Book Lovers

Book Review: Uprooted, by Page Dickey

Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2020.

I was prompted to read this book after hearing Page Dickey speak recently in an online talk. Her garden story and the photos intrigued me to learn more. This is the story of an avid gardener in her 70s who feels it is time to downsize in more ways than one. Her beautiful old home is just too large and the gardens she has lovingly created covering almost every square inch of her property are just too much to manage anymore. Hence the feeling of being “uprooted” and starting all over. But I think I would change the title to “Transplanted and Well Settled,” or something of the sort. Uprooted suggests she has been ripped from the ground and has been left unmoored and adrift, whereas in this case, she has actually created her very own new paradise that reflects who she is at this stage of her life – a mature, experienced and thoughtful gardener creating her perfect new oasis.

Dickey shares her sadness at leaving her North Salem, NY home and garden that she had created over many years that she has filled with every combination of plantings and styles and spaces requiring intense time and energy for upkeep. She and her partner decided it was the right time in their lives to downsize their home and their gardens and move to something more manageable. While this conjures in most of our minds a move to a condo or small home, that’s not quite what Dickey does. She and her partner find another old farmhouse, this time in Litchfield County, Connecticut, but it’s the land that calls them and draws them in from the structured front borders, cutting gardens and greenhouse, to the less structured fruit orchards and fields, to the wild wooded bluffs and fen. It provides a variety of spaces for her to create her new outdoors home. Being the thoughtful and experienced gardener that she has become after so many years of getting her hands in the dirt, she’s not distracted by every pretty flower she spots in the garden centers and planting them willy-nilly here and there hoping for good results. She has developed the intuition and keen eye for the thoughtful placement of gardens, open space and long-distance views, considering local flora and fauna. The results are marvelous. This book is filled with beautiful pictures – a feast for the eyes. This is not a how-to gardening book but rather a journey Dickey has taken in her later years, one that continues her love of gardening and nature. Enjoy!


Reviewed by Sienna Larson May 2021

Book Review: The Well-Gardened Mind - The Restorative Power of Nature, by Sue Stuart-Smith

New York: Simon and Schuster, 2020.

“Gardening is more accessible than other creative endeavors, such as painting and music, because you are halfway there before you start; the seed has all its potential within -- the gardener simply helps unlock it.” (Page 46) As such, gardening gives you a sense of agency as a garden does not exist on its own but rather is shaped and nurtured by the gardener’s mind and care.

To garden is to be in relationship with nature. Stuart-Smith says she sees gardening “as a reiteration: I do a bit, then nature does her bit, then I respond to that, and so on, not unlike a conversation.” (Page 10) She likens it to birthing a child and setting it free. While you have a role in shaping and forming it, the garden also has a life of its own, and when you take time away from it, you are intrigued to see what it’s been up to in your absence, how it has grown and changed on its own.

Gardening has been recognized as a restorative act since ancient times and is today one of the top ten most popular hobbies in a range of countries around the world. It is a combination of a quintessentially nurturing activity with the added benefits of outdoor exercise. It is an immersive activity that both calms and invigorates. Some see gardening as a form of outdoor housework, but for those who are in the know, they experience gardening as a cathartic experience helping to slow their thoughts and process them. Gardening lowers your physical arousal, slowing your heart rate and allowing you to more fully appreciate the sights, sounds, smells and textures around you. Fresh air, vitamin D from the sun, the benefits of soil bacteria and the physical exertions of digging, hoeing, weeding, and raking all contribute to improved health. And while you are likely to count the minutes you spend on an exercise machine (or when doing housework for that matter!) you won’t be doing that when working in the garden.

A garden is a safe place providing both a physical setting for a home helping you put down roots but also a protective physical space for entering the calm state of mind needed for processing powerful or turbulent feelings free from the pressures of everyday life. Stuart-Smith addresses the value of gardens to city dwellers, hospitals, state prisons, community gardens, war veterans, the elderly, those mourning the loss of loved ones, and individuals facing food scarcity. She explains how gardening gives people a sense of hope for the future as seeds themselves have tomorrow ready-built in them setting you up with the pleasure of anticipation. I highly recommend this book. Happy gardening!

