The Invisible Garden

The genesis of each gardener is unique, as New York City native Sucher reveals in this delightful collection of gardening essays. Sucher wasn't interested in gardening until she fell in love with a blue farmhouse nestled near a stream while she was visiting a friend in Vermont. As with every love affair, this one initially blossomed with romantic illusions. Sucher admits that ""the exasperating, sweaty, grappling with nature that is gardening"" came later. She details the transformation of her 10 overgrown Vermont acres and her growing kinship with the soil, as well as the relationships she built with her Vermont neighbors. Just as the most perfectly planned garden often follows a direction differing from the gardener's original dream, so do Sucher's essays. Her joy in the exuberance of her daffodil border reminds her of the garden's creator, a friend who left behind a tangible legacy after her untimely death from cancer. Essays on clearing brush, building huts and creating paths are springboards to thoughts of a beloved grandfather, childhood vacations, an elderly neighbor who practices ""Evil Eye Gardening"" and the taciturn Vermonters whose creativity and brawn enable her to realize her landscaping dreams. Sucher is a consummate storyteller whose lively essays burst with love of the land and delighted wonder at the resilient bonds between plants and folks, making this a most inviting collection. (Oct.)