Bloom & Blossom - The Reader's Guide to Gardening (Hardcover)

An invigorating gathering of fiction, poetry, and essays that reveals the powerful appeal of one of America's most enduring passions - gardening. Poet, scholar, and gardener Mary Swander juxtaposes excerpts from early American settlers with nineteenth century classics and the work of prominent twentieth century writers to offer new perspectives on the seductive pleasure of coaxing flowers, fruits, and vegetables from the earth. Scratch a gardener and underneath you're likely to find an individual whose love of plants was instilled at an early age, often by a beloved figure from childhood. Somehow the act of planting and harvesting connects us to the past and nourishes our sense of self, even as it gives us a better sense of our place in the natural world. How is this so? What can we learn from the past, from our Native American predecessors - and what new ideas can we bring to the future of working the land? What can we do to preserve the uncultivated wilderness? In a collection as fresh and vital as the subject it investigates, Bloom & Blossom delves into the emotional, social, and ecological implications of our passion for nurturing the fruits of the earth.