Books: Food & Flowers

 Author Niki Jabbour wrote a terrific book a few years back on vegetable gardening (The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year, No Matter Where You Live) and now, while the subject is related, she's written about some of the best food-producing gardens designed by some of the country's top garden writers, designers, and growers.

In  Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden (Storey Publishing, 2014), you'll learn much from author Debra Prinzing's Edible Cutting Garden; grower Renee Shepherd's Gourmet Containers; "Tomato Man" Craig LeHoullier's Best Tasting Tomatoes Garden; food historian Dave DeWitt's Chile Lover's Garden; landscape designer Jesse Bloom's Eggs & Everthing Garden; and there are many more. Each of the 73 gardens is profiled in two or three pages, and garden plans are included, along with plant lists, tips and techniques, and easy-to-follow illustrations. Jabbour covers the gamut, from small urban patio gardens to large suburban landscapes.  It's a great resource, and with a little creativity, you could mix & match many of these designs and plants.

And if this long winter is making you pine for spring flowers (not a daffodil yet in sight in my New England yard), you might want to consider The Cut Flower Patch: Grow your own cut flowers all year round (Frances Lincoln Limited Publishers, 2014) by British writer and horticulturist Louise Curley. Curley covers all the basics about cut flower gardening, and she includes advice on the best hardy annuals and biennials to spring and summer bulbs and foliage and filler plants.  The photos of her gardens and cut flower arrangements are simply stunning.  Another great resource, and a good book to give to clients who want a cutting patch included in their landscape design.