April Showers Bring May Flowers
It's that time of year. From pollen covering cars in a nice layer of yellow dust to rainy days full of the potential of severe storms, spring has finally made its arrival in Alabama. And what better time to start your summer garden than now?
Our collection widely varies with picture books, youth nonfiction, and adult nonfiction. With easy-to-follow gardening instructions and advice, even a novice gardener can easily create a beautiful space in their home or outdoors. Soak up some Vitamin D, get out in the yard, and start planning your next (or new!) gardening adventure. Check out our list of books recommended by staff to help you along.
- The Backyard Gardener: Simple, Easy, and Beautiful Gardening with Vegetables, Herbs, and Flowers by Kelly Orzel
The “garden to table” movement is inspiring another generation of gardeners but many of them have questions. How important is composting? Is seed saving really worth it? Focusing on sustainable, organic growing practices and plants, The Backyard Gardener is a comprehensive handbook that will help get them started.
Kelly Orzel covers everything from soil selection to growing and harvesting. Sidebars such as “garden center survival tips” offer useful advice to help readers build their confidence and know-how. This guide also features photographs of beautiful plant bed designs, propagation techniques, and much more.---
- Derek Fell's Grow This!: A Garden Expert's Guide to Choosing the Best Vegetables, Flowers, and Seeds So You're Never Disappointed Again by Derek Fell
What gardeners want most is a bigger and better return on their investment of time and money―maximum yields and superior flavor for edibles, long-lasting blooms for flowers. Derek Fell's Grow This! features expert advice for choosing and growing the top-performing plants (and avoiding the ones that disappoint).
Derek Fell has grown hundreds of varieties and annually visits gardens and test plots across America, so he's qualified to guide gardeners to the best of the best―more than 600 vegetable, flower, herb, and lawn grass all-stars. He offers honest feedback about plant performance, even when it contradicts favorable public opinion or a grower's claims.---
- Plants Grow! (I Like Plants!) by Mary Dodson Wade
Plants are all around us. Learn about the life cycle of a plant, what seeds are for, and more in this colorful nonfiction reader. Young botanists can even watch a seed grow using the included science experiment.
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- State Flowers: Including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Our State Symbols) by Elaine Landau
Describes each state's official flower and tells of legends associated with the flower.
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- Grow It, Cook It by DK Publishing
More than a cookbook, this innovative book offers a fresh approach to healthy eating by getting children involved in food right from the start. Children will learn that when they eat a carrot, they're biting into a root; salads are made up of leaves; and berries are the fruit and seeds of plants, encouraging an early appreciation of food and its origins.
The recipes in the book take the homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs and use a variety of cooking methods and store-bought ingredients to transform them into truly homemade meals. All the "crops" can be grown in pots, so young chefs don't even need a large garden to enjoy Grow It, Cook It.
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