The Magical All-Inclusiveness of Gardening

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	• The Echoing Green: The Garden in Myth and Memory Jennifer Heath Plume, 2000 - 252 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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The Magical All-Inclusiveness of Gardening

This well-written book is an engaging blend of garden-related reminiscences, recollections, and ruminations. As the child of a diplomat, the author has memories of gardens in far-flung places around the world. She also relates touching memories of beloved family members -- whether young or old, alive or departed -- who loved to garden, too. Her most detailed accounts are of her present urban garden in Boulder, Colorado and her trials and triumphs with the weather and her neighbors; by the end of the book I was as enchanted by her garden as if I'd personally toured it. These various gardening anecdotes are skillfully interwoven with brief discussions of plants in folklore, superstition, and mythology. Heath's knowing combination of these disparate themes captures the magical all-inclusiveness of gardening -- how gardening opens up worlds previously unnoticed and is such a metaphor for our existence. Although the authors' personalities, writing styles, and gardening preferences are extremely different from each other, I think if you liked the book Mrs. Whalley and Her Charleston Garden you will also like this book, The Echoing Green.

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Very interesting and absorbing

I am currently reading the book now, I have to say I have enjoyed it well. Its so personal, but yet you still want to know more. I have been wanting to start planting bad, but this book has sustained me and inspired me. Its such a wonderful, light book full of goodness and light. It includes stories on the authors life and family, as well as bits and pieces of world myth and Irish traditions. An excellent book to pick up for a sunny day! I wish there were more books like this out there!

An imaginative assemblage of gardening literature and history for the avid gardener and literary reader alike

The Echoing Green is a lively examination of all things that make a garden a divine and interesting place. It is a tapestry rich with sumptuous imagery, unusual information, and exacting prose about gardening history, lore, rituals, and the personal experiences and reflections of author Jennifer Heath, herself a passionate gardener for more than thirty years. Including factual information as well as the mythology and folklore surrounding individual flowers, plants, and herbs, this book is beautifully written, creatively researched, and lovingly collected. From the history of the rose (which evolved in Central Asia sixty million years ago) to the significance of basil in different cultures (sacred to the Hindus, but a sign of poverty and misfortune to the ancient Greeks) to Heath's own spirited approach to weeding, The Echoing Green is a wide-ranging and delightful volume that belongs in the hearts and on the bookshelves of gardeners everywhere.

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