TEXAS SNAKES. A review

The holiday season will be upon us soon and the mad panic for gifts. What to get the avid gardener or nature lover? Here's an idea. Texas Snakes, by James R. Dixon, John E Werler, and Michael R. J. Forstner. Published by the University of Texas Press.

Just a few days ago I found a snake in my water collection system. Feeling rather guilty I fished him out, (I think he had been in there for a while because he didn't slither off) went in the house to get my camera and took his photo. His markings were certainly different from the more common snakes we see around the garden. After checking in this guide I decided he was plains hog-nosed snake. I'm pleased to say when I went the check the next morning he was gone. 

I posted his picture on face book and almost immediately someone asked if he was poisonous. Isn't that what everyone always wants to know. Many people think only of the venomous snakes and to many every snake out there is just that. 

I like the fact that the books answers these questions right away. Turn to the first two pages in this book and you will see listed 108 non-venomous snakes and only 16 venomous ones. And of those 8 are rattle snakes and 3 are copperheads. In the introduction a number of pages are given over to each of the latter. Enough maybe to allay the fears of many and ways to reduce the chances of snake bites.

The book gives a good basic education on the habits of snakes and why they are so important to the environment. By far the larger content of the book is given to non-venomous snakes to be found in Texas and illustrated with excellent color plates. 

Perhaps reading this book might just save your life and a snake's life too.

DESERT GARDENS OF STEVE MARTINO

Who buys a book and puts it on the coffee table for 2 weeks? Me. That's who. I wanted to savor the anticipation that came with the purchase.

Anticipation of the wonderful desert landscape projects I was going to see and read about. I don't live in the desert but I love the desert landscape and have spent many vacations hiking in the deserts of the American West. I would love to have the chance to create my own desert landscape although I am sure this will never happen now. But, with a son who lives in Phoenix, my plan is to enjoy the book and then pass it on to him. He is developing some plans for changes to his suburban desert garden and knowing his style this book is perfect.

So after two weeks of anticipation the day finally arrived when I opened the book. No leafing through the pages. I was determined to read about each garden one at a time.

But even before I opened the book I decided to investigate the gardening style of Steve Martino. I came across many articles including the interesting lecture he gave at Oxford University. And words spoken of him, " You celebrate the desert rather than deny it"  and some by himself describing his own work as "weeds and walls" and expanding on how he uses native plants set against his "refined" structures.

This is not really a book review; I have learnt that I am not very good at reviewing books. But rather  to improve my understanding of how I can apply Martino's style to my own garden. Yes, if I was starting over my own garden would probably be quite different. But I think there may still be time to get it out of intensive care and on the road to being a more sustainable garden.

The opening pages begin with a few words from the author, Caren Yglesias, and thanks to the photographer, Steve Gunther, who patiently waited for that perfect moment in time to photograph each garden. (I think we all know when that is... early morning or late in the day.)Then a brief introduction to Martino's designs. Every element in his landscapes must have a purpose. Walls to enclose and create privacy, structures to shade, areas for sitting,  plantings that require no additional water. He used the lessons of the desert itself to create his landscapes.

I was surprised to find that not all his projects are high end, although all had concrete structures which I know come with a price tag. And removal of a traditional style back garden pool, to introduce something more linear, must also be a major undertaking. Some of his designs are to create total privacy and some have majestic desert setting which use a borrowed landscape.

I love how he utilizes the "Accessory building" rule which permits taller structures. Sometimes he uses concrete and sometimes translucent fiberglass panels. Shadows from the structural plants play a big part in his placement of plants. No vegetable gardens here and only native plants. Bold colors are used on many of his walls. I wonder if his clients have input on this or whether like Frank Lloyd Wright he says " You'll get used to it" My thinking is probably not. I must admit I prefer his more muted colors although that may be a function of my age. I went though my bright colored phase in my 30s.

