I love gardening and I love to read.  I’m no garden expert but I keep trying to learn and that’s where the books take center stage.

As an only child on a farm where our nearest neighbors were a quarter mile away the magic of books – and my teacher mother’s ordering of Jack and Jill and Highlights for Children for me – secured my love of reading.

And, from little on, I followed my mother into the garden where she grew tons and tons of annuals each year.  I fondly remember our trips to Jack Charter’s greenhouse in Northport each spring where she’d pick up flat after flat of sweet alyssum, Sweet William, zinnias, snapdragons and bachelor’s buttons as the backbone of her gardens.  Each year there was a surprise in the gardens as well – an experiment in growing something like castor beans (stay away from them, they’re poisonous was the warning she gave me).

My father was a life-long farmer but mother was an avid flower gardener - not much interested in food gardens. As a result, and probably because of her influence,  I dabble in houseplants, grow herbs and a few tomatoes on the deck but my real passion is perennials. 

Sometimes I wonder where my child-sized gardening hoe, rake and watering can ended up.  They probably went in a yard sale she held after I was grown, married and gone to live in the city.  I hope they gave joy to a second generation of junior gardeners.

Today our garage is stashed full of gardening equipment and I’m still in pursuit of the “perfect” garden.  In that pursuit I’ve collected an amazing number of gardening books and I plan to use this blog to showcase some of my favorites.

My front yard garden is full of native and adaptable plants and this year my goal is to add a pollinator garden in the side yard that leads to our wine grape vineyard.

There’s always something growing here.

gar·den·erˈɡärdnər/|

Formally defined as a noun describing someone who tends a garden either for a living or for a past time.

In my world anyone who develops an interest in a plant has the potential to become a gardener even if they don't consider themselves one.