BOOKreviews

How to Become a Gardener: Find Empowerment in Creating Your Own Food Security Author: Ashlie Thomas Publisher: Cool Springs Press List Price: $26.99 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3hrxnh8 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780760374245 Reviewer: Brandie Bland How To Become A Gardener by Ashlie Thomas is a must-have “Holy Grail” book for anyone considering the hobby of gardening, and for well-seasoned gardeners, it’s an excellent refresher to keep in your arsenal. This book is a thorough and soft introduction that shows you how to become a gardener without the clichés of simply answering how to garden. Gardening is an intimate relationship with nature, fostered by a challenging success-failure process that comes with many tribulations, which Thomas gently guides the reader through in step-by-step guides. These guides cover gardening nuances in a way that allows the reader to connect with the material, themselves, and the dirt they will tend to. In a time when food deserts are on a rise, Thomas presents gardening as a way to reclaim ownership over the food you eat and as a means to secure your own food security. “The challenges associated with food security are undeniably complicated and multilayered, but growing up I was told that sometimes the best way to eat away at big problems is through taking small, gradual bites,” Thomas said. If you’re worried about space for a garden or grappling with what a garden looks like, no worries, Thomas covers these issues through a variety of gardening methods and spaces, from container and vertical gardening to hydroponic and greenhouse gardens.

How to Become a Gardener is a beautiful encapsulation of Thomas’s love and appreciation for gardening that has everything you need to grow your own food and become the gardener you want to be. o

Brandie Bland is a senior multi-platform journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an intern this fall with Washington Gardener.

Teaming with Bacteria: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Endophytic Bacteria and the Rhizophagy Cycle Author: Jeff Lowenfels Publisher: Timber Press List Price: $25.00 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3uUXWyf and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781643261393 Reviewer: Jaime Breeden Jeff Lowenfels’s Teaming with Bacteria: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Endophytic Bacteria and the Rhizophagy Cycle is an intense read despite the author’s best efforts to make this complex material digestible. I will admit, my knowledge of cellular biology and any topic related to it is more limited than my knowledge of gardening, and I have not read the previous books Lowenfels wrote. While the examples and explanations are sufficient for someone who has knowledge of either plants or cells, tackling this subject matter has been an uphill battle. Lowenfels is not willing to let the class dunce fail the class. Whether you’re an experienced botanist or cytologist, the opening chapters act as guides to the half of the equation you might not understand. That’s not to say the early chapters are skippable for the experts among you. There’s an interesting synergy that goes on in the explanation of the two halves of Lowenfels’s research, showing how neither side of the scale can work without the other; how the smallest microbe helps to feed the largest plants and how the microbes can’t enter the soil without being transported on seeds—a wonderful harmony. Then comes what all that discussion is for: explaining advancements in the field that demonstrate the rhizophagy cycle. According to Lowenfels, this is essentially the microbes in the soil surrounding a plant’s roots, eating their way into the plant, and then being consumed by the plant: a back and forth in the soil food web. He likens it to a plant being a farmer who tends to a flock of bacteria, managing them for the sake of a healthy and hearty existence. This cycle of consumption, excretion, replenishment, and re-consumption is essentially what maintains the health of the plant. So what? Is a gardener supposed to break out a microscope to determine whether their soil is going to bring bountiful, beneficial bacteria? The short answer is that scientists and fertilizer manufacturers are already working on this. This bacterial research is leading to new ways to replenish much-needed nutrients in planting beds. Lowenfels even offers tips about what to look for when trying to perfectly balance your garden’s particular micro-biome, including breakdowns for numerous example elements. Lowenfels goes on to offer ideas for the future of this industry, outlining the potential challenges left for the science to face but also outlining the immense potential benefits of working toward this microbial future for the planet as a whole.

To wrap this up, this book is an extremely interesting read. There’s a lot for the adept to think about, and the ease with which Lowenfels writes about the subject makes the read enjoyable even if you have to have a web browser or dictionary open to look up terminology. A book like this may be a bit daunting for the beginner or even the average gardener. A lot of the ideas, while researched and studied, are essentially only useful for the home gardener to think about without many immediate, mechanical advantages. But for the subset of growers who’ve been following Lowenfels’s work, understand the world he’s writing about, and are wondering what the next big break in horticulture will be, this is an utter treat. I just wish I could have enjoyed it as much as those folks will. o

Jaime Breeden is a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Maryland, College Park and an intern this fall session with Washington Gardener.

Propagate: How to Regrow Your Houseplants Authors: Paul Anderton and Robin Daly Publisher: Hardie Grant Books List Price: $19.99 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3FVIYyl and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781784884925 Reviewer: Liz McGuinness Propagate is intended for readers who would like to expand their houseplant collections or to provide houseplants as gifts to friends and family. The book begins with a short description of the principles of propagation. The focus here is on asexual reproduction of plants, although there are examples of reproducing plants from seeds and ferns from spores. The principles section introduces the equipment needed and emphasizes the importance of healthy practices to avoid plant diseases. Under each category, several individual plants are presented and for each of these, the authors describe what you will need and then provide step-by-step instructions for how to propagate the plant. The plants selected for the book provide examples of a range of propagation techniques. Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg In Greek mythology, the Muses were goddesses who provided divine inspiration for artistic endeavor. This book’s title stems from the fact that, in the 13 essays/chapters that make it up, orchids have provided inspiration to some very famous (and some you probably never heard of) people. Strung together, into four sections (Orchid Love, Lust and Sex; the Science of an Obsession; the Business of Beauty; and Orchid Culture), they tell a fairly coherent history of our infatuation with orchids. Some things you would expect: the orchid collectors at home and the people they sent out to “collect” for them. The nurseries that sent out entire teams, denuded great stretches of forest, and sent home shipments that could weigh, literally, tons, only to have just a few plants survive the journey, and even those die within a year or so, until people came to know what they wanted. You would expect the great—the Dowager Empress of China, Cixi; Napoleon III’s Empress Eugenie; Queen Victoria—to grace these pages. And they do. But the detail of their loves for orchids is astounding. I have reviewed an advance, uncorrected proof: in this proof, the many illustrations are black-and-white, with detail not clearly shown. They were nevertheless enjoyable, and will expect the color, final illustrations will be stunning. The third section talks about nurseries of the 19th century and the period’s writers, focusing on Jane Loudon, and how the press popularized orchids even more. At about this point, it becomes clear that the essays are actually connected in presenting a historical record of our growing knowledge of orchids, beginning with the fact that they actually require different conditions by genus and species. The fourth section goes on to detail advances in orchid culture, beginning with growing seeds on agar and meristem tissue culture, which has made orchids (in the broad sense) a household item for everyone, as opposed to just the fabulously wealthy. And there are famous people here,

