Elsewhere Online: Summer reading for gardeners from Digging

The high heat here in Los Angeles has been keeping me inside, just like Pam, the author of the "Digging" blog. I highly approve of her selections for garden reading and I find that I have already read many of them myself.

If the weather is keeping you out of the garden, engage in some virtual gardening via these books.

You can find some of my own recommendation for gardening books, in The WelchWrite Bookstore.

Summer reading for gardeners

With Austin on track for our hottest summer on record, I’ve sworn off any real gardening for the pleasures of garden book reading—inside, preferably under a ceiling fan with a cold Diet Dr. Pepper in my hand. Recent trips to Barnes & Noble and Half-Price Books have netted me about 10 lbs. of eye-candy-filled garden [...]

(Via Digging.)

Autumn in the Garden and more! - October 6, 2007

by Douglas E. Welch, agn@welchwrite.com
Reader/Listener Line - 818-804-5049



In this show, I talk about our long, dry summer, an early rain, Autumn beginning and a rat in the compost (Oh, my!)

What's happening in your garden? Let me know by calling the listener line at 818-804-5049 and leaving a message. I just might use it in the podcast.

A Gardener's Notebook Pictures on Flickr
A Gardener's Notebook Photo Sharing Group on Flickr

Listen to the Podcast



Theme Music: The One by The Woodshedders, aka the Hot Club of West Virginia, courtesy of the PodSafe Music Network

Support A Gardener's Notebook:

Join AGN Mailing List | iTunes Review | Digg.com | Podcast Alley | Call the Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, outdoors, losangeles, 91411

Summer Sun(s) - PaD 7/8/07

Summer Sun(s) - PaD 7/8/07
Originally uploaded by dewelch

These flowers caught my eye as I walked around the campus of Stephens College. We are here for the Stephens College Summer Film Institute, where I am teaching about podcasting and Rosanne is the writer-in-residence.

More photos from the workshop and our time here in Columbia, MO on Flickr. Click the photo to see more.

Book: The Water Lily Cross: An English Garden Mystery by Anthony Eglin

Update (5/10/07): The Water Lily Cross is now available at Amazon and other book resellers -- Douglas


The Water Lily Cross: An English Garden Mystery
Anthony Eglin
A Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin's Minotaur

Although he would be more comfortable restoring gardens and traveling about in his sporty 1964 TR4, Lawrence Kingston, botanical expert, finds himself once more engaged in another mysterious adventure.

This 3rd book in the English Garden Mystery series has Kingston searching for an old friend who has disappeared, quite possibly kidnapped. It seems Kingston's friend has discovered a way to use water lilies to solve one of the world's most pressing problems. Crossword and anagram clues, helicopter flights and threatening messages lead Kingston on a whirlwind and dangerous chase across the English countryside.

Eglin's mysteries are always a great romp combining two of my favorite things -- mysteries and gardening. Lawrence Kingston is a character you wouldn't mind inviting into your home on a regular basis and each new book is an opportunity to do just that. I can imagine sitting across from him, sipping his single-malt Scotch, as he recounts his latest tale of mystery or the details of a garden rejuvenation somewhere in the English countryside. Both are equally interesting to me.

I will say, Eglin is so good at creating interesting supporting characters that I sometimes miss the young couple who discovered The Blue Rose and the American woman who owned The Lost Gardens from his earlier books. Perhaps he can return to them for a future adventure.

The Water Lily Cross and Eglin's previous books are the perfect choice for some relaxing reading between your gardening chores. Pull the chaise lounge under your favorite tree, or within the scent of your favorite roses, and delve into the mysteries of the garden.

Highly Recommended

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, outdoors, writing, london, uk, mystery, english, flowers, gardener

Flowers on my walk - PaD 5/2/07

Flowers on my walk
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

Another walk through the neighborhood this afternoon and a few more cameraphone shots of what is in bloom today.



Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, california, grow, flowers, photoaday

Review: Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart

How much thought do you give to those flowers you pass in the grocery store aisle? Do you know where your Valentine's Day roses came from or how they got to you? For most of us, we don't know, nor rather care, but thankfully author, Amy Stewart does.

In Flower Confidential (Algonquin Books, 2007), Stewart takes us deep inside the huge and profitable business of flowers. From a lily grower in the American Northwest, to the rose fields of Ecuador she introduces us to the people, places and plants that travel all over the world to supply our human need for colorful and almost too perfect flowers.

Flower Confidential is a fun romp around the world that also holds some deep concerns. The treatment of the workers in the fields and greenhouses is an on-going issue no matter where the author visits. She also discusses how the need for a "perfect" flower that travels well and lasts long in the vase has removed their scent. It also puts us in danger of producing yet another industry focused on lowest-common denominator, where each flower looks begins to look much like every other flower.

Stewart's writing takes us along on her travels, describing people and plants alike in a visual style that gives us an understanding of who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. We feel the sense of amazement as she visits the Miami airport center where the majority of flowers enter the US. I particularly felt her desire to scoop up armloads of flowers or save those consigned to the compost heaps.

Immerse yourself in the little-known of flowers and the people who grow them. You will develop a new-found respect for what both suffer to provide that perfect arrangement for your dining room table.

Highly Recommended

Link: Flower Confidential:The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers

Tags: garden gardening gardener flowers flowers books read toread business

What I'm Reading...Flower Confidential

I am into Chapter 2 in Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart and enjoying it immensely. Se starts off with visits to some big flower markers, but then dives into some hard science and an interesting profile of lily breeder, Leslie Woodriff. I forget just how much of a botany geek I am until I read something like this and get totally immersed.

Check it out!

Link: Flower Confidential:The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers

Tags: garden gardening gardener flowers flowers books read toread business

Freesias - PaD 3/3/07

Fressias - PaD 3/3/07
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

A look out into the garden today showed this splash of purple-pink in the patio bed. These freesias have been coming up every year since we bought this house and always provide a lovely splash of color at this time of year.

Wisteria arising...

I took a few moments to stroll through the garden this morning, after spending so much time cooped up in the house this week. I am glad the birds have finally returned to the feeders. It is such a nice diversion to watch them flitting about...and the insects eaters have arrived to help keep the aphids in check as the roses start to throw off their new, tender growth.

I noticed today that the wisteria is showing the first few leaves of the season. This is a full 3 weeks later than 2005 and 2 weeks later than 2004, according to the notes I keep in my calendar. Everything has been delayed a bit this year, probably due to the lack of rain. We did get about an inch this week, though, and that seems to have jump started a few things in the garden

Photo: First wsiteria leaves of 2006.

Tags: : garden gardening plants plant wisteria vine flowers calendar notebook