Great Christmas Gifts - Photo by Anne Moore

One of those garden writers that gardeners dig is Ken Druse. He is one of the premier garden photographer/writers in the nation. He is an organic gardener, and a designer and naturalist. His books are beautiful. These titles from my own library illustrate his gardening passions: The Natural Shade Garden; The Collector’s Garden (you knew that had to be in my library); another favorite The Natural Habitat Garden; his newest, The Passion for Gardening; and probably the premier book of all time for illustrated propagation of plants, Making More Plants.

In Making More Plants, most, if not all, of the how-to photos are of Druse’s own hands showing the step-by-step processes. Learn how to cross-pollinate, how to graft, how to set up a mist box, and all manner of other devices you need to know to propagate plants.

I can definitely recommend his books. They are beautiful enough to rank as coffee table books, but too good to just display for show.

Peek at the question and answer section on this page. There you will find a link and some information about "Real Dirt," a gardening podcast hosted by Ken Druse. He and his co-host, Vicki Johnson, will keep you up to date on what is happening in the gardening world.

Another writer who is certainly not just an also writer, is Tracey DiSabato-Aust. Gardeners get muscles from many activities. Add lugging The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by DiSabato-Aust into the garden along with your pruners.

She is a garden designer, writer, and speaker who knows how to squeeze everything into a tidy border. She shares the correct time and ways to prune in this book and in The Well-Designed Mixed Garden.

The gardener on your list could spend some quality fireside time with these authors and their excellent advice. Wrap up gifts of information, packaged with striking landscapes. Reading about gardens is a gift almost as good as being in a garden.

You can find Tracy DiSabato-Aust books at Wayside Gardens. Find Ken Druse books at his podcast site, RealDirt.

---Posted by Coach Anne, November 28, 2007---