Customer Reviews

Plant Life: Growing a Garden in the Pacific Northwest

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For years I start every Sunday with a cup of coffee and Valerie Easton's gardening column in our Seattle Times Pacific Magazine. It was with great anticipation and excitement that I bought her newest book, Plant Life, a collection of her new and past writings on the garden. Her writing is both personal and informative, humorous and stimulating. The book is organized by months and seasons and would be very useful in planning and planting a year round garden. The helpful photos by Richard Hartlage are first rate and lush in saturated color. I found many suggestions and ideas that I would try in my own garden. Her personal observations about plants and experiences in her garden opened my eyes to my garden and the "beauty" that I had created in my own world. I highly recommend this book to both active and arm chair gardeners.....

An excellent read! As an experienced gardener who is new to the climate of the Pacific Northwest, reading Plant Life was the perfect way to learn many of the nuances of gardening in this region. Valerie Easton not only speaks from considerable skill and practice, but also knows how gardeners think and the questions we ponder. Her essays amuse, inform and broaden your thinking, all at the comfort level of a neighborly chat over afternoon tea.

Gleaned from the author's highly popular weekly newspaper column, the text is well supported by the top notch photographs of her own garden (taken by Richard Hartlage, a fine author in his own right - see "Bold Visions for the Garden"). For those who wish to expand their gardening horizons, or simply enjoy good garden writing, I highly recommend this book.

I received this book as a gift, being newly into gardening in the NW, and at first thumbing through I was a little puzzled. It appears to be more of musings then a 'real' garden book and I wondered how useful it would be for actual gardening. But once I started to read, I found this book to be such a delight! So many of the passages made me smile, so many made me want to laugh and all were inspiring. I really enjoy being able to pick this up and read a little on 'spooky' plants or the use of variegated leaves. This and the Western Sunset garden book are helping me make a great new garden here!

This collection of insightful and informative columns by Valerie Easton is very helpful in planning and working on a garden year-round. The "Now In Bloom" sections were very helpful too in finding plants to put in my garden. Best of all, the pictures are beatiful! Definitely recommended.

It's a treat to be able to have a collection of Valerie Easton's columns. Her gardening know-how, with a marvelous gift of common sense combined with her joy of plants, is a delight. I bought this as a gift to myself, but plan to give it to friends. Plus the fabulous photographs by Richard Hartlage -- I'm happy to recommend it as a must-have in your garden library.

This book is well edited and the articles she's chosen are fine, it's just that I was expecting the content of the articles to be suggestions and guidelines as to putting a garden together and not the thoughtful philosophies that Valerie shares. If you are looking for more of a gardener's journal with some beautiful pictures this book is perfect for you. If you want help in planning and planting a garden, look somewhere else.

I'm so glad that I bought this book (irresistible cover!) and am getting acquainted with Easton's garden writings. Her advice makes good sense and the monthly "Now In Bloom" suggestions and photos are inspiring me to plant for a year round garden. How could anyone resist October's "Spooky Plants" list?

Yep, this book is a fun read. It's not a how-to book. There's plenty of those out there if you want that. This book is Valerie Easton's commentary on what gardening is like in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, specifically), it's challenges, and it's beauties. I bought this book not because I live in the Pacific Northwest, but because I wanted to know what it would be like to garden there, where it is cool, moist and temperate, as opposed to my dry blazing hot summers or cold dry winters. It's nice to dream.