My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love [Hardcover]

Jamaica Kincaid (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

A delightful compendium of writing on plants.

The passion for gardening and the passion for words come together in this inspired anthology, a collection of essays on topics as diverse as beans and roses, by writers who garden and by gardeners who write. Among the contributors are Christopher Lloyd, on poppies; Marina Warner, who remembers the Guinée rose; and Henri Cole, who offers poems on the bearded iris and on peonies. There is also an explanation of the sexiness of castor beans from Michael Pollan and an essay from Maxine Kumin on how, as Henry David Thoreau put it, one "[makes] the earth say beans instead of grass." Most of the essays are new in print, but Colette, Katharine S. White, D. H. Lawrence, and several other old favorites make appearances. Jamaica Kincaid, the much-admired writer and a passionate gardener herself, rounds up this diverse crew. A wonderful gift for green thumbs, My Favorite Plant is a happy collection of fresh takes on old friends.

Other contributors include:
Hilton Als
Mary Keen
Ken Druse
Duane Michals
Michael Fox
David Raffeld
Ian Frazier
Graham Stuart Thomas
Daniel Hinkley
Wayne Winterrowd

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This anthology edited by novelist Jamaica Kincaid is a fascinatingly quirky compilation of writings about plants by the people who love them. Some are exceedingly practical--Ken Druse's essay "Desire Under the Jacks" gives you all the information you need to grow Arisaema triphyllum from seed--while others are more lyrical, such as Colette's writings on lilies and hellebores, and the poetry scattered among the essays.

Like a magazine, there are pages you may skip over because you find the subject or style doesn't appeal to you, only to find yourself riveted by the next piece of writing, which awakens in you a lust to own a plant, the existence of which you were unaware of a few minutes earlier. The very best writing opens your eyes to something new: an experience, an object, a place, or in this instance, a plant. Every type of gardener, novice, expert, or dreamer will find such writings within these pages.

With its compact format, this is a book that can be slipped into the pocket and dipped into in those moments that become available between life's many activities, or put next to a guest bed for the enjoyment of visitors. The idiosyncratic typeface may not appeal at first, but you will get used to it. --Stephanie Donaldson

From Publishers Weekly

Author and gardener Kincaid believes that "[m]emory is a gardener's real palette... as it summons up the past... shapes the present... [and] dictates the future." For many, specific plants evoke specific memories; gathering 35 brief essays and poems that have been written throughout this century, Kincaid has compiled a bouquet of these plants and their corresponding memories. In "Lily," Colette remembers placing the eponymous white flowers around a statue of Mary, who "would be brushing, with the tips of her dangling fingers, the long, half-open cayman jaws of a lily at her feet." Czech writer Karol Capek writes in "Buds," published in 1929, that for him, even if he went out into the country, he would "see less of the spring than if I sat in my little garden" in Prague. Poet Maxine Kumin shares her appreciation of non-flowering plants and confesses that "nothing looks prettier to me than a well-tended flourishing vegetable garden." Ian Frazier, in "Memories of a Press-Gang Gardener," divulges how, after years of weeding gardens in his suburban childhood, he came to appreciate the activity, and when visiting "gardening friends... ask[s] what weeding needs to be done." In one of the strongest entries, "Marigold," Hilton Als admits hating that flower. During one childhood summer when his mother was ill, he recalls, he ate dirt from the marigold bed, to which his father devoted all his attention, and developed ringworm. Kincaid hopes that readers will draw some satisfaction from this collection, because a "garden, no matter how good it is, must never completely satisfy." In this she has succeeded, by presenting a book that is often beautiful, though some of its parts are not as radiant as others, and a few have yet to blossom.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 329 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374281939
• ISBN-13: 978-0374281939
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.4 x 4.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,186,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars uneven in level of interest to the average gardener November 11, 1998

By E. T. Kovacs

Format:Hardcover

Overall, the gardeners who wrote about their favorite plants were more interesting to read than most of the other authors. The selection that dealt with ringworm was especially out of place (what on earth did THAT have to do with plants?). The essay on plant collecting was great, though, and Tony Avent's short essay on hostas almost makes me like them. Almost. And you have to like a book that has an essay on Meconopsis. I liked exactly 50% of this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ringworm? And gardening? Not quite getting this! December 29, 2000

By Mr Andrew Carey

Format:Hardcover

I was very pleased with this book, which is why I went out and bought the other Jamaica Kincaid gardening related book.

This would be a lovely gift for a keen gardener, particularly in winter, when one can only dream about the garden. The essays were mainly interesting and informative - some were funny and poignant. The ones that wrote about their actual favourite plant were the best - the ones that went off on 'frolics of their own' just didnt cut it, but these were few, and probably added for unecessary 'colour' and 'arty-fartyness'! The paeony and meconopsis ones are my favourites.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A glowing "diary" by famous authors and prominent gardeners. November 17, 1999

By Joe Da Rold

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Every gardener has a favorite plant and is anxious to share plants and stories with others. Some of these essays are filled with technical information, others are lyrical musings on the esthetic of plants. Either way, this is a book to cuddle up with and to cherish. It's also a perfect special occasion gift for other gardeners.