The surprise came when I reached the Casa Blanca Garden. Here was a 90 year old adobe house and Martino had the challenge of designing a garden that would pay homage to this historic structure. He introduced a prickly pear roof which has performed as any other green roof. A small photograph in the book shows the laying down of the pads which have filled in and are now almost 10 years old.

I'll say simply that I love Steve Martino's work and the presentation by Yglesias and Gunther. Just enough information about the projects and plenty of photographs.
The book is back on the coffee table, where, when I have a spare minute, I can leaf though and enjoy these desert gardens once again, before it is on its way to Phoenix.

BREAKFAST WITH A BOOK

A week ago I found myself breakfasting alone, a little later than usual, and too late to eat with the birds in the English Garden because the sun was already over the top of the wall. I moved into the Front Courtyard where it was still shady. One of the benefits of having multiple places to sit around the garden. My chosen book was Succulent Container Gardening, by Debra Lee Baldwin.

Debra Lee Baldwin is certainly the queen of succulents in my eyes and this book is one of my favorites; full of wonderful ideas on how to bring out the best in your cactus and succulents; pairing plants with pots and unique ways to style your collection.

Almost all my plants are in terra cotta pots and that is probably where they will stay, but it doesn't stop my enjoyment of turning over each page to an reveal a new and wonderful pairing. And one of those photos gave me an idea.
In the side entry to the house is a table holding my shell collection. A large conch shell which we picked up many years ago has always sat on the table. There was space enough to plant a succulent or two in the open mouth. I looked around for something to plant in there and came up with these. Maybe not the perfect choice, but until I find that perfect plant here they will stay.

Then I saw another idea. I won't be making a fairy garden but I do have some little Chinese figures and I might try to find a succulent with a tree-like appearance to create a Chinese garden in a dish.

THE BEE-FRIENDLY GARDEN

I emailed a friend the other day, thanking her for the bamboo that had come from her garden, and telling her how I was making a bee house.  She replied, "You are making a bee hive out of bamboo?" "No, a bee house for solitary bees" was my reply. Later she told me she thought all bees lived in hives. I'm going to pass on to her the book I am reading, The Bee-Friendly Garden, by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn.

I really didn't know much about the different kind of bees myself, but I was aware that some bees make a nest in hollow tubes. I had already made a bee house several years ago and was thrilled when the hollow tubes were filled within weeks. A few of my friends have started bee keeping but that isn't what this book is about. There are far simpler ways for every gardener to provide a favorable home for bees.
With much media coverage on the decline in our bee population due to mite infections and overuse of toxic chemicals as well as unknown reasons it is up to us, the gardeners, to learn about how best we can help our bee populations.

First you need to learn something about the different kinds of bees and the first chapter of The Bee Friendly Garden is dedicated to identifying the more common types. Would you be surprised to learn that not all bees are honey bees and that honey bees are not native to America. The majority of our bees are solitary, meaning they do not live in a colony like honey bees, and there is plenty of information here to identify some of the more common types of solitary bee.  Not all plants are attractive to bees. Some are pollinated by moths, butterflies and flies. So what does attract the bee to a flower? Which flowers are our native bees attracted to? That is the subject of the following chapters moving on to a good garden design for attracting bees; desert, woodland, sun, shade, small and large. The diverse areas we garden in the US. The book is well illustrated with plenty of design examples.

If you have a garden that is grass, evergreen non-flowering shrubs and exotic species and would like to make the change to a garden friendly to the insects that support a healthy habitat then I  recommend this book. The bees want to come to your garden but you have to make your garden inviting to them. One of the things that I found disturbing was the results of a survey done in Berkeley, California of landscape plants, "Of 1000 landscape plants, only 128 had measurable visits, and only 50 plants(5percent) were natives." What could be a better indicator of why we need more natives in the garden. If this is the kind of garden you have then it's time to make some changes even if it is to plant some flowers in pots. Just make sure they are the right ones. And with so many people removing lawns and looking for alternative landscapes why not switch to a wildflower meadow. You will be doing the bees and yourselves a favor. And to make sure the bees are there the next year you can learn how to make a bee nesting box as well as provide a mulch free area for ground nesting bees.

