Synopses & Reviews
Gardeners don't agree on many things -- cannas, double petunias, the color magenta -- but on one subject they are unanimous. Henry Mitchell was simply the best garden writer this country ever produced. As Allen Lacy writes in the introduction to Mitchell's latest, and last, book:
"At a time when most garden writing was lethally dull and as impersonal as a committee report, Henry Mitchell was the great exception. He was often funny. He was always passionate, for his loves were many. He was endlessly quotable, whether he was telling his faithful readers that marigolds should be used as sparingly as ultimatums, or reminding them that to go from winter to summer you have to pass March".
But Mitchell was more than a master essayist. He was a great teacher. As one reviewer said of his book, One Man's Garden, "it reflects a zest for gardening and provides more useful advice than you could find in a dozen how-to books".
This all-new collection of his columns will be greeted with delight by the legions of Henry Mitchell fans -- and will make new fans among those who are so new to gardening that they haven't yet made the pleasure of his acquaintance.
Review
"One of the great voices in garden writing was silenced when Henry Mitchell passed away; thus his legions of fans will undoubtedly be delighted to learn of one last collection of Mitchell's newspaper columns, organized in a month-by-month format. The reader may jump in at appropriate intervals, whether to savor sage advice or simply to ponder the musings of the thoughtful, impassioned gardening savant that was Henry Mitchell. If ever one has battled the odds and tried to grow a less-than-hardy specimen outdoors, how wonderful it will be to feel the special kinship brought about by knowing that Mitchell, too, tested the fates in this way. Maybe waging a battle with cutworms or wanting to crow about raising the most beguiling crocus will be a point of connection; surely there will be many such moments for any gardener fortunate enough to encounter Mitchell's satisfying trove of essays. " Booklist, ALA
"Every gardener has a folly, an imponderable affection, and the prose of Henry Mitchell is mine, if loving prose this well made if foolish at all." -- Verlyn Klinkenborg The New York Times
Synopsis
For readers who like gardening (and love the English language), this posthumous collection of Henry Mitchell's Washington Post "Earthman" columns is "equal parts entertainment and shrewd horticultural advice" (Science News). Henry Mitchell is "beloved for his witty, smart, informed, philosophical, wide-ranging and often wickedly humorous columns" (Detroit Free Press).
About the Author
Allen Lacy is professor emeritus of philosophy at Stockton College and the author or editor of ten books on gardening. He was the garden columnist for the WALL STREET JOURNAL for five years and for the NEW YORK TIMES for seven. A native Texan, he lives and gardens in southern New Jersey.Henry Mitchell, who died in November 1993, was one of America's most beloved garden writers. He was especially famous for his weekly "Earthman" columns in the Washington Post.