Potted Gardens and Paradise Found Reviewed

Rebecca Cole Writes Books For Urban Gardeners

Oct 28, 2008

Potted Gardens: A Fresh Approach to Container Gardens and Paradise Found: Gardening In Unlikely Places written by Rebecca Cole, especially for urban gardeners.

Garden books, Potted Gardens: A Fresh Approach to Container Gardens and Paradise Found: Gardening In Unlikely Places, by author Rebecca Cole demonstrates possibilities and passion for gardening in extraordinarily odd containers or unusual places. Although flowering plants are most often used, gardeners who want to grow plants from foliage to edibles in a city environment will enjoy these books.

Potted Gardens

Potted Gardens is about containers for growing plants. Whether the vessel's original purpose had anything to do with seeds or soil is incidental. For new gardeners, this book explodes with pot gardening ideas and reinforces the idea, gardening is possible everywhere. For dedicated container gardeners, Potted Gardens will confirm, reinvigorate and meanwhile provide empathetic amusement.

It begins with a brief introduction to the author’s family influence, her grandfather, John McQuade, and, Harvey, a hired hand. The book takes readers to places seeking unusual containers found in unconventional places.

Container gardeners will value the step-by-step photo and written sections on planting bulbs, caring for pots and making drainage holes in unconventional materials. In one photo, the author demonstrates the correct stance when welding a pickax to make a hole in an old fire bucket.

A glossary index and 200 photos by photographer, Richard Felber, are included in this compact garden book. In 1998, Potted Gardens was given the Art of Garden Communication award, part of Garden Writers Association’s Quill and Trowel award program.

Price – Originally, $27.50 US, now found at resale booksellers and online bookstores.

Paradise Found

If the plant lover’s perfect place, or the only place, to grow a garden is on a porch, rooftop or terrace, this is a book for that gardener. Paradise Found is about location, setting out to prove any relatively flat surface can grow a garden

As in Potted Gardens, Rebecca Cole’s Paradise Found starts with defining what “Finding Your Bliss” means. Throughout the book, New Hampshire family reminiscences are juxtaposed with today’s city families looking for a place to plant gardens. Not left out are the adventures, previously touched on in Potted Gardens, to flea markets and used stores seeking old furniture finds and funky eclectic objects soon to hold plants and soil.

This coffee table quality book covered in purples and lavenders belies the technical information inside. Direction on laying a river-stone floor, as well as ways to add large architectural finds to an urban landscape, is included. Detailed instructions on preparing and winterizing containers are part of this book, too.

Helen Norman contributes the glossy and frequent full-paged photographs to Paradise Found. Norman is a professional New York photographer and avid Maryland gardener.

Price – Originally, $35.00 US, autographed copy is $32.00 at Rebecca Cole Design.

Clarkson Potter Publishers, now a division of Random House Inc., published Potted Gardens: A Fresh Approach to Container Gardening and Paradise Found: Gardening In Unlikely Places. For both books, gardeners should use other resources to locate detailed plant culture information.

Author Rebecca Cole

Rebecca Cole is an urban horticulturist in New York City and owner of Rebecca Cole Design and Cole Creates. Cole’s latest book, Flower Power, is a flower arranging how-to complete with step-by-step recipes. Rebecca Cole’s work has been featured in publications such as Architectural Digest and Martha Stewart Living.

The copyright of the article Potted Gardens and Paradise Found Reviewed in Urban Gardening is owned by Christine Eirschele. Permission to republish Potted Gardens and Paradise Found Reviewed in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.