The Illustrated Garden Book: A New Anthology by Robin Lane Fox

Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) liked a tidy garden and wrote a tidy essay. This book offers a sampling of her acclaimed gardening columns from the London Observer, grouped here by the months of the year. Sackville-West covered everything from the genesis of her white and gray summer garden to humorous ways to ward off birds (including ""potatoes stuck with pheasants' feathers''). She didn't mince words (``one of the secrets of good gardening is to remove, ruthlessly, any plant one does not like''), yet was a poet at heart (``The flowers of Magnolia grandiflora look like great white pigeons settling among dark leaves''). Her vivid prose and fresh insights into gardening make this book a delight for armchair and active gardeners alike. There are lovely color drawings of some plants that she mentions and color photographs of her award-winning gardens, which still thrive at her home, 500-year-old Sissinghurst Castle. (October 16)