Sweet Box (Sarcococca)

By Kathy Jentz

Sweet Box (Sarcococca spp.) is a small evergreen shrub or groundcover that is hardy to USDA Zones 6 to 8. It is native to China and virtually maintenance-free.

It thrives in shade even dry shade—and is deer- and rabbit-resistant.

This easy-to-grow plant can be propagated by semi-hardwood cuttings in late summer.

Christmas Box (Sarcococca confusa) has small, white flowers in late winter that send out a sweet, vanilla-like fragrance that gives this plant its name. Red berries appear in fall and then turn black. They are enjoyed by birds. It can be pruned to a low hedge of about 3 feet wide and high.

Himalayan Sweet Box (Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis) grows to only about a foot high and spreads by underground roots to cover an area about 3 feet wide. The flowers are not as sweet as the Christmas Box and the berries or drupes are black.

Sweet Box (Sarcococca ruscifolia) is very similar to Christmas Box except that the berries stay red and the plant is somewhat larger, reaching 4 feet high and wide at maturity. o

Urban Foraging: Find, Gather, and Cook 50 Wild Plants

Author: Lisa M. Rose

Publisher: Timber Press

List Price: $20.00

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3JSkN5M and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781643260839

Reviewer: Jessica Harden

Urban Foraging is a how-to guide for identifying, gathering, and preparing foods that grow in urban landscapes. The book starts out with warnings about contaminants and how to identify them because plants will absorb pollutants and urban foragers can’t test the soil. Rose lists areas to avoid foraging since there’s a high probability that foods near those areas are contaminated. Rose also talks about the legality of urban foraging, what to include in a foraging tool kit, and botany basics for identifying plants. She also includes a section about what to forage during different seasons.

After the introduction section, the rest of the book is about the 50 wild plants Rose selected listed in alphabetical order. Each listing includes a photo, the species, what part of the plant should be harvested, “culinary uses,” “how to identify and gather in urban areas,” “things to consider,” and a recipe. The book includes easily identifiable fruits like apples and blackberries, as well as flowers like honeysuckles and roses.

Overall, I think this book would be a good starting point for beginners who want to get experience with urban foraging. I also really appreciate that as Rose is a resident of Flint, Michigan, she put so much emphasis on identifying and avoiding contaminants that might be present in the plants. o

Jessica Harden is a junior journalism major minoring in law and society, with a concentration in criminal law, at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is an intern this semester with Washington Gardener and is from San Antonio, TX.

Planting for Garden Birds: A Grower’s Guide to Creating a Bird-Friendly Habitat

Author: Jane Moore

Publisher: Hardie Grant Books/ Quadrille

List Price: $16.99

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3ls78Jk and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781787138292 and

The Little Book of Crops in Small Spots: A Modern Guide to Growing Fruit and Veg

Author: Jane Moore

Publisher: Hardie Grant Books/ Quadrille

List Price: $14.99

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3loqxe3 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781787137318

Reviewer: Andrea F. Siegel

Jane Moore is a British garden writer and avid gardener, having amassed awards and accolades for both, and has an online and video presence; her career has spanned three decades. Her two recent books, Planting for Garden Birds and The Little Book of Crops in Small Spots, are small in size, but hold a large amount of information and advice.

Moore takes a practical, organized, and encouraging approach to the subjects of creating a welcoming environment and buffet for backyard birds—she’s authored other books in Quadrille’s “Planting for” series—and making the most of the space you’ve got for growing edibles; two hot topics.

Bird populations have been noticeably declining, and destruction of their habitat and dwindling food supply is a large part of why. Gardens, however, can help increase habitat and food for them, improving a gardener’s corner of the world for local birds.

Also, growing food to feed ourselves— part of the publisher’s “little book” series—is gaining popularity, and many gardeners do have a space crunch. In Planting for Garden Birds, Moore writes in a personal way, carefully explaining that our “green corridor” of gardens plays a key role for birds, from commonly seen wrens to the less frequently seen owls. Although bird feeders are great, she writes, birds also need habitat, places to nest and hide, insects to eat, and water to drink. They eat not only the seeds produced by our plants, but insect pests in the garden. Build a more bird-friendly garden and you’ll host more birds—they might, she notes, become your natural insect control. They bring the outdoors to life in song, movements, color, and social ways, whether they are migrating visitors or year-round residents of our neighborhoods.