Written by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn and published by Ten Speed Press this book is beautifully illustrated and is a book which will inspire and guide you on your way to a bee-friendly garden. A bee-friendly garden is a healthy garden.

This book was sent to me for review.

GREAT GARDENS OF LONDON. A book review

I once read that London is the "Garden Capital of the World." So it came as no surprise to read in Victoria Summerley's introduction to her book, Great Gardens of London, that 45% of greater London is green space.

With text by Victoria Summerley and photographs by Marianne Majerus and Hugo Rittson Thomas this may be your only chance to step through the door of No 10 Downing Street and into the Prime Minister of England's back garden. According to Summerley this garden would not win prizes for design but is more of a family garden with several distinct areas including rose and woodland. Some years ago they took advantage of a crater left by a IRA bomb crater to make a pond. Most are unlikely to visit the residence of the US ambassador in Regent's Park, seen on the front cover of the book above. It is good to know that they take sustainability seriously because after all the American public fund its upkeep. These two gardens along with several palaces and homes of one-time Prime Ministers are included in the first section of the book titled Pomp and Circumstance. Among them Prince Charles' London home Clarence House. You can imagine that being a keen gardener himself the Prince has had quite an input into the planting. It is hard to imagine when looking at the photographs that this in only 1/2 acre.
Each of the four other chapters in the book cover a particular garden style- among them wild, woodland, rooftop and gardens for the gardener. Many have a long history whereas some are recently made like the Olympic park which uses the popular concept of wildflower meadow gardening. Some have been created to take advantage of a modernizing world. The Downings Roads Floating gardens are built on barges which once plied the waters of the Thames, moving cargo from the larger ships up the river.  The book is amply illustrated with beautiful color photography but make no mistake this is not a coffee-table book but one to really delve into the history and diversity of London gardens as well as learn about current owners and the gardeners who care for them.
A map is followed by visiting information. Many of the gardens are open to the public although some only open for a few days every year on the National Garden Scheme, others are open by appointment only.
 Victoria Summerley lived and worked in publishing in London for many years. A gardener and blogger who opened her own garden in London for charity under the National garden Scheme she now lives in the Cotswolds where she is creating a new garden and which she writes about at Tales from Awkward Hill.  This is her second book with Frances Lincoln, the first being Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds.

Photography is by Hugo Rittson Thomas, leading portrait photographer, who also photographed Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds and Marianne Majerus renowned for her atmospheric images of gardens.

Whether or not you plan to visit London in the near future this book will entertain both the avid gardener and garden lover alike.

GOOD GARDEN BUGS. A book review

Our gardens are alive with all manner of creatures and we must learn to live with them. We may not enjoy the visits to the vegetable patch of raccoons, rabbits and possums and we may try to prevent them feasting on the fruits of our labor, very often without success.  But when it comes to bugs in the garden it pays to know who are your friends and who are your enemies. Keeping a balance in the garden is all important, not just to control populations but to provide food for nesting birds. I watched a cardinal removing a tomato horn worm from my tomatoes the other day. That was an eye-opener. Had no idea that there was a predator for those caterpillars.

Dr Margaret Gardiner, the author of this book Good Garden Bugs,  assistant professor of entomology at Ohio State University is a gardener herself and knows all about beneficial insects. The main purpose of the book is to show the gardener how, by creating a balance of pest and beneficial insect, there will be less need for the use of pesticides. Most of us will be familiar with the more common beneficial insects, the lacewings, mantids and lady beetles, but it was quite an eye-opener to me to find out just how many lady beetles there are, and it was only last year that I discovered the larva of of the Scymus who cover themselves with wax spines. I thought they were mealy bugs.

And there is important information on why we should never buy the Convergent lady bugs sold at Home Improvement Stores and garden centers.