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On a personal note, two of my favorite subjects are gardening and neuroscience, and I felt this book was written just for me. I couldn't read it without a pen in hand to highlight passages. There's a lot of blue ink on the pages of my copy!


Reviewed by Sienna Larson April 2021

Book Review: North on the Wing – Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring by Bruce M. Beehler

Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2018.

Flying across the Gulf of Mexico is a Herculean effort crossing at night at a cruising altitude of several thousand feet for up to 500 miles for 15-20 hours non-stop until finally reaching Mad Island in Texas, one of the first stopping points on the North American landmass. We’re talking about songbird springtime migration where some have flown from as far as southern Argentina en route to their breeding grounds further north in various parts of North America.

Birds time their departure so that they arrive at their breeding habitat at the point of maximum seasonal abundance, often returning to their natal territory with males arriving first to stake out territory for females. And how do they know when is the right time to migrate and how to get to their destination? The answer is a combination of factors. They feel an urge to leave based on the length of day and the path traced by the sun. They have an internal compass based on the sun but also based on the constellation of the North Star as they travel by night. Birds, and many other animals for that matter, also have an internal magnetic compass based on the lines of the earth's magnetic field helping them find magnetic north, and this they feel with small particles of magnetite in their bodies! (page 91) Memory for landscapes and a keen sense of smell further aid their internal GPS. It’s all rather awe-inspiring to think about this feat!

Bruce Beehler takes us along on his 100-day journey as he follows songbirds on the North American portion of their migration. He travels from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the bottomlands of Louisiana and Mississippi, then to the Piney Woods of Texas and Arkansas and the Cypress swamps of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. He then heads to the northern reaches of his trip in northern Ontario and the Great Lakes ending up in the Adirondacks where spring arrives in early July, a full 100 days after his start in the Deep South.

He camps every night hopping between state parks and conservation areas along the way meeting all sorts of people from scientists and educators to birders. On his trip, he shares his experiences following birds and other animals (like snowshoe hares, moose and even black bear!) but also appreciating botany and the state parks he visits. This travelogue is part food diary (sampling batter fried cheese curds and frogs legs, for example), U.S. history lesson and science lesson covering geography, ecology and geology. He says, “I was living full, rich days and felt no need for newspaper, radio, or TV.” (p. 187)

Beehler’s trip was inspired by a similar one done back in 1947 by naturalist Edwin Teale and his wife. He was keen to learn how this springtime migration has changed since then. We have learned that there has been a great decline in songbirds due to loss of habitat, fragmentation of breeding habitat, household cats, lighted towers and buildings, glass windows, wind farms, and climate change causing a disconnect in the timing of leafing out of vegetation and peaking of leaf-eating insects the birds eat. While he shares with us these challenges that birds and their habitats have experienced due to urbanization and industrialization, he is hopeful for the future when he talks about conservation successes and nature's capacity to restore itself and regenerate. Thanks for taking us along on your trip!


Reviewed by Sienna Larson April 2021

Book Review: The Nature of Oaks - The Rich Ecology of our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas W. Tallamy

Timber Press, 2021

Tallamy has taken the gardening world by storm with his best-selling books most recently calling on home gardeners to take manageable but impactful steps to support our natural environment. We don’t have to wait for the government to set aside more conservation land to make a difference for the environment, we can do it on our own in our own backyards. How? By following a few simple and doable steps. But more on that later. Here, I want to tell you about his latest book, The Nature of Oaks - The Rich Ecology of our Most Essential Native Trees, to be released by Timber Press on March 30, 2021.

Reading his books in order, which is not necessary but is what I’ve done, you will see the development of a logical plan that has culminated in this latest book dedicated to the noble oak tree. Tallamy encourages homeowners to improve their natural environments by planting more native species, particularly keystone species. And what is a keystone species? It is a native species whose presence is key to the survival of many other species in that ecosystem. In this case, they are plants that provide food and shelter for the largest number of animals of all sizes. And understanding that plants that have evolved over time in a specific ecosystem will offer the most benefits to other creatures, keystone species are native plants.

