Nature's Design: A Practical Guide to Natural Landscaping

From the very dawn of what we laughingly refer to as civilization, when knuckle-dragging Neanderthals gawked as ferns unfurled their fronds and begged the sun to pour its magic warmth upon them, dandelions (back then referred to as "dent-de-saber-tooth-tigers) exploded, and aquifer recharge areas gurgled far below unshod, hairy feet, mankind has regarded nature as a malleable source of inspiration easily bent to aesthetically pleasurable forms, as well as a walk-through self-service convenience store that miraculously restocks itself without the help of Pakistani clerks. No one knows this better than Ms. Smyser, the author of Nature's Design. At 1 cent, this content-rich tome is attractively priced and bound to add panache, esprit, and insouciance to even the most well-appointed library. Certainly there are those who will take issue with Ms. Smyser's theories concerning rhododendrons, and as to her thoughts on wildflowers, well, one must simply recall the words of Wittgenstein who observed, "Regarding those things we may never understand, let us pass over them in silence." The cool weather crop section, by contrast, is scintillating, passionate, effusive, and scented with just a whiff of je ne c'est quois (whatever that is). Published in 1982, (24 years ago), by Rodale Press, (located in Emmaus, PA), Nature's Design is 390 pages, (10 shy of 400).