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.

Wayne Winterrowd / Meconopsis
Marina Warner / The Rayburn and the Rose
Michael Pollan / Consider the Castor Bean
Ken Druse / Desire under the Jacks
Duane Michals / The Vanishing Act
Colette / Lily
Christopher Lloyd / Poppies
Karel Capek / Buds
Colette / Hellebore
Daniel Hinkley / Hellebores
Katharine S. White / Irises
Henri Cole / Bearded Irises, Peonies
Michael Fox / My Grandmother and Her Peonies
Thomas C. Cooper / Hardy Geraniums
D. H. Lawrence / Sicilian Cyclamens
Nancy Goodwin / Cyclamen
Mary Keen / Auriculas
Maxine Kumin / Beans
F. Kingdon Ward / A Day on the Edge of the World
Tony Avent / Hostas
Hilton Als / Marigolds
Dan Chiasson / Ovid at Tomi
David Raffeld / Thirteen Roses
Graham Stuart Thomas / Old Clove Carnations
Steven A. Frowine / Tropical Lady's Slipper Orchids
Ernest Wilson / Honeypots and Silver Tree
Philip Levine / Wisteria
Thomas Fischer / Delphiniums
Geoffrey B. Charlesworth / A Favorite Plant
Frederick Seidel / Prayer
Katharine S. White / Gourds
Ian Frazier / Memories of a Press-Gang Gardener
William Carlos Williams / Queen-Ann's-Lace
D. H. Lawrence / Purple Anemones
Elaine Scarry / Columbine

Book details

• Format Hardcover
• Pages329 pages
• LanguageEnglish
• ISBN100374281939
• ISBN139780374281939