To welcome beneficials into the garden you must create the right kind of habitat for them. The book first introduces the kinds of native plants and conditions that will attract beneficial insects and then goes on to cover each of the eight families. Each section covers the habits and predatory nature of the family and is richly illustrated with close-up photography which will aid the gardener in identification. Did you know there were predatory stink bugs? Have I mistakenly killed one of the good guys? I shall be looking more closely next time.

I don't think everyone will look kindly on some of the beneficials described in the book. I, for one, am not too happy to have those paper wasps nesting in my umbrella and mud daubers building their condos on my walls but surely their presence means I have a good balance in the garden. These bugs are doing their job and most times I let them get on with it.

I was sent this book to review by Quarry Books. I chose to review the book because as a vegetable, herb and flower gardener I prefer not to use any chemicals in the garden and am always looking for alternative sources of bug control. I think most of us are now acutely aware of the harm  pesticides can do to our wildlife and would chose to create a garden in balance. The book is a great reference for both new gardeners and seasoned gardener and would make a great gift for those new to gardening.

SECRET GARDENS OF THE COTSWOLDS. A book Review

As a child, growing up in England, I would walk along the roads peering through small gaps in the hedges that surrounded gardens. Sometimes there was a high wall with a wooden gate right on the street. What lay behind that gate? The wall was too tall to peer over and the gate was always locked. Since those youthful times I have had the opportunity to pass through many gaps in hedges and through many gates as I visited gardens in England. Always it is the tantalizing view from outside the gate or hedge. The promise of yet another secret garden room beyond.
Any book that was going to take me through more garden gates would be hard to resist, so when I was offered a review copy of the Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds, by Victoria Summerley I jumped at the chance. Was it possible that there were more gardens to visit in the Cotswolds? I thought I had been to most of them.

How wrong I was. What I was to find when I opened the book was just how many more beautiful gardens there are in the Cotswolds. Victoria takes us on a somewhat unusual visit to these gardens.  Given access to the gardens, some of which have limited access or are completely private, she met with owners, garden makers and gardeners for a personal view of these impressive gardens. And they are  brought to life by Victoria's delightful prose and the superb photography of Hugo Rittson-Thomas.
Make no mistake, these are not small Cotswold cottage gardens. They are large houses with ample grounds and landscaping and one can only imagine the hours that must go into maintaining such beautiful gardens.
At the back of the book there is a map with locations of the gardens and on the opposite page opening times of the gardens. It is disappointing to see that many are only open through the National Gardens Scheme, one day a year and at least five are private. Unless you live close by it would appear that the gardens will likely remain secret to many. This book maybe your only chance to visit. But I suppose that is the idea behind a garden being secret. You'll have to visit the gardens through Victoria's words and Hugo's photographs. I can tell you, you won't be disappointed.
I'm sure the Cotswolds abounds with many more secret gardens and my only disappointment in the book was that it did not cover some of the smaller gardener-made gardens. Maybe they are really that secret.

Victoria Summerly lives in the village of Bibury. Victoria a former executive director of the Independent newspaper and an award winning garden journalist who writes about her own garden at Tales of Awkward Hill.

Hugo Rittson-Thomas, besides being a leading portrait photographer has filmed many other Cotswold gardens.

The book is published by Frances Lincoln

SISSINGHURST, Book review and giveaway

Are you dreaming about curling up on a chilly winter's day with a great gardening book? Then here is your chance. I am giving away a copy of this new book about the iconic British garden, Sissinghurst. Details at the end of this post.

When Vita Sackville-West first visited Sissinghurst it was love at first sight. She wasn't deterred by the crumbling buildings and walls, all that remained of a former Elizabethan Hunting palace. She turned to her then 12 year old son and said, 'I think we shall be happy in this place' and so she was. From May 1930 until 1962 she and her husband, Harold Nicolson, designed and planted the gardens at Sissinghurst castle.

