I know it’s not quite November yet but it’s never too soon to start thinking about books to give as holiday gifts or books to put on your list. this review will be the first of three.

My Garden: A Year of Design and Experimentation

The introduction by Roy Diblik to Jacqueline Van der Kloet’s My Garden: A Year of Design and Experimentation says it all. Here is a man – a famed grower, landscape designer, and author – who describes the work of this woman as eye opening. He never thought about how to use bulbs in the garden to complement perennials but saw first hand how she choreographs with them, enhancing textures, colors and rate of growth to echo the perennials among which they are planted.

Jacqueline has used her own garden, with its many ecologicaly diverse sites, to experiment with plant combinations. Because it is her personal garden, she can closely monitor what works and what doesn’t. Writing the book forced her to take more photographs that she found quite enlightening, many of which are featured in the book. Although the book is arranged by month, starting in September, the reader can actually start anywhere. She also discusses and shows photographs of gardens that she ahs designed around the world.

This book is a joy to read. Jacqueline’s writing is lyrical and poetic, evoking emotions that most gardeners feel without defining them. Like all gardeners, she has made mistakes, relates some of them, and cautions us to remember that making mistakes is how we learn.

I admire her scattering philosophy for planting bulbs but have found it impractical because, when I plant in October, the garden is still flourishing and I know that I will never find all the bulbs among the existing foliage. Jacqueline’s answer is found in her November chapter. She recommends tying back grasses and cutting down some perennials as needed. I’ll have to try it.

Among all the interesting tidbits of information, I found this one to be amazing: I’ve always deadheaded tulips, by cutting the stalk to the base, to prevent them from going to seed but Jacqueline recommends leaving the stem as well as the leaves to collect as much light as possible to further photosynthesis.

Although best known now for her bulb design, Jacqueline has much advice and philosophy about design in general for those who read this book.