The Art of Perennial Gardening

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

The Art of Perennial Gardening is a beautiful book with food for eye and
soul as well as guidance for the planning mind and the stout back.
Patrick Lima’s opening essay, “The Gardener’s Art: In Pursuit of
Beauty,” sets the tone by partnering sound advice with the deep love
of natural beauty that drives most dedicated gardeners.

Topics include principles of design (well illustrated in John
Scanlan’s photographs), color, composition, and seasonal sequence.
There are chapters on ornamental grasses, drought-proof perennials for
late summer, and growing perennials beyond their proper time zone.
Interspersed throughout are well-chosen quotations, ranging from Maurice
Hewlett’s “Horticulture is, next to music, the most sensitive of the
arts” to Reginald Farrer’s “Few things are more annoying than
dogmatism; and dogmatism is nowhere more misplaced than in
horticulture.” Also included in the book are a substantial index, a
short list of further readings, and some seed company addresses.

Lima’s feelings for color and form are intense. His comments are
shrewd, personal, practical, poetic, and sometimes humorous. Scanlan’s
photos are also a joy. Deep shadows set off vivid and varied color
harmonies. Especially gratifying is the photo that captures
salmon-orange tiger lilies together with blue-and-white monkshoods, both
plants that do well in rich ground and light shade.

In a crowded field, The Art of Perennial Gardening stands out.