The starting point is that many a reader is likely to already have a jump on building a bird-friendly garden. Think bird feeders and shrubbery. Moore shows us that a beautiful garden also can be a fabulous place for birds.

In each chapter, Moore spotlights a bird or a group of birds we may spot in our surroundings. But not all of us. Readers should remember that while many of the same birds (or their cous- ins) can be found in both the UK and U.S., not all may be in your neck of the woods, especially considering the varied climate zones in North America and the British Isles. (For example, different jays live around the world and not all of them are bright blue, and the English robin is not the same bird as the American robin.)

Four chapters are devoted to the seasons. Moore recommends plants from trees to clover, and provides details about them, explaining why and how these plants are good for which birds, especially during which seasons, helping readers appreciate nature’s harmony. She also tells us why these are lovely in our gardens, since many plants have multi-season interest for people, too. She advises readers about what to do seasonally to attract birds.

The spring chapter, for example, includes putting out foods to help birds feed their young, planting annuals to lure insects now and provide seeds for later, and tips for bird houses and nesting materials. She also discusses the value of plant layering, and gives those of us who don’t want to rake leaves welcome reasons not to.

Other chapters focus on such essentials as habitat and predators. Throughout, simple illustrations by James Weston Lewis depict birds, settings, and plants.

Moore’s book can guide new gardeners seeking direction and experienced ones looking to enhance their knowledge. Throughout, Moore shares her enjoyment of birds and reassures readers that it’s not difficult to garden in ways that welcome birds, and that we would do well not to downplay their importance in our lives.

In The Little Book of Crops in Small Spots, Moore has created a helpful grow-your-own (GYO) guide, selecting more than three dozen edibles that perform well in limited spaces, be they pots on a balcony or a raised beds in a small yard.

Many of us, especially those new to gardening or who live in urban settings, lack expansive space for producing crops and, not knowing where to begin, could benefit from an experienced gardener’s knowledge and direction.

Moore tells us that it’s not difficult, although newbies should start with successfully cultivating the edibles that are easier to grow before branching out to the more demanding plants.

Her book is organized in a way that sets up new gardeners for success, starting by telling readers that they may find crop varieties that perform better in their climates than the ones she recommends and should take advice locally from nurseries and other gardeners; make good use of information on the seed packet; figure out where the sunny spots are (most veggies thrive in lots of sun); and the like.

It then gets into the nitty-gritty of growing your edibles—the right plant in the right small place with the right care is the key. Chapters are organized by growing space and feature plants suited to the space’s limitations. That helps with making decisions about what to grow and where: pole beans help with a space crunch because they grow vertically and can be placed to shade those vegetables that bolt in too much summer sun. With exceptions, she advises growing from seed, which is not as daunting as it may sound to beginners; many plant varieties are not sold as seedlings.

Chapter topics include space-savers and ways to extend the season by starting with cool-weather edibles and ending with crops that are harvested after summer’s heat. There’s also one about growing uncommon eats.

Throughout, her advice includes tips on everything from companion planting to dealing with insect pests. The book also features growing fruit and herbs. Moore provides gardeners with the information they need to plan their gardens and support bringing their plants to harvest.

For each featured plant, advice comes in two ways: text and a sidebar list. Text subjects always include planting, growing, harvesting, pesky pests, know-how, and recommendations for varieties. Sidebars use symbols to identify the topics that include when to plant, weeks to harvest, skill level, sunlight, watering, height, and feeding. These are a huge convenience.

The information helps readers decide whether they can meet a plant’s needs. (If you grew everything in the book, your garden wouldn’t be small.) For example, tomato-lovers will find that tomatoes (intermediate skill level) can be grown indoors; bush tomatoes are more manageable than vining ones that need support for their single tall stems, but still reach 3 feet tall. Both require a larger container than will fit on most windowsills, making them better suited to growing in a bay window or by a floor-to-ceiling glass door; they need daily watering and weekly feeding. Herbs, on the other hand, are easy to grow indoors and need less sun— great for starting out.

