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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Pleasures of the Cottage Garden
  • Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:37:44 -0700


I did a quick search on Rand Lee's book, and here's one of the reviews on
Amazon.com from 2001.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pleasures of the Cottage Garden

My shelves groan from the weight of gardening books, most of which I never
look at twice. But this book is one of the very few which never gathers dust.

First, there are dozens of exquisite photos of different styles of cottage
gardens in a variety of locations. Individual plants are identified, as well
as pictured within a larger garden context; a welcome change from the many
books which provide relatively useless close-up, glamour shots or large
landscapes with not a single plant identified. What is truly helpful is to
see how the plant will look situated in an actual garden. I know what the
flower of Sombreuil looks like: what I 'd like to see is this charming rose
actually climbing the front of house. Fortunately, the photos in Pleasures of
a Cottage Garden happily oblige.

Secondly, the writing is superb: authoritative, experienced and witty.
Whereas many gardening books are either written like seed catalogs or as
filler for coffee table photo albums, this book is more like spending a sunny
afternoon reminiscing with a wise and witty old gardener. Mr. Rand weaves
together a history of cottage gardening, memories of his mother's garden and
his own experiences in four different zones, with a wealth of practical
information on individual plants, not to mention such important topics as
color, light, and fragrance. Not forgotten are the edibles without which a
cottage garden would seem only half alive.

Thirdly, in addition to the glorious photos, expert writing, and historical
research, this books offers a series of excercises which can help today's
cottage gardener to discover what they truly want from their plot of earth,
and how to achieve it. Almost a 12-step program for gardeners with creative
block. The excercises were surprisingly effective...and delightfully
revealing.

Like a cottage garden, this book will catch you unawares with its depth and
variety, as it subtly charms you with its humble beau

http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Cottage-Garden-Rand-Lee/dp/1567996957/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267489824&sr=1-1
~~~~~~~~~~





  • [Livingontheland] Pleasures of the Cottage Garden, Tradingpost, 03/01/2010

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