In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

• Ask a question

« Another reader weighs in on fall bounty | In the Garden front page | Flowers bring cheer and happiness to a room »

October 29, 2007

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac, centuries of practical garden wisdom” Niall Edworthy, Perigree, 192 pages, $16.95.

“The Curious Gardener’s Almanac, centuries of practical garden wisdom” is a compact, little book pushed into a corner of my desk by the computer. I keep thinking I’ll put it on the shelf or give it away. After all, I don’t really need another gardening book.

But I hesitate. Instead of putting it away, I keep picking it up looking for tidbits of information, or perhaps a quote to go along with a story, or inspiration. Each time I’m amazed at how much information author Niall Edworthy has packed into its 192 small pages.

Edworthy himself has written that the book he admits defies description. He calls it “a collection of remarkable facts, curiosities, ancient wisdom and customs, time-honored tips, traditional recipes, lists, quotations, and general ephemera celebrating gardening in all its diversity. Dull or dry information has no place in the Almanac,” he writes.

He covers everything from the best time to transplant trees and shrubs to combinations of food plants that don’t like each other (artichoke & garlic, cabbage & tomatoes, broccoli & strawberries, radish & potatoes), quotes and comments from famous and not-so-famous gardeners, and tidbits (cloves are unopened flower buds). Did you know, for example, that "the black slug has as many as 25,000 teeth. Although it will eat your prized plants, it serves amore welcome purpose by devouring dog and cat poo and turning it into fertilizer.”

That’s good to know. Edworthy quotes everyone from Shakespeare to Charlemagne. It’s a fun book, worth picking up again and again.

Ask a question

Please use the form below to submit your question. Because there is a 100-word limit for questions, a word counter is located directly beneath the box where you enter the your question.