garden-gifts-2024

Based in Melbourne, Australia, permaculture expert Connie Cao brings a joyful exuberance to her book about growing and enjoying Asian vegetables, herbs and fruits. Whether you’re an expert or new to Asian culinary traditions, Cao’s enthusiasm is contagious. Cao is the daughter of immigrants from Shanghai, who moved to Australia in 1988, and she grew up watching her dad tend his garden. Cao notes, “The thing that got me into gardening is the magic that happens from seed to food.” Your Asian Veggie Patch: A Guide to Growing and Cooking Delicious Asian Vegetables, Herbs and Fruits provides an excellent introduction for anyone wishing to experience that magic for themselves.

Cao’s well-organized, easy-to-follow book provides guidance on growing, harvesting and cooking Asian veggies. Many of the recipes that appear were inspired by her own family’s traditions. Cao is trained in permaculture, and also includes principles and practices of this sustainable, regenerative approach to gardening and agriculture.

Cao has an easy, conversational style. In Part 1, she covers many gardening basics, including a page on plant families that is especially helpful for gaining a better understanding of vegetables and herbs. Part 2 features plant profiles organized by season. For instance, Asian mustards come first in cool-season veggies, while vegetables like eggplant and long beans appear in the warm-season section. Each plant’s profile includes photographs that show how to plant, grow, harvest and cook it. 

Interested but not sure where to start? Browse through all the gorgeous, mouthwatering pictures of finished dishes in this delightful book: You won’t go wrong picking any of these options to grow and cook yourself.

Connie Cao’s well-organized, easy-to-follow book provides guidance on growing, harvesting and cooking Asian veggies.

For anyone who’s ever perused a bulb catalog and been overwhelmed trying to choose among the many varieties of daffodils, tulips or amaryllises, this book by British garden designer and author Lucy Bellamy is for you. With bright, full-color photographs by Jason Ingram, A Year in Bloom: Flowering Bulbs for Every Season takes the guesswork out of selecting bulbs that will brighten your yard year-round. 

A Year in Bloom is clear and well-organized. Bellamy provides a helpful introduction, then introduces her featured 150 bulbs by season, beginning with late winter/early spring. Bellamy’s text and selections are especially helpful for gardeners seeking to adapt to climate change and focus on sustainability. For instance, she notes a new emphasis on bulbs that are perennial over single-use hybrids. The selections here also recognize the desire of many gardeners to support pollinators and encourage biodiversity. 

As a former editor of Gardens Illustrated magazine, Bellamy made her selections by calling on her network of international garden designers, landscape architects and head gardeners. These recommendations add depth and interest to the text. For instance, in recommending the snowdrop called “E.A. Bowles,” Bellamy consulted British nurseryman Joe Sharmon, known as “Mr. Snowdrop.” Bellamy includes a complete list of those who nominated their favorites in the back matter, along with an indexed list of bulbs by function, conveying which are best for shade, for planting in pots, naturalizing, for cut flowers, etc.

Planting bulbs usually means planning ahead. A Year in Bloom is a practical, beautiful handbook that will find a place in any gardener’s library.

Planting bulbs usually means planning ahead. A Year in Bloom is a practical, beautiful handbook that will find a place in any gardener’s library.

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