For example, in the easy category, they present examples of runner propagation (spider plant), mid-stem cutting (Monstera), pad cutting (Bunny-ear cactus), propagation from side shoots (tomato plant), etc. The medium category present the leaf or petiole cutting (African violet) technique. In the difficult category, the air-layering technique is shown (Fiddle-leaf fig). Each plant section also provides information on how to care for your plant once you have propagated it. The book is well laid out with instructive illustrations, as well as photos of each plant. The writing is clear and easy to understand. As an outdoor gardener and someone who does not know very much about houseplants, I found the book very encouraging. It demystifies the process of generating new plants. The only other ingredients needed are time and sufficient space for storing your propagants as they do their thing. o

Liz McGuinness works at the Center for Financial Inclusion. She lives and gardens in Washington, DC.

Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers Author: Erica Hannickel Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company List Price: $35.00 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3HGBiBh and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780393867282

too—the African American historian John Hope Franklin, for one, and—did you know that Raymond Burr (Perry Mason, Ironside) was an orchid collector and in fact co-owned an orchid nursery? After the text of the book, there are appendices. The first is a glossary (with illustrations) of orchid terms, including the parts of an orchid. The second is “Top 15 Tips for Growing Orchids,” the first and best of these being “go to local growers and orchid societies for advice, rather than glib words online.” The third, Acknowledgments, is a detailed listing of the author’s sources quoted in the text; here a (number) in the text doesn’t refer you to a footnote, but to this listing. With the “Select Bibliographies by Chapter” section that follows, this is a detailed guide for anyone wanting to find out more on any point. I have already ordered one other book after reading this book. The last couple of pages are illustration credits, although all illustrations appeared fully credited in the captions with each image. This is not a gardening book, except peripherally; it is a garden history book. And even if you never intend to have, wear, or grow an orchid, it is a fascinating read. Whatever the suggested price turns out to be, you should get and read this one. o The Complete Book of Ground Covers: 4000 Plants that Reduce Maintenance, Control Erosion, and Beautify the Landscape Author: Gary Lewis Publisher: Timber Press List Price: $50.00 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3uUcv57 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781604694604 Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg I am in awe of this book. It’s almost coffee-table size with quite a few (usually small, but good) photos, but the text predominates. Very little wasted space here! And what a text. The first 69 pages (of 453) go into definitions and design points—what a ground cover is, what you can use it for (weed prevention, holding soil from erosion, or just good looks), things that you can do to make it either supporting cast or star in its own right. There are the par-for-thecourse listings of ground covers for specific uses, although these particular listings are quite long and worthwhile. From there on until the end, the book is an alphabetical listing (by Latin names) of ground covers. Here it has to be said that size does matter for inclusion into the book. Even large things like the eight-foot-tall Helianthus salicifolius, which would seem to be more an “architectural” plant, are included, if they can indeed spread and cover ground. Like Who-ville, the tall and the small. As long as it spreads one way or another and gives good cover, it’s fair game. There are quite a few places where you have to sit back and re-think some of your categorizations… It also is a good thing to mention that this is trying to be a book for all places. Things that demand exacting conditions are included—there are places where those conditions are the norm; things that are well-behaved in the author’s home base (British Columbia) and not necessarily so here. The book mentions Ampelopsis, “not grown with vertical support,” which is the sort of thing that Mid-Atlantic gardeners would shy away from (read, “run screaming”). So are other vines that are wellbehaved here, grown as ground trailers. This, in itself, is somewhat of an eyeopener as one normally thinks, “It’s a vine, send it vertical.” There are quite a few possibilities for using particular vines, all worth reading. The book covers the ho-hum through the uncommon to the rare, but one of the many shining points is that it lists cultivars of various ground covers (for example, heuchera, dianthus, coreopsis, ajuga)—where known by their species lineage and where applicable, the group of cultivars they belong to. A printed book will, of course, stay the same while new cultivars get added to the garden palette, but this is the best researched and presented listing I have seen. Within the scope of “things that cover ground,” it tries to be another Dirr’s Manual of Hardy Plants, and it actually succeeds. Entries include USDA hardiness zones, native ranges (where applicable), descriptions of the plant, usually culture and care, how it spreads, bloom time… The cultivar sub-listings tend more to distinguishing one cultivar from another, rather than the full cultural listing for the straight species. It is a monstrous amount of information—very welcome and new to me, new ideas, new plants, new cultivars—even though I worked in a nursery setting for years. In the very back is a page of resources online, two pages of bibliography, and an index. I have read this material page by page. I gave up after two full pages of notes of plants new to me to try to source…and I have to return this copy to the editor. I am going to buy this book for myself. You should, too. o