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Cool new garden stuff for us: ‘My Friends the Flowers,” Gardener’s Hollow Leg, Pamela Crawford

Posted Feb 27, 2010 by Loren Omoto

Updated Feb 28, 2010 at 11:30 AM

easygardencolor.com

I have a young friend in Georgia who loves to learn the names of birds and animals.

Cameron, who’s 6, adds a picture to her bulletin board every time she sees and IDs a new creature. Between her country home in the mountains and her visits to Florida, that little girl probably knows more animals than a lot of adults.

So as soon as I leafed through “My Friends the Flowers,” a new book shipped out by the publisher this week, I thought of Cameron. Being the compulsive hortivangelist that I am, I would love nothing more than to hear her say, “That? Oh, that’s Nicotiana. It smells very nice at night.” (Which is what she would learn from this book.)

(It’s nih-ko-she-AH-nuh, Cameron. And yes, I had to look that up.)

The illustrations by Doug Kennedy are big, bold pastels (I think) in that great old 1950s-‘60s style. The text, by William Lach, is simple enough for a young child while respecting the intellect of little brainiacs like Cameron.

A very nice feature is the glossary in the back of the book, which has photos of every plant, so the reader can see what it really looks like,

And, there’s instructions for three easy gardens: Bug-Scaring, Sun-Loving and Fast-Growing.

I love this book! The publisher is Abrams Books for Young Readers, and the retail price is $16.95, which isn’t ridiculous.

That’s just one of the goodies I got last week. How could I have forgotten that, as spring approaches, the garden-manufacturing companies get as itchy as the gardeners?

They send out new books and products hoping newspaper, magazine and blog writers will give them some publicity. I try them out and if I don’t like them, I don’t write anything. But if I like it, I share

I did try Gardener’s Hollow Leg, which is so new, the patent’s still pending. This is a bag and belt you strap on while weeding and pruning, so you don’t have more work when you think you’re all done.

I know a certain someone who leaves droppings of weeds and dead things all around her garden for her husband to clean up later. That’s very nice for her, but it doesn’t work at my house. My husband will pump up the wheelbarrow tire and clean out the pond pump, but my garden debris is my problem.

The Hollow Leg sounded like a good solution. And it is.

It has a ring on top that keeps the bag open for dropping stuff in. It didn’t really get in the way as I maneuvered around, but then again, it’s pretty easy to maneuver through my “garden” these days.

It’s $24.95, plus shipping, at http://www.thegardenershollowleg.com; significantly less the more you buy. The website has no retailer locations yet.

The last great thing I got this week, and this is really great, was a new book by Pamela Crawford.

Pamela Crawford is my favorite garden writer because she gives explicit instructions and tries out every plant she writes about. She writes for the dummy, and yup, that’s me. Her newest book, on shelves now, suggests ways to combine veggies and flowers in containers,

“Easy Container Combos: Vegetables & Flowers,” is absolutely wonderful. So many people are getting into growing vegetables now, and Pamela offers loads of ideas for doing them in containers with attractive floral accents. She tells you what’s easy, what’s not, and what combinations work.

Pamela’s books are self-published, so she doesn’t have to say nice things about bad products. She gives you the low-down—based on experience—on potting soil (pay more and get the good stuff), fertilizer (Dynamite), and everything else that works for her.

And, bless her heart, she’s cheap!

You should be able to find this book at your local B&N, Borders or amazon.com. It’s a big, full color paperback and retails for $19.95. Visit her website, and ask questions, at easygardencolor.com