Guess what he believes to be the #1 keystone plant species for our gardens? One big clue – he has just written a whole book about them. Tallamy has discovered that native oak trees are at the top providing food and/or shelter to over 557 species, and that’s only counting the moths and butterflies! Other benefitting creatures are as diverse as birds, deer and bears to even lowly earthworms living in the oak leaf litter.

Let’s take a closer look at this tree from the genus Quercus, which incidentally means “fine tree” from Celtic origin. Designated with the honor of national tree of the USA, there are about 90 species of oak trees in North America. They can live up to 900 years and while supporting the highest number of biodiverse creatures, they also sequester more CO2 than many other trees. They are excellent soil stabilizers, create the best leaf litter and promote healthy watersheds. What’s not to like?

Some people argue they don’t want to plant oaks because they are too expensive or grow too slowly for their landscape needs. Like most other trees, the smaller the tree, the better it will establish itself and grow. You could start with just a simple acorn and it will grow into a magnificent tree. Yes, it will take some time, especially in the beginning as it focuses its growth on its massive root structure, but it will soon take off and grow like a champ. But wait a second, it’s going to be too big for my lot and probably lift up the driveway or sidewalk. Well, remember there are about 90 species to choose from, so if your space is limited, consider one of the smaller Western or Eastern oaks. Oaks begin contributing to the landscape right away.

Here’s a fun bit of trivia. Did you know that blue jays are one of the best helpers in dispersing oaks? Yup. They bury, or cache, single acorns up to 1 mile away from the mother tree for later consumption. The only thing is, of the approximately 4,500 acorns they may hide in one year, they only return for about ¼ of them. That’s a lot of perfectly planted acorns if they aren’t discovered by hungry critters!

Returning to the question of what we, as individuals, can do to support the environment, Tallamy offers some simple and doable steps that will help us to build a network of Homegrown National Parks across the country that support wildlife, the environment, and … often are less maintenance than the typical garden.

1. Plant native plant species as much as possible*, and make sure you include keystone plant species* for your region.

2. Remove invasive plants*.

3. Avoid spraying for pests and applying chemicals.

4. Turn off your outdoor lights, or replace them with yellow LED bulbs or make them motion- sensitive.

5. Reduce the size of your lawn by growing wildflowers or increasing your garden with naturalized plantings.

Here are some of his other books that might interest you:

  • Tallamy, Douglas W. Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, Timber Press: February 4, 2020

  • Tallamy, Douglas W. and Rick Darke. The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Timber Press: July 1, 2014

  • Tallamy, Douglas W. and Rick Darke. Bringing Nature Home: Home You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Update and Expanded. Timber Press: Apr 1, 2009

*Visit your state’s Extension site for information on native plants and identification and management of invasive plant species. (In New Hampshire, the site is: www.extension.unh.edu.) The National Wildlife Federation will soon be offering online the ability to search for keystone species by zip code.

By Sienna Larson, posted March 2021

Book Review: Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively

New York: Penguin Press, 2019


Not a how-to gardening book but rather a book of garden musings by British author Penelope Lively. She writes about gardens depicted in art and literature through time; how styles have changed and how gardens are now seen not just as beautiful or “charming,” but as therapeutic.

Some of the painters Lively discusses are of course, Monet and his Giverny gardens, but also Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and Edvard Munch whose paintings run from the impressionistic to the abstract. I think I would add some artists from this side of the pond to the list of memorable garden painters such as Matilda Brown, Frederick Childe Hassam, Gari E. Melchers, Diego Rivera, Ambrose Webster, Cristina Fournier, John Singer Sargent, Ferreira Luis Marius, and… oh my, the list goes on and on!

When writing about gardens in literature, both fictional and real and the role they play in the books, the example that stands out for me is the description of the garden at Manderley, from my favorite book when I was a teenager, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. Reading this description again with adult hindsight made me realize just how vividly the described garden sets the tone for the whole story and introduces some of the ominous action to come. A fictional garden terrifically portrayed!

