The Essential Earthman : Henry Mitchell on Gardening. [Marigold madness; Vine list; Bad trees & good trees; Iris; Roses; Of toads & bronze dogs; Dahlias; It's a jungle out there; An edible complex; Fragrant flowers; To shrub it up; Defiance of Garde

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1981., 1981. Very Good. 244 pp. ; 25 cm. ; ISBN: 0253174368; 9780253174369 LCCN: 81-47011 ; OCLC: 7273441 ; LC: SB455.3; Dewey: 635.9/09753 ; green and white cloth with black lettering, in green and red pictorial dustjacket ; "Henry Mitchell is to gardening what Izaak Walt on was to fishing...For Mitchell, gardening is not the pastime of those who revel in arid technology, whose search for the perfect fertilizer and the most deadly pesticide becomes an end in itself. It is a joyful if humbling activity in which the gardener is inevitably seduced into contemplating life and the nature of things....[This book] brings together many of Mitchell's most memorable pieces from his long-running Washington Post column. Although he offers invaluable tips for novice and seasoned gardener alike, at the heart of his essays are piquant observations: on keeping records, the role of trees in gardens (they don't belong there), how a gardener should weather out the winter, on shrubs, bulbs and fragrant flowers, and about observation itself."--dustjacket ; masterful, unforgettable essays on gardening ; bump on front cover, nicks and a tear to spine of dustjacket ; intelligent and sensitive woodcut illustrations throughout ; VG/G