Here’s what I have on my Christmas list: Books. Gardening books to be precise, and a whole long list of them: the big heavy ones, with full-color glossy photographs and detailed captions involving plant zone information and the correct Latin names of the plants photographed (some people refer to this as Gardener’s Pornography). I am a garden-book- aholic. I have been for a long time. It is a hereditary disorder and I have books that were my maternal grandmother and grandfather’s, my paternal grandfather’s, my mother’s and an assortment of books from second-hand bookstores with the names of total strangers scrawled inside the front cover. I like most kinds of garden books: old, new, encyclopedic, photographic, single plant profiles, garden novels, garden history, garden philosophy, garden miscellany, garden coffee table books depicting the world’s most beautiful places – and so on. And every year for my birthday and then Christmas, I ask for garden books. Lucky for me, other garden writers and horticultural and garden publishers continue to work hard – every year – to keep me happy.
The history of gardening writing and garden publishing (in various forms) stretches back to antiquity in many cultures – from the Greeks and Romans, to the Chinese and the Aztecs. As North State gardeners we are lucky to live in a region well-served by several good gardening publishers – one of them being Timber Press out of Portland, Oregon. Timber Press is one of the leading publishers of gardening and horticulture related books in the world. Founded in 1978 by Richard Abel, Timber Press’s mission is to provide “quality books for sophisticated gardeners” and pretty much all other plant lovers. Timber Press joined Workman Press in 2006, gaining even greater international stature along with the merger. I recently had occasion to speak to Tom Fischer, Editor in Chief of Timber Press.
Tom has a long background in the gardening, publishing and writing worlds. He worked at the University of Chicago Press for 8 years and then at Horticulture magazine for 14 years, most recently as their Editor in Chief. He joined Timber Press in 2004. “I have always admired Timber Press and when the opportunity came up, I had to apply,” he said. While this reader has missed his editorial letter at the beginning of each issue of Horticulture, I am glad to be able to read his work on the Timber Press website. Tom is an enthusiastic and experienced gardener himself and his editorial letters almost always include a wry sense of humor, deep plant knowledge and personal gardening confessions.
Timber Press has a wonderful range of subject matter in the books they publish – from technical selections such as “The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation” (Michael Dirr & Charles W. Heuser, Jr, 2009; $49.95) to reprinted classical garden literature, including many books by the esteemed – and oh so funny – Beverley Nichols. The very first title published by the press, “Japanese Maples” by J.D. Vertrees is still in print. When I asked Tom about what he sees in his crystal ball in the future for horticultural presses (worried as I am about any chance of losing the ability to get new garden books each year), he assured me he thought I was safe for the time being. “Magazine articles, gardening website and forums are doing great things,” he said, “and for a quick fix or introduction, these are wonderful sources. But when you want to move more deeply into a topic – you want the depth and detail that only a well-researched, written and photographed or illustrated book can provide.”
While Timber Press’s titles cover topics of interest to any region, Tom says that the trend in reader interest is definitely towards books with regionally specific information, about sustainable gardening, about edible gardening and about using native plants in the garden. These trends are definitely mirrored in the interests indicated by In a North State Garden listeners and readers over the past year. “Some people say that all politics are local, but I say all gardening is local,” Tom laughed. And he should know as a gardener who went from 8 years of Chicago’s climate to 14 years of Boston’s climate, to his current – relative heaven – of Portland’s climate.
As a garden writer and reader of garden writing, I am frequently irritated at how gardening books will use Northern California as a catch-all phrase for what is in effect simply San Francisco and the coast towns and vineyard-laden valleys north of it. Which IS part of Northern California, but hey, we’re here too – living and gardening quite happily and successfully in the interesting interior and eastern regions north of San Francisco. The North State alone is almost the size of Ohio, and currently just short of 1 million people call our region home!
For our challenging North State region, quite a few good garden books DO stand out as well-worth borrowing from the public library or owning for yourself. Tom recommended a few of his personal favorites:
1. “Trees for All Seasons” by Sean Hogan, founder of the acclaimed Cistus Nursery in Oregon, (Timber Press, 2008; $39.95)
2. “Timber Guide to Gardening in the Pacific Northwest” (which includes Northern California) (Timber Press, 2008; $29.95)
3. “Ceanothus” by David Fross and Dieter Wilken (Timber Press, 2006; $39.95)
4. “Native Treasures: Gardening with the Plants of California” by Nevin Smith (University of California Press, 2006; $26.95)
5. “The Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening” by George Waters and Nora Harlow (David R. Godine, 1990; $50)
6. “Hardy Californians” by Lester Rowntree (University of California Press, 2006; $21.95)
Finally, Tom says, “Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers” by Alan L. Detrick (Timber Press, 2008; $24.95) is, I think, a good potential gift book, and tells you exactly how to take professional-quality digital close-ups of your garden.” And for good measure, I would like to throw in a title that satisfies the my garden philosophy appetite: “Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition” by Robert Pogue Harrison (University of Chicago Press, 2008; $24).
Besides Timber Press, other horticultural and gardening publishers I like to keep a close eye on include, Sasquatch Press, out of Seattle; Cachuma Press out of the Santa Ynez Valley; University of California Press; Frances Lincoln out of the UK; Gibbs-Smith out of Layton, Utah; University of Chicago Press; Brooklyn Botanic Garden Press; Clarkson-Potter, a member of the Crown Publishing Group of Random House; and Oxmoor Press, which publishes the Sunset titles.
Granted, any season goes well with a good book. But the winter holidays, with the long chilly days of January following right behind, are especially good times for giving, receiving or curling up with a good gardening book.
With that in mind, I’d better get to work on my next writing assignment.
“Dear Santa:…..”
In a North State Garden is an educational outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum and a co-production of Northstate Public Radio.
In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum, in Chico, Calif. The mission of In a North State Garden is to celebrate the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region. The program is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell. To read more from In A North State Garden or to listen to the podcasts aired on KCHO/KFPR radio, click on jewellgarden.com.
