Needless to say … I am an avid indigenous, gardener with a huge collection of bulbs – and, am one of the lucky ones to be living in the fynbos-rich mountains of the Cape.

We’re in our new house almost three years now, and still haven’t set up the library. The only ones I regularly read cover to cover are the handbooks from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

I am still buying new books, though I don’t have the time for them that I used to. Mostly I refer to them when I’m playing “garden mentor” to a neighbor. It’s helpful to pull out a book or two to share with them and give them ideas.

Matt

No, easy I mean, in terms of the first one: The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page. Besides being the only book I’ve read that objectively tells you how to make a garden beautiful, without ever telling you what style it should be or what to put in it, the book inspires a kind of mental rigor and discipline that I sorely need!

Second has to be Ms. Jekyll. Of her books, I’ll pick Colour Schemes for Flower Gardens, for similar reasons to Mr. Page above. You not only learn how to make beautiful garden pictures, but the woman teaches you how to see, literally. Close behind is any Vita Sackville-West collection, simply for her originality and outrageouly seductive prose. Responding to what you say, I read the above three over and over and over again.

Then there are a group of really good writers that everyone should read and have. I stumbled on such as Helen Van Pelt Wilson, Thalassa Cruso, Louise Beebe Wilder and Henry Mitchell (what a hoot!) in my tender years. Later, Christopher Lloyd, Pam Harper, Penelope Hobhouse, and so many others we all know and love. And I’m not even considering the reference works, including the truly indispensible Wildflowers of Eastern and Central North America by R T Petersen.

Rules say I have two more choices, since my sneaky mentions in the above paragraph don’t count(!)

These are books that fascinated me for extended periods and taught me a lot. I go back to them. I’d say they share a compelling voice, original vision and complete mastery of the subject matter. You choose any two you like. I’d be glad to tell you why I like them another time:

Roses, by Jack Harkness.

Beatrix Farrand’s Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks.

Theme Gardens, by Barbara Damrosch.

Gardening on Main Street, by Buckner Hollingsworth

100 Great Garden Plants, by William H. Frederick, Jr.

Second Nature, by Michael Polan

Lee Bailey’s Country Flowers

Gardening at Sissinghurst, Tony Lord

Though I have lots of garden enthusiasms that go in and out of focus, I’m not a collector in the way you are. I’ve got somewhere around 250 books, and I try to expunge the duds every few years.

Thanks again for the great blog and best wishes to you and your hubby for the new year. KM