The Potting-Shed Papers: On Gardens, Gardeners, and Garden History [Hardcover]

Charles Elliott (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1585745405 | ISBN-13: 978-1585745401 | Publication Date: May 1, 2002 | Edition: 1st

A collection of delightful essays on gardening by America's favorite expatriate author.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Devotees of Horticulture magazine will recognize many of Elliott's essays from his column, "The Transplanted Gardener," an often-irreverent look at the idiosyncratic differences between gardening in his adopted Britain versus his native America. The uninitiated will delight in Elliott's take on the fine, and not so fine, art of gardening, no matter where it occurs. From the Andean rainforest, home to the erstwhile Fever Bark Tree, to Boskoop, Holland, home of prodigious plant-producing nurseries, Elliott is both travel guide and garden guru, while piquant profiles of such legendary horticulturists as Roy Lancaster earn him the title of "botanical biographer." Although his pursuit of decidedly offbeat gardening stories is his stock-in-trade, nowhere is his talent more impressive than in the collection's introductory section, "Personal Considerations," in which Elliott regales with his own impressions of everything from British lawn-mowing habits to plant taxonomy. A witty raconteur, learned plantsman, and stylish essayist, Elliott's unbridled curiosity about all things horticultural takes the reader on an intriguing journey down often unexpected yet always entertaining garden paths. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

". . .a funny, pungent and unpredictable collection of essays."--Indianapolis Star

"In a fresh crop of funny, pungent and unpredictable essays, Elliott, with his trademark style and wit, brings life to episodes in horticultural history."--From House to Home Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585745405
• ISBN-13: 978-1585745401
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,199,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous & informative gardening sketches, July 29, 2005

By 

Doug Whitaker "Gardener" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Potting-Shed Papers: On Gardens, Gardeners, and Garden History (Hardcover)

The short essays in this book are highly entertaining and informative, shedding light on many little-known aspects of gardening history. Elliott writes with humor and wit, and with a self-effacing posture that is disarming.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Around the world, hurtling through time, February 18, 2009

By 

Tracy Fox (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Potting-Shed Papers: On Gardens, Gardeners, and Garden History (Hardcover)

Charles Elliott's The Potting-Shed Papers is a collection of essays, many reprinted from Horticulture magazine, that effortlessly blend garden history and contemporary garden trends. Elliott is at his best writing about the golden age of plant exploration, historic gardeners and their writings, and the origins of plants such as tree peonies and flowering cherries. His experiences actually gardening in both the U.S. and Wales provide for interesting insights into differing practices whether it be for laying out vegetable beds or maintaining lawns. His exposure to gardening around the world is shared via delightful commentary on the Ingurishu (English cottage style) gardens of Japan and the inner workings of a top Dutch nursery.

To me the most touching essay was "On Keeping Track," a rumination on gardening journals spurred by the discovery of an unknown woman's forty years of garden notes in a small leather-bound book headed for a charity shop. It brings together all of Elliott's interests--plants, gardens, and garden history--and leaves the gardening reader feeling part of an unbroken continuum of gardeners always awaiting the next best bloom. Recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in historical aspects of gardening.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must for the gardening fanatic, October 10, 2008

By 

Merbert "Merbert Music" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Potting-Shed Papers (Hardcover)

Those of you who have stacks of seed and plant catalogs at your bedside (some of them wrinkled from having been repeatedly dropped during bathtub reading) - those of you who get giddy from the perfume of the first spring rain hitting the compost pile - those of you who can name more varieties of roses than the names of members of your family, must have this little book.

Non-gardeners simply won't understand, and that's OK. We can keep this gem to ourselves!