Crazy About Gardening: Reflections on the Sweet Seductions of a Garden

Description

282 pages
Contains Bibliography
$16.95
ISBN 1-55110-137-8
DDC 635'.0207

Author

Publisher

Year

1994

Contributor

Reviewed by Janet Arnett

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.

 

Review

Anyone who can sympathize with a full-blown case of fusarium wilt or
blossom end rot will relate well to this book.

As the title implies, there exists in Canada a group of people who see
nothing unusual in talking to their zucchini, who think compost is a
thing of beauty, and who stay awake at night plotting ways to find a
good home for some surplus iris rhizomes.

For the horticulturally challenged, this obsession with gardening seems
excessive. With wit and a seductive manipulation of style, the author
helps us understand that the gardener possessed is helpless in the face
of the garden’s all-powerful allure. Think twice before you decide to
prune that old snowball bush or plant a few tomato seedlings: you, too,
could become a gardening addict, living a life ruled by a hardiness zone
map, at the mercy of the latest seed catalogue.

Kennedy’s light, whimsical touch makes this collection of essays and
musings a delightful read. His humor comes from both gentle exaggeration
and a master’s finesse in handling understatement. A little satire,
watered with empathy and tamped down with first-hand experience, means
readers can enjoy seeing their own gardening craziness held up to the
mirror without feeling laughed at.

Citation

Kennedy, Des., “Crazy About Gardening: Reflections on the Sweet Seductions of a Garden,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed December 12, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/6990.