Lively also introduces the reader to Karel Čapek, a Czech writer who writes about real life gardens and the hard work involved in taming them. Lively quotes his wry humor saying that, “Gardeners have certainly arisen by culture and not by natural selection. If they had developed naturally they would look differently; they would have legs like beetles, so that they need not sit on their heels, and they would have wings, in the first place for their beauty, and, secondly, so that they might float over the beds. Of course, at a passing glance from a distance you don't see anything of a gardener but his rump, everything else, like head, arms, and legs, is hidden underneath.” (p. 77) I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have just been described to a T, squatting on the ground engrossed in my gardening task at hand.

Of course, Lively includes some of the great garden writers of their time offering glimpses of their attitudes to gardens and gardening. Virginia Woolf wrote, “The first pure joy of the garden…weeding all day to finish the beds in a queer sort of enthusiasm which made me say this is happiness.” Can we not all relate to that? We also hear from other garden greats like Gertrude Jekyll, William Robinson, Elizabeth von Arnim and of course, Vita Sackville-West.

There is much to enjoy in Life in the Garden. While we still have a bit of time before we’re back in our gardens full-time, grab a copy and immerse yourself in the art, literature, history and pure joy of gardens and gardening.

By Sienna Larson Posted March 2021

Book Review: The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman

New York: Penguin Press, 2020


Is there any other animal that has entered the English lexicon like birds? Are you a jailbird, a lovebird or an early bird? Perhaps you are graceful as a swan or proud as a peacock. I think I like the idea of being wise like an owl or eagle-eyed, though it’s more likely I’d be called a mother hen. That’s better than being called a bird brain. But, wait a second. Is it?

Just because a bird’s brain is at best the size of a walnut doesn’t mean they don’t have much going on upstairs. How is that possible? Doesn’t brain size correlate with intelligence? In the case of birds, their brains are just that much more efficient when it comes to brain capacity and use. They have a higher neuron count in the part of their brains associated with intelligent behavior and they have efficient high-speed sensory and nervous systems. Altogether that makes for one smart bird.

And how are these smarts manifested? Jennifer Ackerman, in her book The Bird Way, tells us just how when it comes to bird talk, work, play, love and parenting. We think of their extraordinary vision but did you know they find their food by sight, sound, smell, and echolocation. Percy, a Lapland owl, can hear voles and moles scurrying 200 feet away under 2 feet of snow! Puffins can smell their colonies 500 miles away.

They speak with their voices, bodies, and feathers, and can chirp, squawk, hiss, buzz, and copy all kinds of sounds around them, including the sound a camera shutter makes! They have language, dialects and even syntax and learn from each other culturally, from other birds and even other species. They can even communicate with their unborn chicks when still in the egg. Some can even sing a duet with themselves due to their specialized syrinx or voice box, not something we can do with our limited larynx. One of the common ways of gauging intelligence in animals is creative tool use. Well, birds can do that, too. Not only engaging in basic tool use but creating compound tools, something people can’t do until they turn 5 years old.


Ackerman brings to life so many more interesting discoveries about these fascinating creatures and throws in some delightful bird humor while she’s at it. I highly recommend this book. You will be astounded. And the next time someone calls you a bird brain, thank them!


By Sienna Larson Posted Feb 2021

Book Review: Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson

New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2020.

We come across these little creatures every day in our forays into our gardens. They may be out in search of food, “talking” with their nest mates, building nests in your walkway or climbing onto your snack. These creatures are ants. They have adapted to live in almost every part of the world and number more than 150,000 different species living in colonies as large as human civilizations. With a lifespan as long as 15 years in some cases, serving their colony is their number one goal, a colony that can be as large as a school bus with up to 200 million workers. That’s a LOT of ants and one VERY busy queen. So many ants in one colony means there is a caste system and each ant has its specific purpose which changes as it ages. Interestingly enough, while we humans send our young into battle to defend us, ants send their aging sisters into battle. Ants are known to be slaveholders, farmers or gardeners, even herders. Some are cannibalistic and selfish but they are also known to be brave and altruistic. They sting, bite and chop heads off. And the poor males are little more than “flying sperm missiles.” This book will introduce you to ants from all over the world, presented charmingly and passionately after eight decades of research by ant expert, or “myrmecologist,” E.O Wilson. Highly recommended.

By Sienna Larson Posted Jan 2021


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