How Does Your Garden Grow?

One of my other favourite pastimes (besides reading) is gardening. Admittedly, this is of recent provenance - I now have some land to garden in! My garden may be small, but I have big ideas. Likewise my gardening library is small, but it is full of many ideas.

Every beginning gardener needs a guidebook. My guidebook is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. I received this book as a gift from my mother, and I can already say that it has been very useful. I foresee it becoming like my Joy of Cooking, an indispensable guide I turn to, a book that is dog-eared, pencil-marked, and muddy from constant use. So far, however, it's in pretty good condition:

This book has everything a gardener would need to know. It has chapters on Annuals, Perennials, Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Bulbs, Roses, Lawns, Ground Covers, Vines, Shrubs, Trees, Wildflowers, and Houseplants. The beginning chapters contain wisdom on such matters as What Plants Need, Planning Your Landscape, Gardening Gear, and How to Buy Plants. It is an excellent resource. The author's voice comes across clearly throughout the text and it is not dry or scholarly. It is like talking to a friend; albeit one with an impressive knowledge of gardening lore! I love her stories about her personal experiences. So much of gardening is the stories one gardener shares with another.

My one minor quibble with it is that it is American. Our growing zones up here in Canada are much cooler than the States, so often I will get excited about a plant only to find it won't grow up here (or at least without lots of tender care). But that is a minor distraction. The book is packed with solid tips and advice and should be on every gardener's bookshelf.

Because temperatures vary so much across Canada, it is important to have a few good books which talk about the plants which do grow well in the climate you have. Such as the following:

Both books are published by Lone Pine Publishing; a publishing house based in Alberta. Often local publishers are the best source for books about issues specific to your area - I urge you to check out your local publishers for gardening books specific to your area.

Gardening Month by Month in Alberta by Alison Beck is a handy resource to assist the gardener in planning his or her year. It is especially helpful for the first time gardener! Of course, the recommendations must be taken with a grain of salt as so much of gardening is weather-dependant. However, it is a handy overall guide for the seasons. It also contains such useful information as a chart of Alberta Climate Normals for various locations around Alberta, as well as maps indicating the last spring and first fall frost dates. It is a useful book.

Best Garden Plants for Alberta by Donna Dawson and Laura Peters does not contain the range of plants in The Garden Primer, above, but with this book you know that the plants listed will grow in Alberta. The book is divided into sections (Annuals, Perennials, Trees & Shrubs, Roses, Vines, Bulbs, Herbs, and Grasses & Ferns) with a brief description of each plant and a lovely full-colour photo. I often find myself looking up plants in this book and then turning to The Garden Primer for more information before I plot out the plants on my garden plan. Both books are helpful for the beginner Alberta gardener.