Henry Mitchell on Gardening

This posthumous offering from one of America's great garden writers is a gem of a book--not a polished one, for polish was never Mitchell's goal, but brilliant nonetheless. His writing is earthy, rich, and sometimes dark, like good compost. His topics are occasionally raw (as in onions and manure) and always lively. It's hard to write about anything for some 25 years and remain fresh, but Mitchell managed to do it. One especially wonderful piece addresses the amazing mystery of plant loss in a small garden. Where could they possibly go? Mitchell decides that neither neglect nor forgetfulness is the culprit, instead attributing the loss to theft: "I have known cases in which somebody stole something like 'Desdemona' and then, in a cowardly way and probably in the dead of night, sneaked back in the garden and put it back in some strange place." This is one of the best collections of short garden pieces around, a fine introduction to Mitchell's work for those who haven't yet discovered his work and a necessary addition to the collections of those who already love it.