by Public Service Associate Owen
Other than the shock of spring, summer is far and away the most verdant time of year. It is the perfect time to get the overalls on, find your gardening gloves and trowel, and spend hazy days in the garden. If you’re the sort of person who finds fulfilment on your knees in the soil, or even if you simply appreciate a good house plant, then this blog is for you! I’d like to highlight our extensive plant and gardening section here at the library, as well as shout out a fantastic event we’re having here involving plants and gardening that you won’t want to miss!
Do you have a green thumb? Or a black thumb? Or any sort of color of thumb? Then you’re in luck! Our plant swap has returned for the summer. We’re bringing in Master Gardeners Maggie and Jeff Harriman to be on hand on July 26th to answer your gardening questions. There’s also an opportunity for you to bring in your plants or cuttings and swap them out for new ones! It’s a great way to bring some variety to your home or garden, as well as a learn a thing or two from some gardening experts. More information about this event can be found here. We hope to see you there!
If you need some further gardening inspiration, or would like to learn more about plants in general, then BPL has you covered! We are lucky to possess a fairly extensive plants and gardening section in our non-fiction collection. I’ve featured some of my favorites here, but there are many more to check out if you stop by BPL!
Gardening Books:
- Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Organic Gardening edited by Fern Marshall Bradley, Barbara W. Ellis, Ellen Phillips, and Deborah L. Martin | print / digital
- Gardening Basics: How to Design, Plant, & Maintain Your Garden by Ken Beckett, Steve Bradley, Noel Kingsbury, & Tim Newbury | print
- Complete Gardener: A Comprehensive, Up-to Date, Fully Illustrated Reference for Gardeners at All Levels by Allan Armitage, Maureen Heffernan, Chela Kleiber, and Holly H. Shimizu | print
- The Gardener’s Guide to Weather & Climate by Michael Allaby | print
These are some gardening books that are fantastic for any level of gardener. Whether you’re new to gardening and don’t know where to start or are a seasoned veteran of the soil, you’re sure to find some worthwhile knowledge in these tomes. Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia in particular is an excellent compendium of gardening know-how, and is great for gardener’s of all skill levels. The Gardener’s Guide to Weather & Climate is particularly interesting, because while weather (other than severe weather) is, at worst, an annoyance to us, plants live in it at all times and must survive it. It is an oft-overlooked facet of gardening that is essential to get a handle on, and this book covers it in great detail. The other books are also fantastic resources and references; if there’s a particular plant or aspect of gardening that you’re struggling with, they more than likely have the information you need.
Houseplant Books:
- The Complete Guide to Houseplants: The Easy Way to Choose and Grow Happy, Healthy Houseplants by Valerie Bradley | print
- Leaf Supply: A Guide to Keeping Happy Houseplants by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan | print
- Houseplants for All: How to Fill Any Home with Happy Plants by Danae Horst | print / digital
- Indoor Plants for Beginners by Anja Flehmig | print
Much like the gardening books, these books are designed to be fantastic resources for those looking for information on growing houseplants. Houseplants can be a bit tricky to manage, as the indoors is not their natural environment. If you’re not familiar with how to care for your plant, it is quite easy for things to go south. These sorts of books are essential, then, for making sure your indoor plants not only survive, but thrive. Houseplants bring a myriad of benefits to your indoor living space – including cleaner air (plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen), a greener, livelier living space, and great variety to your indoor décor. Caring for them is tricky, but it is well worth the effort!
Of course, if you already have some houseplants and are looking to switch it up, then stop by our Houseplant Swap event on Tuesday, July 26th from 2:00-6:00 p.m. and exchange your old plants for new ones! We’d love to have you explore gardening and houseplants here at BPL!