Product Description

“An enchanting work, unlike any other gardening book in existence.”—Stanley Kunitz, New York Times Book Review

“As she chronicles her various discoveries in the market bulletins, Lawrence also reveals a good bit that is fresh and delicate in American life. . . . Anyone who has ever read Elizabeth Lawrence will expect an enchanting two hours from her, and will find it.”—Henry Mitchell, Washington Post Book World

Lawrence’s book is a celebration of life in all its diversity, and life, she makes us feel, is the main event.”—Richard Dyer, Boston Globe

“Gardening for Love is a collection of Elizabeth Lawrence’s writings centered around her 40-year correspondence with the avid gardeners—of rural Mississippi, the Carolinas, Georgia, and other states—who share their seeds and plants by ads in bulletins selling everything from moonvines to puppies.
“As garden writer Allen Lacy points out in his eloquent introduction, Lawrence was far more than just a regional writer. Just as Eudora Welty—the friend who first interested Elizabeth Lawrence in the Mississippi Market Bulletin— has the voice and feel of her native Jackson, Mississippi, so Lawrence has an intimate knowledge of her home soil.
“But her scope, just like Welty’s, stretches far and deep, reaching into the hearts of not only gardeners, but any reader fascinated with the comings and goings of the human race. . . . There’s a sense of comfort in this book, in the eternity of tending plants that stretch back through the centuries.”—Anne Raver, Newsday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1291640 in Books
• Published on: 1988-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 238 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Miss Bessie Bloodworth has some amaryllis bulbs to sell; a beekeeper "not afraid of bees or work" is wanted; Miss Donna Tidwell wants to trade a pair of goats for a hog. These are a few of the colorful characters who appear in the pages of market bulletinsregional publications that offer seeds and miscellanea for sale or swap. Introduced to the bulletins by Eudora Welty, veteran gardening writer Lawrence became an avid subscriber to various publications across the country and was preparing a book on the bulletins before her death in 1985; New York Times gardening columnist Lacy has edited the draft. With her homespun yet poetic style, Lawrence captures the spirit of the dedicated gardeners with whom she corresponded for a number of years. She lovingly describes the plants and flowers she obtained from bulletin folks. Unfortunately, the anecdotes wax repetitious and the book bogs down in minutia about seeds, bulbs and cuttings. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Here is the last manuscript of gifted gardener and garden writer Lawrence, edited after her death by Lacy. The work is drawn from 30 years' correspondence with those who advertised garden seeds and plants in the state agricultural bulletins, a primarily southern means of marketing farm products by "otherwise ordinary and unrecorded people." These sales earned the farm wives extra income, and Lawrence grew their plants in her North Carolina garden. Their knowledge about the names and uses of native plants provided Lawrence with tremendous amounts of information, but mostly she valued these friendships with those who "garden for love." This material will continue to instruct and inspire working gardeners, who will also appreciate Lacy's lists of common plant names and sources. Recommended. Deci Lowry, Chappaqua, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Lawrence is one of those garden writers who bring literature, philosophy, landscape design, dirt gardening, and the voices of her friends and neighbors into the garden. Her books--"A Southern Garden," "The Little Bulb"s, "Gardens in Winter"--are enlivened by her genius for trading both plants and stories, but this one is particularly enriched by the lively notices from the "Mississippi Market Bulletin," a biweekly published by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture that advertised everything from hogs to the bulbs and plants that hard-working farm women hoped to sell for 'mad' money."
--"Natural History"

Customer Reviews

New migrants to North Carolina read this book...
I don't live in NC anymore, but when I did, Miss Lawrence wrote a garden column and was known all over the state by garden club members like my mom who met her at least once. We lived in Guilford County which is part of the Greensboro-High Point MSA these days and she lived in Raleigh to the east, and then Charlotte to the south. Anyway, she understood what would and wouldn't work in the Zone 7 garden. (I still live in Zone 7 -- in Virginia).

Miss Lawrence was the first writer to educate gardeners in our circles about the differences in growing regions. She corresponded with folks in other places and shared information about what was happening in their gardens with her column readers. She also informed readers about information she gleaned from the Market Bulletins. These bulletins were posted by folks who had something to offer or wanted something --gardenwise. The only expense involved much of the time was postage.

This book is a fascinating compilation of articles Miss Lawrence wrote about the Market Bulletins. The sections are filled with newsy notes and humor, and makes one feel as if she is hanging over the garden gate getting the latest news from a neighbor up the road. Great bed time reading.