British garden books are a whole different flavor from American ones. I think the ones below would make great gifts for any gardener on your list. These books are my current British favorites. Some I was sent through the American arm of their publisher while others I purchased for myself. As I looked over all the books this year, I kept wondering how the British are able to afford to publish such big, beautiful tomes in these days of cutting publishing expenses. Perhaps, it's because they are a nation of gardeners, and gardening books sell better there. I don't know, but I will bask in the richness of their photography and page length. Cover of Virginia Woolf's garden. Photography © 2013 Caroline Arber Although my first choice is titled Virginia Woolf's Garden, (Jacqui Small, LLP 2013), by Caroline Zoob, and photographed by Caroline Arber, it's really about Virginia's husband, Leonard, who was the hands-on gardener....

Oklahoma is cloudy and wet on this December Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day hosted each month by Carol Michel at May Dreams Gardens. Cold is supposed to return tomorrow. Oh joy. Each morning for the last two weeks, I woke to mostly gray skies and fog. This advection fog is an unusual phenomenon for this time of year caused by a warm and moist air mass moving over the cooling earth. Yesterday, thunderstorms rolled across the state, and even a couple of small tornadoes touched down in open fields. No one was injured, and no property damaged. Think a moment about what I just wrote. Thunderstorms, tornadoes and fog--does this sound like winter in the central South? Do you remember last year? The only place that was warm was the greenhouse. Narcissus 'White Nir' and 'Ariel' paperwhites aren't as highly scented as 'Ziva' which is sold nearly everywhere. Still, the calendar says December, and I...

I'm honored that Fran Sorin asked RDR to be part of her cyber book party and giveaway for the 10th Anniversary and re-release of her ground-breaking book, Digging Deep. We have prizes galore for this book party. Last week, I gave away Haven Brand manure tea--also part of this party as you'll see below--an amaryllis bulb, and now even more great prizes. I am such a party animal lately. Digging Deep Giveaway In preparation for its updated release and my endorsement, I read Digging Deep: Unearthing Your Creative Roots Through Gardening many months ago. It touched me deeply. My endorsement is below and in the praise section at the beginning of the book. I joined several other authors because I think we need Fran's updated release more than ever in our technological world. Not only that, but many American gardening books are all about results and how-tos. Gardening is a reflective process, and we Americans could certainly...

Wondering what gift to buy your gardener for Christmas this year? I have some great gift book ideas for you. This was a banner year for garden books, so I'm writing this post and a second British edition later next week. Of the books sent to me this year, these are my American favorites. Some were published by my publisher, St. Lynn's Press, while others were published by Storey Publishing, LLC and Timber Press. Cover of Five-Plant Gardens by Nancy Ondra. Excerpted from Five-Plant Gardens (c) Nancy J. Ondra. Illustrations by Beverly Duncan. Photography by (c) Rob Cardillo. Used with permission of Storey Publishing. First up is Five-Plant Gardens: 52 Ways to Grow a Perennial Garden with Just Five Plants (Storey Publishing 2015), by Nan Ondra. I would buy and read anything Nan wrote. I own most of her books and re-read them in winter for inspiration. There is no one who...