The Unsung Season: Gardens and Gardeners in Winter

by Sydney Eddison, Karen Bussolini (Photographer)

While most gardeners lose one quarter of the year, some happily pursue their hobby undaunted by the hostile elements. Written by one gardener who loves winter and photographed by another, The Unsung Season introduces us to a wonderful collection of gardening individualists. Some had the foresight to design their gardens to look beautiful when viewed through the windows. Others bring their gardening pleasures inside, turning windowsills, spare bedrooms, and enclosed porches into makeshift greenhouses. Some happily don snowshoes to prune, chop, and saw their way through the winter, and some turn their creative gardening juices into making things for and from their gardens in kitchens and basement workshops. Whether the reader loves winter or stoically endures it, The Unsung Season will share both the pleasures and the survival techniques of these special gardeners. There's something here for every gardener, just when he or she needs it most.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

Sydney Eddison has written seven books on gardening. She has been honored by National Garden Clubs Inc. with their Award of Excellence for 2010. For her work as a writer, gardener, and lecturer, she has also received the Connecticut Horticultural Society’s Gustav A. L. Melquist Award in 2002; the New England Wild Flower Society’s Kathryn S. Taylor Award in 2005; and in 2006, The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s Bronze Medal. Her garden has been featured in magazines and on television. A former scene designer and drama teacher, Eddison lectures widely and is a frequent contributor to Fine Gardening magazine and other publications.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not overly glossy coffee table book. Some pictures but not a ton. Exactly what the Blurb says 'a practical book. Where 'we meet gardeners who greet winter in strikingly different ways'.'


Something to be said for just resting: "The landscape is spare and restful, and the garden calm. No plant cries out for water; no tetering stem demands a stake. The woodchuck has retired to his burrow up in the field, and no beetle munches.

There are plenty of things I could do outside if I wanted to, but mostly I don't. I can write in peace. And I have more time to read......Maybe it's laziness or old age or both, but to me, winter is for rest and repose."

Particular loved the discussion of Primrose. I need to grow more! Seed Starting Section was inspiring. Includes plant list.

Perfect ending:
"The days are getting longer. Despite a recent cold snap, the snowdrops are in full bloom, and it's time for spring."