Choosing Books for Holiday Gifts

How in the world do you choose a gardening book? Especially if it's for someone else?

  • Topic: Gifts for Gardeners
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: Books, Gifts, Holiday, christmas gifts,, Products, holidays, presents
  • Date: December 2004

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What a lovely subject. Books are as close to my heart as gardening; get me into a bookstore, give me a book catalog and instinctively I head for the gardening section. But how in the world do you choose a book? Especially if it’s for someone else? I do it by listening, feeling and taking a chance.

Listening. Through the year I find myself listening to friends, making note of their budding interests; then when it comes time for gift giving, their wish list is already made. One friend recently got interested in grafting fruit trees. Another has developed an interest in succulents. This year my friends will get books I already know they’ll like.

Feeling. There’s a definite art to making a book scrumptious. How the cover looks, how the pages feel-these are the details that draw us in. Who doesn’t like holding a nicely made book? But hunting for books in a catalog doesn’t give you that visceral experience, so then you need to rely on …

  • Restoring American Gardens

Taking a chance. Someone out there must know I’m addictedto books because every book catalog in the world comes to my house. Though tempted by every selection, over the years I’ve developed a knack for choosing great books. Some of my fortunate gardening finds through catalogs were:

  • Second Nature by Michael Pollan, Delta, 1991
  • Secrets of Saffron by Pat Willard, Beacon Press, 2001
  • The Tulip by Anna Pavord, Bloomsbury, 1999
  • Restoring American Gardens by Denise Wiles Adams, Timber Press, 2004
  • Rooted in Spirit—Exploring Inspirational Gardens by Maureen Glimer, Taylor Publishing, 1997

Coming to trust an author is another way to choose books. Years ago I came across Theme Gardens by Barbara Damrosch (Workman Publishing, 1982) and was so taken by it that when her other book came out, I got it with no reservations. Though she focuses The Garden Primer (Workman Publishing, 1988) primarily on growing vegetables, it has lots of good advice for gardening organically, no matter what kind you’re growing.

When it comes to planning and designing perennial gardens, I’m forever turning to books by Judith Phillips and Lauren Springer. Again, these are names you can trust when it comes to the how-to of working with less than optimal soils.

Judith Phillips books include New Mexico Gardener’s Guide, Plants for Natural Gardens and Natural By Design. Springer’s books include The Undaunted Garden and Passionate Gardening.

Our online catalog is stocked with other great books for gardening too. Some of them are:

  • Balcony, Terrace and Patio Gardening by Margaret Davis
  • Basic Gardening by Pat Willard, Beacon Press, 2001
  • Culinary Gardens by Susan McClure
  • Green Gifts by Gill Dickinson
  • Lavender by Ellen Spector Platt
  • Naturalizing Bulbs by Rob Proctor
  • Native Plants for High Elevation Western Gardens by Janice Busco and Nancy R. Morin

My graduate degree is in reading and my most enjoyable thesis was about using books to teach children to read-and garden. The Gray Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang is just great for helping kids discover what the outdoors can offer. Then Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney tells of an old lady who sows bushels of lupine seed just to “make the world more beautiful.”

Children’s gardening books that we carry are Unearthing Garden Mysteries by Ellen Talmage and Grow Your Own Pizza by Constance Hardesty.

I’ve just started reading A Gentle Madness about people’s passions for books, and author Nicholas Basbanes tells about a man convicted of stealing $20 million worth of rare books from libraries across North America “just to have them.” If you love books, you understand the passion. Books are definitely worth having, but it’s certainly less criminal choosing them by listening, feeling and taking a chance.