Supplementing Moore’s words are helpful photos by Emli Bendixen.

The book is a solid starting point for people beginning a gardening journey or who are gardening in small and odd spaces, as well as for those with community garden plots. In addition, suggestions for miniature versions of popular vegetables, hanging plants, and the like benefit all gardeners. o

Andrea Siegel is a master gardener in Maryland.

The Artistry of Flowers: Floral Design by La Musa de las Flores

Author: María Gabriela Salazar

Photographer: Ngoc Minh Ngo

Publisher: Rizzoli

List Price: $50.00

Order Link: https://amzn.to/3LCa8gS and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780847899081

Reviewer: Marsha Douma

The Artistry of Flowers is a visual ode to the beauty of flowers. The subtitle, Floral Design by La Musa De Las Flores, is the name of the floral design studio of the author, Gabriela Salazar. The written portion of the book is her personal journey from earlier training in painting and design to a very successful floral design business. The book is therefore not a “how to” book in the typical garden book style. In fact, the flowers in the photographs are not even identified. This is a “why to” book. The author wants her readers to fall in love with flowers as deeply as she has.

“Flowers are not just beautiful to arrange but working with them teaches you how to be patient, kind, resilient, and graceful—offering immeasurable life lessons.” This quote, from her web site, is the encapsulation of the book’s theme.

The many, many magnificent photos, which are absolutely the highlight and point of the book, are evenly interspersed throughout the volume. When I first started to read the book, the pictures of the flowers felt like I was looking at a renaissance art book of still lives. The photographs have that beautiful, dreamy quality. And, pointedly, the author does want to get into the readers’ minds. She wants her readers to visit awhile with her flowers, not simply take a quick look—no speed-reading for this book. In case the reader is not adept at slowing down to smell the flowers, so to speak, she helps the reader by focusing in closer on the individual flowers to appreciate better their many shapes, colors, and textures with multiple photographs of the same arrangement.

In this way, Ms. Salazar is reminding the reader both that these are more than pretty arrangements, and that she is not the star; the flowers are. It is always about the flowers. The first photo in each mini-series is usually the entire arrangement, plus the setting if that is useful or interesting. The subsequent photos of the same group of flowers concentrate on individual flowers or smaller groups of them within the arrangement. At first, I was surprised at the repetition—with all our electronic devices, the art of looking slowly has almost been abandoned. But it worked.

She grows her own flowers for her arrangements, and there are some inspiring pictures of her garden as well, which is full of dahlias and cosmos, among many others. The photos successfully inspired me to try my hand at growing dahlias this season. They were simply too beautiful to not see them anymore.

This is a perfect book for the coffee table whenever one needs a flower garden staycation. It is also a lovely present for all of your gardening friends. o

Marsha Douma is a retired dentist and lifelong gardener who also enjoys swimming, tennis, and playing the piano. She lives in Rockville, MD.

The Journey of Neil The Great Dixter Cat

Author: Honey Moga

Illustrator: Dabin Han

Publisher: Regan Arts

List Price: $19.99

Order Link: https://amzn.to/3a3D1lc and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781682451939

Reviewer: Kathy Jentz

This is an illustrated book all about Neil, the true story of the Great Dixter cat. (By the way, Neil means “champion” in Gaelic.)

The book tell the story of the “loving men” who rescued Neil from the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, and brought her to live out her days in one of the most beautiful wild gardens in the world—the Great Dixter Garden in the UK. We also meet famed plantsman Fergus Garrett in the book, who takes Neil in and makes her Great Dixter’s garden cat.

Honey Moga, the late author of the book, plays a role in the story herself and her introduction is also fully illustrated, including her dream of becoming an author after her husband walks out and leaves her alone with nine children. Inspiring, uplifting, and true, this is a unique history and a beautifully illustrated depiction of the magical garden where the courageous cat Neil now resides happily.

This book is delightful and is aimed at cat and garden lovers alike from ages 4 to 99+.

Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener

Note: These book reviews include links to Amazon.com and BookShop.org for ordering them. Washington Gardener Magazine may receive a few cents from each order placed after you click on these links.

By Kathy Jentz