BOOK REVIEW: PASSALONG PLANTS WILL MAKE YOU SMILE

Chances are half of your grandmother's garden is in this book. Especially if your grandmother gardened in the Southeastern U.S. This jewel of a book won the 1994 Quill & Trowel Award and for good reason; it's fun, full, and familiar. Steven Bender and Felder Rushing take turns telling story after story of plants they've seen in gardens but NEVER sold at any stores. And I'll solve the mystery right up front; you get these plants through knowing other gardeners.

Passalong Plants: 117 Plants with stories and photos.

I never realized how many bulletproof passalongs are in my garden. Perhaps that's why the garden made it through the drought with flying colors.

HERE'S A SAMPLE OF PASSALONGS GROWING AT TROPICAL TEXANA:

Arrowroot (Syngonium) from my mom's garden and from my brother's garden.

Airplane plants from my friend Laurie's garden.

My bottle tree along with native Virginia Creeper vines. I would never think to pass Virginia Creeper along, but it's in the book!

Canna(dark leaves), Elephant ears, and Mexican Firespike are all passalongs here in the Deep South.

They love all the rain we are having.

Lantana is a native passalong and it's in the book.

You have to worry about a plant that has more alias's than many criminals. This one goes by Mexicali rose, Cashmere Bouquet, stinkplant, and Clerodendrum bungei.

I got this shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) from my good friend Shirley. It blooms only in mild winters, but the foliage is beautiful and tropical in all seasons.

Walking Iris is quite a talented passalong. It will send out bloom shoots that hop,skip, and jump around your garden. Noone seems to mind. It's in the book.

Finally, daylillies are a nice passalong plant to share with others. I got this one (Vino do Norte)

from my good friend Bill.

And while I'm on the subject, let me Passalong this tip. You'll find other wonderful book reviews in our group thanks to Holley at Roses and Other Gardening Joys. Please go take a look. Thanks, Holley.

Until next month, Happy Garden Book Reviewing!

David/:0)

Sit down a spell and read a garden book!

FRONT YARD GARDENS: GROWING MORE THAN GRASS/ BOOK REVIEW

"Where did our love of  grass come from? Why are we so obsessed with lawns?"
Liz Primeau takes a fascinating journey back in time to arrive at the answer. But more importantly, she gives us over 23 examples of beautiful and creative front gardens sans lawn. A patch of lawn can be wonderful and in between my garden areas I have some lawn. But there's so much more!

With hundreds of inspiring photos, this is a book I often refer to. I also like the fact that half of the gardens are from Canada and the other half from the U.S.  It's not often we get a glimpse of those beautiful Canadian gardens, so I get very excited when we do.

A portion of my front garden ~ Summer 2010

A sampling of the chapters include:

Why we mow/ Lawn at What Cost?/ Cottage Gardens/ Small City Gardens/ Minimalist Gardens/ Natural Gardens/ Secret Gardens/and Overcoming Obstacles



View of our backyard ~ Summer 2011

Liz covers every detail including what others might think of your alternatives to a lawn. Remember, this is the FRONT yard we're talking about.

Here's a quote:

"Prepare your neighbors. Tell them you plan to take out all or some of your grass and describe the kind of garden you expect to put in. Assure them you'll clean up at every stage. This way your front yard won't look  like a construction zone instead of the beautiful garden it will eventually become."

Book title: Front Yard Gardens: Growing More than Grass

Author: Liz Primeau

A Firefly Book

2003

203 photographs of gardens ranging from Prince Edward Island cottage style to Texas minimilist.

23 garden stories with illustrations and plant lists.

I highly recommend this book to both veteran and beginner gardeners.

There are plenty of opportunities for gardening. Just be creative and break out of the mold! :0)

For more excellent garden books, visit our wonderful host, Holley at Roses and Other Gardening Joys.

She's the brains behind the roses and our book reviews.

Thanks for stopping by.

David/