The garden has an incredible history, and who better to tell the story than Sarah Raven who is married to the Nicolson's grandson. With access to all the writings, personal photographs of the Nicholsons and having lived at Sissingurst, Sarah is eminently equipped to tell the story of this garden. She shares the story with Vita herself whose writings are also included in the book.
I was surprised when the book arrived to find it a rather chunky 6"x 9" So much easier to handle than the usual books about gardens. Divided into 3 major parts and amply illustrated with family photos of  the garden through time, it is easy to see that Vita fulfilled her dream. A dream which is now in the care of the National Trust.
 Sarah Raven called upon the many writings of Vita, who wrote gardening columns in the Observer newspaper and Country Life magazine, her own garden journals and letters to Harold about the garden. The book is divided into 3 major sections.

Part 1 is about The People and the Place.
Part 2 Vita's Garden Themes. Descriptions of the roses and other plantings in the garden are to be found here as well as planting on walls, pruning, shrubs and seasonal advice.
Part 3 The Smaller Canvas. The seasons of painterly plants, cutting gardens and containers for indoors and out.
She has advice that I might well take myself. 'I advise every gardener to go around his garden now-and make notes of what he thinks he ought to remove and of what he wants to plant later on.'
How I loved to read about her style of gardening, not unlike my own. ' She also liked the abundance self sowing gave you, the miraculous appearance suddenly of of many hundreds of Californian poppies in the cracks of the Lime Walk paths which she banned the gardeners from weeding out' 'It was to be hospitable to wildlings'

My photo of the gardens from the tower, 2004

I requested the book to review partly because I have visited Sissinghurst on two occasions at which time I knew only a little of the history or of the making of the garden. I now feel equipped for a return visit. Whether on not you have the chance to visit this garden you will enjoy reading the story of how it came to be as well as the practical gardening information included in the book.

Vita Sackville-West was born in 1892 at Knole in Kent. She was an award winning poet, garden writer and published 12 novels. She died at Sissinghurst in 1962
Sarah Raven has written many books on gardening, cooking, flower arranging as well as gardening programs on TV. She runs her own cookery school at her nearby farm.

The book is published in the USA by St Martin's Press, New York.

If you would like the chance to win this book then please leave a comment on this posting. I will choose the winner by random number  and announce the winner on the evening of December 14th. Please leave information on where you can be reached in the comment. Offer open to US residents only.
UPDATE.  THE WINNER OF THE RANDOM BOOK DRAWING IS TEXAS DEB. CONGRATULATIONS.

THE WRITER'S GARDEN BOOK REVIEW

A week ago when day-time highs were back in the 90s it was no time to be outside in the afternoon hours. In fact it was a perfect day to spend with a new book I had received to review, The Writer's Garden, by Jackie Bennett with photographs by Richard Hanson.

With great excitement I opened the book to see which of my favorite writers might be featured. I was not to be disappointed. Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Winston Churchill and Rudyard Kipling are just a sample of the literary names whose gardens brought inspiration to their writing. There are 20 authors, playwrights, poets and historians featured each influenced by the gardens of the places they lived or visited. Many of these gardens, where they still exist, are open to the public.

Each writer receives a dedicated chapter except for Henry James and E F Benson who both spent time living at Lamb House. The book is generously illustrated with photographs of the authors and the places which inspired them in their writings.

The subjects of each chapter do not seem to be organized in any particular way and appear to be random. Jane Austen is featured in the first chapter and I found I knew little about her real life, thinking, as many, she was like many of the young ladies in her books, who lived a somewhat charmed social life. In fact her father was a vicar and supplemented his income by taking in pupils. They grew their own food and kept animals. So Jane would have spent much time with nature and was her happiest in the countryside.

Would Virginia Woolf have been able to write "It was the moment between six and seven when every flower glows." if she had not been a keen observer in her own garden. Haven't we gardeners experienced that same moment in gardens, although we may never have put it into those words.

