Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #863077 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From Amazon.com
Ann Lovejoy describes Cascadia as a gardener's paradise, but it's an Eden with steady winter rains and long summer draughts. This has spawned an abundance of gardening wisdom even for those who don't live within the perimeters of northern California to British Columbia. With sage monthly advice on encouraging the blooms that thrive in one's local soil and weather, and opulently gorgeous pictures by Sandra Lee Reha, Lovejoy's garden visions are exceptionally refreshing and inspirational.

From Library Journal
Lovejoy, the garden columnist for the Seattle Intelligencer, ambitiously attempts to survey the garden styles of the Pacific Northwest region west of the Cascade Mountains (southern British Columbia to northern California). She also endeavors to provide seasonal horticultural advice for gardeners in the west Cascadian region. Unfortunately, her sweeping treatment is highly cursory and lacks critical horticultural detail. For instance, Lovejoy presents an erroneously simplistic picture of the extremely diverse climates of the area, lumping them into the relatively mild USDA plant hardiness zones 8 and 9. However, there is tremendous climatic variability in the area, which includes some of the coldest regions in the western United States. In addition, many of the plants and gardens featured are not specifically identified, and the book lacks a list of garden and arboreta addresses?critical information for the reader interested in visiting the places exemplifying the garden styles that Lovejoy highlights. A breezy teaser for general readers only; otherwise, not recommended.?Brian Lym, Strybing Arboretum Society Lib., San Francisco
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A delightful book
This is one of the most delightful books I've read in ages. I found it to be combination of poetic insight and sage advice - easy to say but very difficult to do well. For the gardener in the Pacific Northwest, it's a book to enjoy on a dark evening in front of the fire as you dream of next year's garden. And if you love natural gardens but live elsewhere, enjoy it for the prose and the beautiful images.

The writer defines Cascadia as the coastal region from northern California to southern British Columbia, taking in western Oregon and Washington State. This is probably one of the finest places in the world to create a garden and this book celebrates its richness of climate, scenery and natural plant growth. The writer has designed and worked in the gardens of Cascadia for many years and she has a deep understanding of the natural advantages (and excesses) of the region and how they can be united in beautiful gardens.

The exceptional photography by Sandra Lee Reha vividly illustrates each of the short essays in this book, interpreting them with unusual clarity. The page-long essays, almost poetry, somehow combine description that is as lush as the northwest rain forest with plenty of sound gardening advice. The final twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, articulate the glory of the Cascadia garden throughout the seasons.

This is not an in-depth, how-to-garden book, but a leisurely overview. Indulge yourself with this slim book, or buy it as a gift for a friend

A truly delightful book
This is one of the most delightful books I've read in ages. I found it to be combination of poetic insight and sage advice - easy to say but very difficult to do well. For the gardener in the Pacific Northwest, it's a book to enjoy on a dark evening in front of the fire as you dream of next year's garden. And if you love natural gardens but live elsewhere, enjoy it for the prose and the beautiful images.

The writer defines Cascadia as the coastal region from northern California to southern British Columbia, taking in western Oregon and Washington State. This is probably one of the finest places in the world to create a garden and this book celebrates its richness of climate, scenery and natural plant growth. The writer has designed and worked in the gardens of Cascadia for many years and she has a deep understanding of the natural advantages (and excesses) of the region and how they can be united in beautiful gardens.

The exceptional photography by Sandra Lee Reha vividly illustrates each of the short essays in this book, interpreting them with unusual clarity. The page-long essays, almost poetry, somehow combine description that is as lush as the northwest rain forest with plenty of sound gardening advice. The final twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, articulate the glory of the Cascadia garden throughout the seasons.

This is not an in depth book on how-to-garden, it's an leisurely overview - the writer has addressed the subject in greater depth elsewhere. Indulge yourself with this slim book, or buy it as a gift for a friend

A lovely picture book, but light on information
In general, I love Ann Lovejoy's books. They're enjoyable to read and when I read her essays, I always seem to find myself muttering, "Oh! that's why that isn't growing well" or "that sounds like something I should try in that spot in the rose garden". But this book is more of a picture book than a collection of essays. It's a lovely picture book, though, if that's what you're looking for. If not, I'd recommend one of her other books, like The Border in Bloom or The Garden in Bloom.