I attended my first Christmas bazaars of the season on Saturday November 4th. This got me thinking about gifts and gardening books, magazines and gifts for the gardener.

Just as I think bears, in their winter rest, may dream about a plentiful berry crop in the next season, I constantly think about changes I could make in the garden.  Winter is a great time to retreat, rejoice and redesign for next year.  It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I think this one of the reasons why I love gardening in our Kootenay climate.  The winter rest is very refreshing.  I can almost completely forget the garden if I want to or I can get busy planning and scheming for next year.  A little of both is usually what happens.

I have shelves of gardening books and piles of old garden magazines. They never go out of date. I stopped buying garden magazines a while ago because I never throw them out and there are limitations in storage. However I miss those printed publications. Somehow it is not the same to look at the image on line or read the article. I probably feel the way I do because I have coveted garden magazines and their glossy photographs all my life but now I find myself giving many away and it is really a wrench to my green fingers.

 Canadian Gardening went out of publication in 2016 and although there are other printed magazines I have to say the majority are British. Those magazines are some of the absolute best and I love them but gardening in Canada is very different than gardening in the U.K. When I turn to the internet I find many online magazines and blogs so I am training myself to take a much closer look at all the others. There are some great ones and I should have been doing more of this because so many of the blogs are particularly relevant to certain areas of the country, which makes the articles more informative and tailored to suit local needs. Canada is a vast country with a vast array of climate zones, sub zones and microclimates. Even in my home town the elevation difference between down town and higher residential areas can make a difference between rain or snow, mist or a clear blue sky. Local gardeners talk frequently about when they had their first killing frost for example and it varies considerably. What grows in someone’s garden at 3,000 feet may not do well at 3,300 feet.

Winter is a perfect time to indulge in reading old magazines, catch up on plant name changes of which there always seem to be some, plan a new perennial border or put together that all important seed list. Living where I do in the Rocky Mountains I would highly recommend the Calgary Horticultural Society as a great resource. Their online presence is especially informative for this climate zone.

I am out of date with new reliable references and publications as I have relied on my trusted favourites for years. I therefore am asking anyone who reads this to please in the comments section recommend your latest favourite gardening books.

The magazines and catalogues have been the starting point for my next year’s best-ever garden but I would be at a loss without some very trusted old and well-thumbed references.   I get as much enjoyment from reading plant encyclopedias as many novels! I think because they offer so much promise. Two encyclopedias I use constantly are ‘Botanica’ published by Raincoast and ‘The Gardeners Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers’ published by Dorling Kindersley.  This is now published as ‘The American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants’.  ‘Botanica’ lists over 10,000 garden plants alphabetically by botanical/Latin name.  An index of common names and synonyms is provided. My old Dorling Kindersley encyclopedia categorizes the plants into sub- groups and blooming times, which is useful.  ‘The Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada’ published by Reader’s Digest is another especially reliable reference, a new gardener must-have. I really like the ‘Western Garden Problem Solver’. Most of these books are still available in updated versions but online you can pick up used ones for half the price of new.

The rocky landscape of Abkhazi Garden is inspirational for mountainous gardens.

Dark evenings are a good time to read about other gardeners’ experiences.  Unlike golfers, gardeners practice their passions mostly alone. They have to seek out other gardeners and when they find those with equal passion for the hobby, they have just as many tales to tell!  There is a history of inspirational gardening in B.C. although most well-known gardens are situated on the West Coast. I always enjoy Des Kennedy’s humorous style of writing.  He has many articles and books to his credit but his ‘Crazy about Gardening’ is a favourite.  His garden on Denman Island, is not a public garden but his writing about it is inspirational. ‘The Garden Letters’ by Elspeth Bradbury and Judy Maddocks, as well as ‘Tottering in my Garden’ by Midge Keeble are two books, which although published years ago are inspirational reads for those who have not yet discovered them.  I loved ‘Cougar Annie’s Garden’ by Margaret Horsfield .  It was the winner of the Roderick Haig Brown Award in1999 for the best book written about B.C.  It tells the history of Annie’s legendary garden adventures on the west coast of B.C. In Veronica’s garden by Margaret Cadwaladr tells the story of the Milner Gardens on Vancouver Island. There are histories of the Abkhazi and Butchart Gardens in Victoria, so many wonderful stories about West Coast Gardens but hopefully one day there will be more books about gardens of the Interior of B.C.

The curved beds of Milner Gardens and the funky fence in Des Kennedy’s garden, both inspiration for our mountain gardens.

Please share your favourite good garden reads, especially dry land/xeriscaping and cold weather resources