The Ontario Gardener's Resource Guide: An Indispensable Directory to Gardening Information

Leila I. Wallenius is a reference librarian in the J.-N. Desmarais
Library at Laurentian University.

This generally well-organized book includes sections on everything from
nurseries and garden centres to mail-order services and competitions. In
lieu of a map of the province, the author uses the “Tourist Areas of
Ontario,” as established by the provincial government for the
organization of the nurseries and garden centres. Unfortunately, not all
Ontarians will know the dividing lines for these zones.

The entries vary in length depending on the details submitted in
response to the author’s questionnaire. For those companies that did
not respond, brief entries provide name, address, and one to three lines
of description. The entries, whether long or short, are not always
consistent in terms of information given: for example, major mail-order
companies are not consistently noted as shipping Canada-wide. The
section on private and public gardens will help gardening buffs plan
vacation stops. The section on “media” is less useful, given that
most television stations change their line-ups yearly.

This well-presented and easy-to-read book will appeal to the avid
Ontario gardener, and would be a good purchase for that province’s
public libraries.