Top Shelf

Top Shelf

Top Shelf on Cookie Buxton is for those of us who like to browse the printed word, learn from other people, and view stunning photographs, wherever we come across gardening and wildlife printed treasures. A listing on Top Shelf doesn’t mean the publication is a new book – it simply means it’s a book that you may find worth reading or using as a reference when you have spare time to relax and read. Most of us borrow good books from the library, and sometimes from friends. I can’t help but pick up the latest gorgeous gardening magazines put out by the big publishing houses, as well as editions by the smaller, local print shops. During business trips, I often fit in a walk over to a very good magazine shop at a downtown mall so I can snag one of the store’s great gardening magazines on display. I hope you will leave a comment on occasion to recommend one or two of your own found treasures.

Books

A Gardener’s Latin – The Language of Plants Explained
(2015 edition) by Richard Bird
This reader-friendly book instructs the plant-lover on basic internationally-observed rules governing plant naming and classification. The book opens with a brief introductory text explaining the word-order pattern of genus (plural: genera) followed by the name of the species. Both genera and species are most often Latin words, or words amended to appear to be Latin-based. Bird then goes on to introduce descriptors related to colour, listing, for example, 31 different Latin words describing types of reds and pinks. Geranium sanguineum, for instance, is the name assigned to bloody (blood red) cranesbill. Readers also gain vocabulary related to habitat, markings, shape, texture, size, fragrance, direction, flowering time along with descriptors appearing in the bi-nomial nomenclature (plant naming system) devised in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl von Linné (Carolus Linnaeus).
Published by National Trust Books, an imprint of Pavilion Books Group Ltd.
©2015

teeny tiny gardening
(2017 edition) by Emma Hardy 
Hardy offers step-by-step instructions for 35 garden ideas for small gardening spaces. The author shares information on basic “small garden” techniques, and presents a wide range of container ideas, some of which you will have seen from time to time. She includes tips for planting in eggshells, gardening in tea cups, and in trunks, tin boxes, suitcases, bread bins, and baskets, and the list goes on. For each project, Hardy includes an introductory description of the project, a list of materials needed, steps to follow, photographs to guide you as you build your miniature garden setting, and tips on plants that work well and will help you succeed. Whether you replicate one the ideas in the book or use this as a spark to find novel containers among your own materials, this book is a handy reference for “teeny tiny gardening” enthusiasts.
Published by CICO Books, an imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd.
Text©2013

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Lois Hole’s Rose Favorites – 148 Roses for Scent and Splendor
by Lois Hole with Jill Fallis; photography by Akemi Matsubuchi. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, AB. 256pp. Copyright 1997.
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Gardening, Naturally: A chemical-free handbook for the Prairies
by Sara Williams & Hugh Skinner.  Coteau Books (www.coteaubooks.com), Regina, Saskatchewan; available through Publishers Group Canada. 248 pp. Copyright 2011.
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Magazines

Country Gardens is a special interest publication of Better Homes and Gardens, published by Meredith Corporation.
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