The high desert plains area of eastern New Mexico is covered as part of the prairie chapter (pp. 45-88), and I can recommend reading this chapter, to those who live in my hometown of Tucumcari. If you live further west, however, you won't benefit as much from it's information.
The prairie chapter is broken into several subchapters. "Starting out Simple," for example, details the experience of a Chicago, Illinois couple in establishing a natural landscape on the one acre in suburbia. (p. 62) Throughout the chapter you'll find information on shrubs, grasses, and native wildflowers. My favorite section, however, which is found throughout the book, is labeled "Winning Combos." (p 67)
The first "Winning Combo" for the prairie, for example, is: black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, pale purple dconeflower, prarie coeopsis, prairie dropseed, spiderwort."
The introduction and the basic premise of the book, that lawns and traditional gardens are sterile and high - maintenance areas, the equivalent of botanical concrete, is a good one. The pictures are beautiful and include "wild" photos and photos of areas planted to resemble natural settings.
I like GROW WILD! It frequenty suggests flowers which I know do well in my area and it introduces me to some plants I'll give a try because they grow in similar areas. Moreover, this is a good book to read if you, too, enjoy "keeping it simple," and growing natural landscapes. I hope Lorraine Johnson will write a sequel for the areas of the United States not covered in this book.
Seven Seasons in the Sun
This very harsh winter, I'm thinking of 90 degrees in December.
We used to think we had it made in Fresno, California. Yeah, they used to joke and accurately call us the "raisin capitol of the world." But, there were those days of 90 degrees in December. Being a raisin capitol wasn't all bad.
Families may have lost their farm occasionally, but we didn't read about it in the paper appropriately called The Bee. And everywhere you looked between the foothills of the Sierra Madre's and the Coastal range, the land was rich, productive, fertile.
