Guest Blogger- Tovah Martin

Think Snow

All gardens are created equal under snow. A dusting doesn’t do it, but when we really get dumped on—hallelujah. Because there’s nothing between my garden and Juniper Hill that three feet of white fluffy stuff won’t obliterate.

From The Garden Bookshelf-The Unexpected Houseplant

The Unexpected Houseplant

By Tovah Martin with photographs by Kindra Clineff.
Timber Press, 2012


I have to admit that I had just about written off the growing and care of house plants as an endeavor I should simply leave to others with greener thumbs than mine.  I have never been accused of outright premeditated botanicide but, on the other hand, my friends know that, through a combination of stupidity and negligence, I'm perfectly capable of inflicting great injury on even the hardiest and most street-smart of indoor potted plants.  Friends and family abandoned the idea of bringing me gifts of indoor plants long ago as a hopeless cause.  And, I never get any house-sitting requests from friends who need a little plant care while they're away on vacation.  They never call.  And for good reason. Because I've never been able to master even the simple basics of nurturing a houseplant, like the whole overwatering--underwatering thing, they know that the plants would probably have a greater chance at survival if they grew legs and went searching for food and water on their own.

But now, there's this great new book by Tovah Martin that gives me hope that, with just a little intervention, even a serial begonia killer like me might once again hold his head high among indoor gardening society.

Guest Blogger -Tovah Martin

photo by Steven Clar

Even if the only gardening you've ever done was to hang a pot of petunias on the side porch, you have probably heard of Tovah Martin.  She is a legendary and passionate gardener with experience that runs deep.

For 25 years she was with the famousLogee's Greenhouses in Connecticut and then with White Flower Farm.  She is the author of over a dozen gardening books, including the best-selling Tasha Tudor's Garden, and her latest book, The New Terrarium, has been recommended reading by the New York Times Book Review.  

She is a prolific writer and contributes to many of the top-selling home and gardening magazines, including Country Gardens, Horticulture, Garden Design, and Country Living.  She also writes her own gardening blog, Plantswise, and is a regular contributor to the popular blog, Gardening Gone Wild.

When she's not writing, lecturing, or appearing on TV and radio, she is singlehandedly maintaining her own 7-acre organic property that includes perennial borders, berry, vegetable and herb gardens.

In the entry below, Tovah describes that wonderful interplay between light, shadow and the mid-season garden.

Guest Blogger -Tovah Martin

photo by Steven Clar

Even if the only gardening you've ever done was to hang a pot of petunias on the side porch, you have probably heard of Tovah Martin.  She is a legendary and passionate gardener with experience that runs deep.

For 25 years she was with the famous Logee's Greenhouses in Connecticut and then with White Flower Farm.  She is the author of over a dozen gardening books, including the best-selling Tasha Tudor's Garden, and her latest book, The New Terrarium, has been recommended reading by the New York Times Book Review.  

She is a prolific writer and contributes to many of the top-selling home and gardening magazines, including Country Gardens, Horticulture, Garden Design, and Country Living.  She also writes her own gardening blog, Plantswise, and is a regular contributor to the popular blog, Gardening Gone Wild.