"Unlike any other gardening book I know, with its Old World charm,
its down-to-earth practicality, its whimsy and sophistication."--Brooke
Astor, The New York Times Book Review
A classic in the literature of the garden, Green Thoughts is a
beautifully written and highly original collection of seventy-two
essays, alphabetically arranged, on topics ranging from "Annuals" and
"Artichokes" to "Weeds" and "Wildflowers." An amateur gardener for over
thirty years, Eleanor Perényi draws upon her wide-ranging knowledge of
gardening lore to create a delightful, witty blend of how-to advice,
informed opinion, historical insight, and philosophical musing. There
are entries in praise of earthworms and in protest of rock gardens, a
treatise on the sexual politics of tending plants, and a paean to the
salubrious effect of gardening (see "Longevity" ). Twenty years after
its initial publication, Green Thoughts remains as much a joy to read
as ever.
This Modern Library edition is published with a new Introduction by
Allen Lacy, former gardening columnist for The Wall Street Journal and
The New York Times and the author of numerous gardening books.
"You do not have to be a good gardener to fall in love with Green
Thoughts. It reads with the intrepid assurance of a classic."--Mary
McCarthy, The New York Review of Books
"One of those dangerous reference works that you reach for at a moment
of horticultural crisis or indecision only to find yourself an hour
later browsing far beyond the page where you began."--The New
Yorker