Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Mrs. Greenthumbs : How I Turned a Boring Yard into a Glorious Garden and How You Can, Too

Mrs. Greenthumbs : How I Turned a Boring Yard into a Glorious Garden and How You Can, Too
adopteesministry avatar reviewed on + 115 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4


Whether discussing how to combat Japanese beetles (do you pick them off your roses one at a time- in a sportsmanlike manner- or resort to biological warfare with milky spore virus?) or botany erotic aspects (in a chapter called " A Petunia Named Desire", Cassandra Danz is always witty, engaging and knowledgeable.
Despite all the expertise she has gathered through years of gardening for fun and profit, teaching, and hosting her own gardening radio program in upstate New York, Cassandra Davis is still an amateur gardener at heart. More like an experienced neighbor than a gardening authority, she is aware of the constraints of time and money and gives plenty of advice, based on hard-won experience, that won't be found in gardening reference books (how, for instance, to plant bulbs the wrong way-but still get terrific results).
Arranged by month, Mrs. Greenthumbs covers everything from pruning trees in late winter to avoiding the August doldroms to the dos and don'ts of fall gardening. It is wise, opinionated and even philosophical ("My flower garden has a purpose, although it may not be as obvious as the purpose of a staple gun. It is beautiful.")