The Passionate Gardener: Adventures of an Ardent Green Thumb

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Des Kennedy, a B.C. novelist and magazine writer, presents 13 essays
linked only by the common theme of gardening. Each essay has its own
subject within the broad love-of-gardens field. These range from garden
tours and travels (Ireland, Hawaii, New Zealand), topiary, spraying
fruit trees, garden clubs and shows, phobias exhibited by gardeners,
fencing, and more. The essays also vary in style. There’s a repeated,
belaboured effort to wring a bit of humour from the subject and a
consistent tendency to resort to the rather dull stylistic device of
list making. The dominant strength of the author’s style is the
presence of detail, from the growth habits of plants to the abundance of
cockroaches in paradise. It is this detail that will attract and hold
most readers, as any hobbyist loves to add to the minutiae of their
passion.

The essays recognize the high cost of gardening, both in dollars and in
physical effort. Kennedy doesn’t brush off the need for ongoing heavy
labour if gardening is to be successful and satisfying. He acknowledges
that as a hobby, gardening is “primarily a matter of doing, rather
than of sitting and looking at what has been done.” The
book—probably most enjoyable if taken in small doses so the style
doesn’t become an irritant—is an opportunity to keep in touch with
gardening while maintaining a restful distance from the hands-on work.