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A New Leaf: Growing with My Garden
A graceful and sharply observed book of inspiration that uses the garden as its central muse
A New Leaf traces a year of growing seasons at The Leaf, Merilyn Simonds' acreage in eastern Ontario. A lifelong gardener, Simonds works the soil and the soul for wide-ranging revelations about everything from flowers that keep time, to the strange gift of compost, to great gardens of the world, to things lost and found underground.
She is joined on her journey by a host of companions — including her Beloved, who tills by her side; the Rosarian, who tends to both bud and thorn in roses and life; and the Frisarian, who weeds unwelcome visitors to make room for new growth. Intelligent and intimate, irreverent and elegant, A New Leaf offers a cornucopia of enrichment and inspiration for the fertile mind.
A New Leaf traces a year of growing seasons at The Leaf, Merilyn Simonds' acreage in eastern Ontario. A lifelong gardener, Simonds works the soil and the soul for wide-ranging revelations about everything from flowers that keep time, to the strange gift of compost, to great gardens of the world, to things lost and found underground.
She is joined on her journey by a host of companions — including her Beloved, who tills by her side; the Rosarian, who tends to both bud and thorn in roses and life; and the Frisarian, who weeds unwelcome visitors to make room for new growth. Intelligent and intimate, irreverent and elegant, A New Leaf offers a cornucopia of enrichment and inspiration for the fertile mind.
- GenresGardeningNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Merilyn Simonds
23 books60 followersMerilyn Simonds is the author of 18 books, including the novel The Holding, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and the Canadian classic nonfiction novel, The Convict Lover, a finalist for the Governor General's Award. In 2017, Project Bookmark Canada unveiled a plaque to honour the place of The Convict Lover in Canada’s literary landscape.
Simonds’ short fiction is anthologized internationally and her books are published in the UK, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. In 2012 she published The Paradise Project, a collection of flash fiction hand-printed on an antique press with endpapers made from plants in her garden. The experience of producing the collection in both a digital and book-arts edition is the subject of Gutenberg’s Fingerprint: Paper, Pixels, and the Lasting Impression of Books. Her most recent publication is Refuge, a novel set in Mexico City, New York, and eastern Ontario.
Simonds writes a blog—Books Unpacked—on her website merilynsimonds.com. She shares her life with writer Wayne Grady. They divide their time between Mexico and Canada.
Simonds’ short fiction is anthologized internationally and her books are published in the UK, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. In 2012 she published The Paradise Project, a collection of flash fiction hand-printed on an antique press with endpapers made from plants in her garden. The experience of producing the collection in both a digital and book-arts edition is the subject of Gutenberg’s Fingerprint: Paper, Pixels, and the Lasting Impression of Books. Her most recent publication is Refuge, a novel set in Mexico City, New York, and eastern Ontario.
Simonds writes a blog—Books Unpacked—on her website merilynsimonds.com. She shares her life with writer Wayne Grady. They divide their time between Mexico and Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 8, 2022
A beautiful read
December 30, 2018
What an absolute joy of a book!
Merilyn Simonds started this as a blog - I'll just confess right now that I find Merilyn and her husband, Wayne Grady, to be some of the most prolific and enjoyable writers in Canada. They're such a lovely pair and their success is due to creative ideas, an insatiable curiosity and a work ethic that puts most writers to shame. To know that Merilyn and Grady do as much as they do as writers while still managing 26 (!) beds, well, I've got to get out of bed earlier.
This is the first book of Simonds' that I've read and now I'm desperate to read more. There are some lovely turns of phrase in this book, some really tender, sweet moments, but plenty of hilarity too. Simonds writes with compassion - some of my favourite essays have to do with how much her garden is a tribute to her mother, or a legacy to her children and Grand Girls. There's a lot of romance in this book and I absolutely devoured it.
What shone through in this book is the way Simonds has linked work and reward - her gardens take an enormous amount of care, but they more than make a return on that effort. It also had me thinking about scents in the garden - where to put the night bloomers and how best to attract birds, bees and hummingbirds. (Sounds like a Chinese red bathrobe is the way to go!)
I'm hanging onto this book for a few days - it's a library loan - because I want to go through it again, taking down some of the many tips that are embedded throughout. I wish frugalistagardener was still alive - I'm desperate to see photos of the gardens now!
Merilyn Simonds started this as a blog - I'll just confess right now that I find Merilyn and her husband, Wayne Grady, to be some of the most prolific and enjoyable writers in Canada. They're such a lovely pair and their success is due to creative ideas, an insatiable curiosity and a work ethic that puts most writers to shame. To know that Merilyn and Grady do as much as they do as writers while still managing 26 (!) beds, well, I've got to get out of bed earlier.
This is the first book of Simonds' that I've read and now I'm desperate to read more. There are some lovely turns of phrase in this book, some really tender, sweet moments, but plenty of hilarity too. Simonds writes with compassion - some of my favourite essays have to do with how much her garden is a tribute to her mother, or a legacy to her children and Grand Girls. There's a lot of romance in this book and I absolutely devoured it.
What shone through in this book is the way Simonds has linked work and reward - her gardens take an enormous amount of care, but they more than make a return on that effort. It also had me thinking about scents in the garden - where to put the night bloomers and how best to attract birds, bees and hummingbirds. (Sounds like a Chinese red bathrobe is the way to go!)
I'm hanging onto this book for a few days - it's a library loan - because I want to go through it again, taking down some of the many tips that are embedded throughout. I wish frugalistagardener was still alive - I'm desperate to see photos of the gardens now!
April 24, 2018
I am no gardener but every spring I try to design my flower baskets and become "une artiste" with my flower and perennial garden. It is a short lived ambition because it all gets done in a day or two for the season. I've always been in awe of gardeners-those that eat what they sow and those that plant these magnificent flower gardens. Ms. Simonds, sounds to be part of that breed of gardener. Her writing is exquisite and her love for all things green is infectious! With spring around the corner, this book has given me that jolt of artistry that I know I don't behold but so wish I did! Thanks, Ms Simonds for allowing me to dream!
April 27, 2012
A lovely read for gardeners. I particularly liked the order of the essays, traveling through a gardening year from early spring through to the new gardening year. I plan to read it again next January, when I miss my own garden the most.
September 20, 2011
loved this book, felt i was in right beside her gardening through the seasons... ive bought 2 more copies of this book and given it to friends
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May 16, 2012I love her books, especially the two on gardening, of which this is one.
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May 29, 2012as I told Merilyn, I want to lick the words off the pages!
January 29, 2016
Delightful stories of the fun and frustrations of gardening.
March 12, 2016
I love this book! I read it every winter to get me through the non gardening months!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews