BOOKreviews the florists are all of Black descent, where they come from and how they were introduced into gardening are different. Beautiful pictures of flowers also accompany each profile to show the florists’ work. The chapters aren’t very long, so they are very quick to read. I highly recommend that everyone read this book. It highlights the work of Black florists and promotes alternatives to fulfill your floral needs. And for gardeners, especially those of color, Speight’s book can feel empowering. o Dorvall Bedford is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. He is a native of Frederick, MD.
Black Flora: Profiles of Inspiring Black Flower Farmers + Florists Author: Teresa J. Speight Publisher: BLOOM Imprint List Price: $24.95 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3Jo45sa and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781736848135 Reviewer: Dorvall Bedford The contributions of the Black community are underrepresented in the United States, even in regard to gardening. However, author Teresa J. Speight is providing a way for their voices to be heard. In her book, Black Flora, Speight shines a spotlight on the careers and gardens of many Black florists and flower farmers from across the country. Speight’s book is a collection of profiles. Each chapter provides a brief biography of a Black florist, with occupations varying from wedding decor to agriculture and places of origin ranging from Hawaii to far-flung Eswatini. She describes how they discovered their love of flowers and began their respective careers. Every story is a personal tale of Black success. Speight has clearly put a lot of work into this. What’s interesting about the book is that it shows diversity in an overlooked community. The profiles are full of personality and told in an engaging way, describing what makes all the florists special. Not only does Speight talk about their gardens and business, but she also includes little details like everyone’s favorite flowers that help us understand who they are. Even though 18
WASHINGTON GARDENER
MARCH 2022
Gardening for Everyone: Growing Vegetables, Herbs, and More at Home Author: Julia Watkins Publisher: Mariner Books/Harvest Publications/Harper Collins List Price: $26.99 Order Links: https://amzn.to/36pD74Y and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780358651901 Reviewer: Stacey Evers Like most of you, my bookshelves sag with gardening guides, memoirs, howtos, and histories. I have an especially large section on how to grow food, so when I sat down to read Julia Watkins’ Gardening for Everyone, it was with a combination of anticipation and skepticism. Watkins, the Chicago-based @simply. living.well Instagrammer, could have provided a book that was heavy on color-popping photos and big-print sidebars. While Gardening for Everyone teems with gorgeous photos, it’s also an information-packed volume that I’m eager to add to my personal collection. In less than 300 pages, Watkins comprehensively covers gardening manual standards like siting your garden, preventing disease, and cleaning your tools. What makes her well-organized volume refreshing—and interesting to gardeners of all experience levels—is how she’s updated these standards. Watkins maintains a consistent focus on sustainable practices, like ollas, no-till gardening, lasagna gardening, and upcycling, or the creative re-use of materials. She doesn’t assume that her
reader has a lot of money or a backyard. She provides practical, affordable DIY tips and at every turn, focuses on growing in small spaces and containers, as well as in raised beds and in-ground plots. She even addresses inexpensive indoor gardening and how to make your own potting mix, which can be cheaper than buying premade mixes and allows you to be in control of the ingredients. In a nutshell, this book is as the title advertises. It’s not surprising that Watkins, whose first book was Simply Living Well: A Guide to Creating a Natural Low-Waste Home, would write a gardening guide focused on techniques so old that they’re new again. She spent much of her childhood working in her grandparents’ vegetable garden and at their always-from-scratch dinner table. She served in the Peace Corps and pursued a career in conservation and international development. These experiences taught her “the old ways and slow, natural living,” she says on her Simply Living Well website (simplylivingwell.com). Gardening for Everyone begins with planning your garden and, chapter by chapter, works through the stages of the growing season to harvesting. Then Watkins turns to joy and fun. In the “Playing” chapter, readers will find 24 creative, kid-friendly, and practical projects. Some, like making seed tape and origami seed envelopes, are useful for gardening. Others, like citronella lemon bowl candles, gardener’s hand scrub, and dandelion flower syrup, will rely at
