Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden

Smart, witty, informed, observant, funny, practical, and powerfully moving-- Ackerman combines all of these qualities in a book that's both superb natural history and stylish literature. As a scientist, I'm continually amazed by Ackerman's scrupulousness. As a gardener, I'm impressed by her inventiveness (I'm going to try some of her strategies this season). As a lover of literature, I find myself rereading poetic passages of unbelievable beauty. This is one of my favorite books on any subject, because it's brimming with her trademark-- a fascinating sensibility, who loves and is endlessly curious about the natural world, while keeping an equally fascinated eye on the human condition. All that combined with the soul of a poet. In short, a literary treasure.

I received this beautiful book as a Christmas present, read it through with relish, and am now reading it again, this time week by week, the way it was written. It's an amazing appreciation of nature, and so wise about the human condition. It's my steady companion as I await the spring garden.

Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman loves her garden. It must be a fairly untidy, eclectic garden as she enjoys many weeds, welcomes deer and generally works hard to let nature have its way. Running through the span of seasons, this wonderful book allows many discursive, delightful riffs on such topics as John Muir, tagging squirels, the passing of time, moon and bird watching, and sick houses. It would be a great fun to spend time with her: deadheading asters, learning the different scents of her 100+ roses, and flowering arranging every spring and summer morning. But failing that opportunity, spending time with this garden book that's not a garden book, poem that is not a poem, essay on natural history that's certainly not an essay is almost as fun!

This book is a rich feast for the senses. In fact it reminds me so much of A Natural History of the Senses that I think of it as a continuation taken outside into the garden. It's classic Ackerman, another beautifuly-written, deeply felt celebration of life. She manages her large garden with minimal help or fuss, but an endless supply of curiosity, wonder, humor, and passion. It's the perfect book to re-read this winter while I wait for spring.

This book is so wise, witty, and exquisitely-written that I know it will be one of my favorites for a long time. It's filled with creative gardening ideas I would never have thought of (even though I've been gardening for decades), but it's mainly a book about our relationship with nature, as well as many other things. It reminds me a lot of her A Natural History of the Senses, because it's fascinating, thoughtful, poetic, and practical all at the same. A gem.