Or would Rudyard Kipling have been able to write his famous The Glory of the Garden, if he had not watched the day to day work in his own garden.. This poem has remained with me from the age of 8, although my thinking was that it was just a beautiful poem with lyrical rhyme about a place I loved dearly. In fact it had much deeper meaning.

With some nostalgia I read about Rupert Brooke and his love for Granchester. On one of my early dates with David we took a punt to Granchester to the idyllic Orchard tea room, about which Brooke writes. Another time, the morning after the May Ball, we drove to Granchester for breakfast. I know why Brooke wrote and loved the place so much.

The Author, Jackie Bennet, began her career in broadcasting, producing first gardening and then natural history programs. As a writer she became editor of several gardening magazines and has written about her own Norfolk garden.

Richard Hanson's photographs have appeared in many garden magazines and books and he has photographed the gardens of many famous writers.

The book is published by Frances Lincoln and would be a welcome addition to any gardener's library. It isn't just a book to place on the coffee table.  

TEXAS, GETTING STARTED GARDEN GUIDE, by Mary Irish

The recently published gardening book, TEXAS, Getting Started in the Garden, by Mary Irish, is a book that first time gardeners and recent transplants to Texas would do well to read before they set foot in the garden. The book may also enjoy a wider field of readers as many, who currently garden in Texas, feel the need to change their gardening style due to the extended drought. A move towards growing more native and adapted plants is to be applauded and will be well rewarded.

The author spent many years living in the desert Southwest before returning home to her native Texas. She is well known and respected expert on growing plants and trees in the Southwest and has published a number of books on the subject. She currently works at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

While writing a garden book for a state of over 268,000 square miles, 4 growing zones, vast differences in annual rainfall and soil conditions, might seem like an impossible task, the author presents the gardener with a variety of plants that are tolerant of such varied growing conditions. Many of us learn to push the boundaries by growing plants in more sheltered microclimates around the property.

The author has laid out the book by first presenting a section which covers the differences in growing conditions in different parts of the state and making it clear that it is important for the beginning gardener to know exactly what they will be dealing with when it comes to soil conditions, rainfall and temperature ranges which do vary widely throughout the state. How I wish I had known, when I came to Texas in the early 90s, that gardening in Central Texas was going to be a completely different experience from all the other places I had lived. It was my first experience with deer and this challenge, among others, is covered in a special section at the end of the book. However, I think the book assumes that at least the back garden is fenced despite the fact that there are many deer resistant plants among the different groups.

Following the introduction are 9 sections each representing a specific group of plants  including, annuals, bulbs, desert perennials, grasses, perennials, roses, shrubs, trees and vines. Each is prefaced with a short description of the group before presenting plants within that group. For each there is a description of plant specifics, where and how to grow and some suggestions for design and companion planting. The plants will ensure the gardener an interesting plant palette throughout the year.

Fall is the perfect time to get started on your Texas garden and with this book as a companion you will not go wrong.

CONCRETE GARDEN PRODUCTS, ENTER TO WIN

It's that time of year when we start thinking about garden projects for next year. If you are like me you may have thought about making your own planters from concrete or hypertufa. In my files I have several articles on 'how to' clipped over the years. Thought but not done, until recently(more about that project coming up).
The publishers of  Concrete Garden Projects are offering you the opportunity to win this book. To enter the drawing just enter you email address by going to their contest page here. You will find information on the book and can watch a video on how to get started on a simple concrete project.

Hurry and sign up as this contest closes October 21st

DO YOU LIKE TREES?

Do you like hearing secrets? Don't we all. You might be interested in learning a few secrets about trees. If so, then here is your chance to win a copy of this new book 'Seeing Trees' written by Nancy Ross Hugo with photographs by Robert Llewellyn.

Just go to the Timberpress site and sign up for a chance to win this book. The contest will run until September 9th.

I haven't read the book myself but I am intrigued to know just what those secrets are. Aren't you?