is a case of opposites attracting.

Lois Hole (see footnote) has written a series of simple, practical books, but their beauty and inspiration lies wholly in their simplicity. Book covers often show a picture of Lois herself and the title usually includes the word 'favourite'. What true gardener can resist this honest hype? When Lois tells you why something is 'her favourite' you might honestly find yourself disagreeing, but even if you do, you will learn something in the process. What you learn may be about your own taste and style as a gardener. The book covers often depict Lois working with her hands; massive, capable and attractive gardening hands they are! You know they've done their share of digging in the good earth. You can trust these hands, and you can trust Lois Hole for good honest information provided by someone who loves to garden as much as you do. Found in recent years almost everywhere in western Canada, her books are separated into categories such as trees and shrubs, vegetables, roses, annuals, etc. For Rockies gardeners the real bonus comes from the fact that Lois lives and gardens the cold climates of the prairies of Canada, practically all her information is geared to zones found in the Rockies of the U.S. and Canada. Far from seeing a harsher climate as a drawback, these books present limit-less potential for Rockies gardeners.

In seeming contrast to Hole's 'favorites' type writing is - The Principles of Gardening -a guide to the art, history, science and practice of gardening, by Hugh Johnson (see footnote). I bought the book over twenty years ago as a 'snobbish coffee table' book to impress others that I had indeed become interested in the art of gardening. The book is worth the price for its photographs and illustrations alone. In fact, I read little more than the captions under the pictures for the first five years I owned the book. The book is a veritable feast of information, written in an authoritative style that at once both appeals to the heart and and head of the garden lover.

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