D4 THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2021
Relaxing in the shade
Summer garden reads
BY LIZ DOUVILLE
For The Bulletin
S
ummer reads are different. Winter is
the time for reading that requires re-
searching, taking notes and learning.
By the time gardening season starts,
you are armed with an assortment of do’s
and don’ts, try this, rip out that, and above
all, the mantra of wear your hat and use sun-
screen.
Summer days are always busy. By mid-af-
ternoon, it’s time for an iced drink and some
reading in the shade. I have a few favorites
I revisit every summer, at least for a chapter
here and there.
My very favorite is “The Gardener’s Year,”
by Karel Capek. The book is a collection of
wry observations about all the things that
can go wrong in the garden and what mad-
men gardeners are.
Capek (pronounced chop–uk) was 39
years old in 1929 when he published the
book in Prague. He was a Czech writer in-
ternationally famous for his play R.U.R.,
which introduced the word “robot” to the
world in 1921.
Capek uttered prayers that didn’t include
so much as a holy please or a grateful thank
you. He was pretty direct as to what he asked
for: “that there may be plenty of dew and
little wind, enough worms, no plant-lice
and snails, no mildew, and that once a week
thin liquid manure and guano may fall from
heaven. Amen.”
The purpose of Michael Pollan, author of
“Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education”
was not to teach gardening but to help the
reader understand the “troubled borders
between nature and culture, our attitudes
towards wilderness and animals.” The book
contains a fair amount of gardening meth-
ods, but mainly the focus is the philosophy
of gardening. Especially funny is his writings
of the “curious politics of the American lawn
and the moral dimensions of landscape.”
Pollan also wrote “Botany of Desire: A
Plant’s-Eye View of the World.” Pollan links
four fundamental human desires-sweetness,
beauty, intoxication and control with the
plants that satisfy them: apple, tulip, mari-
juana and potato. Pollan illustrates how the
plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s
most basic yearnings.
Amy Stewart is one of my favorite au-
thors. Stewart writes in her author’s note
for “The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable
Achievements of Earthworms,” that she is
not a scientist, but rather a gardener who is
curious about earthworms.
Why do we never find a dead earthworm
in the soil, or in a worm bin? Did you know
the Palouse region of Washington state was
the home of the giant Palouse earthworm,
driloleirus americanus? There hasn’t been a
sighting in over 20 years. If you happen to
see a pinkish white earthworm, two feet or
longer when fully extended, that smells like
lilies — rush it to the nearest university for
documentation. Your fame on the nightly
news will be guaranteed.
In 2009, Stewart received The Ameri-
can Horticultural Society Book Award for
“Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lin-
coln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities”.
Stewart also wrote the best seller “Wicked
Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napo-
leon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects.”
Both are fast and interesting reads.
On my list for this summer is Stewart’s
true story series about Constance Kopp and
her sister, the first women in law enforce-
ment in 1914. Stewart’s interest in the Kopp
sisters has resulted in seven novels.
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray,
Love,” wrote an engrossing novel of adven-
ture and discovery titled “The Signature of
All Things.” It is the story of a woman born
in 1800, the daughter of a botanical explorer.
The story reaches from America to Tahiti.
Alma’s research takes her deep into the mys-
teries of evolution. The story takes many
dips and turns when she falls in love with
a man who draws her into the world of the
spiritual, and the magical. I read the novel
several years ago and would read it a second
time.
“Flight Behavior,” by Barbara Kingsolver
was written in 2012 and was a bestseller. I
didn’t read it until this past year and I am
glad I waited. I don’t think it would have had
the same impact years ago—it seems time-
lier now that we are recognizing that there
is climate change and also that we are more
concerned with Monarch Butterflies.
Kingsolver has roots in the Appalachian
culture which makes the dialog and the
philosophies more authentic. The main
character, Dellarobia is 27, married to an
unimaginative man, has 2 kids and lives in
a small house on her in-laws property. Life
was pretty dull and bleak until hordes of
Monarch were discovered that changed the
small town life in many ways
Henry Mitchell’s name would be more
familiar to you if you were from the East
coast. Mitchell wrote for the Washington
Post every Thursday under his “Earthman”
column for many years. He has been consid-
ered the best garden writer in America and a
master essayist.
The month-by-month content may not be
totally relevant to our climate but his words
and thoughts are inspirational. Mitchell died
in 1993 at which time a collection of his
writings were published in “Henry Mitchell
on Gardening”.
Ciscoe Morris is a highly respected Pacific
Northwest garden writer and public speaker.
“OH, LA LA!” is an entertaining, humor-
ous accounting of his 45 years of gardening,
part of which was as head gardener at Seat-
tle University. He writes of subjects familiar
to us: deer, moles, birds, rats and the secret
lives of insects.
So much to read, so little time. Hopefully
you will find these brief reviews enticing
enough to turn off your devices and spend
time with the written word in the shade of
your favorite tree.
Reporter: douville@bendbroadband.com
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