a book recommendation

We made a quick stop at the library over the weekend; my husband had a book on hold that he needed to pick up. He requested a minute to have a look around, which means I head to the gardening section. Now if this were the Central Library I could keep myself busy for hours with the rows and rows of garden related books, however we have our holds sent to the Hollywood Branch which has just a few small, very sparsely populated, shelves dedicated to gardening. Maybe that's why the little paperback titled "From the Ground Up - The Story of a First Garden" caught my eye, no big glamorous picture books to distract me. Ah....Amy Stewart, a name I recognize (the blog Garden Rant, the books Flower Confidential and Wicked Plants). I opened it and started reading. I was hooked. I told my husband I would be outside, I checked it out, walked outside, sat down in the sun to read.

Later, at home, I picked it up again. It was a lazy Saturday evening, nothing planned, the sun was still shining. I read some more. Pretty soon the sun had set and I was still reading. I don't know exactly why this book had such a hold on me. The topic, the writing style, my mood...it all just clicked. Before I knew it I had finished the entire book, all 261 pages. I laughed (she throws snails into the street because she wants to get rid of them but doesn’t want to squish them), I cried (it involves leaving a garden behind, and not just the plants...but that's all I'll give away) and I learned a few things. After I finished the book I added it to the pile of books going back to the library, and that was that.

Then tonight I was listening to Pink Martini as I made dinner.

The title song ‘Splendor in the Grass’ had me thinking about the book again…the lyrics…"Life is moving oh-so-fast - I think we should take it slow - Rest our heads upon the grass - And listen to it grow"

That's it. Exactly the mood that reading the book put me into. Slowing down and just enjoying listening to the grass grow. I recommend it.