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Maverick Gardeners: Dr. Dirt and Other Determined Independent Gardeners
""Be forewarned that this book honors people like the woman in my hometown who paints the numbers of her favorite NASCAR drivers on her elephant ears, and a Tokyo gardener with over a hundred bonsai plants." So says renowned garden journalist Felder Rushing in his new book Maverick Dr. Dirt and Other Determined Independent Gardeners. In this book, Felder delves deeply into the psychology of what motivates and sustains the Keepers of the Garden Flame. For thousands of years, a loosely connected web of unique, nontraditional gardeners has bonded people across race, culture, language, and other social conventions through sharing unique plants and stories. Found in nearly every neighborhood worldwide, these "determined independent gardeners" (DIGrs) are typically nonjoiners who garden simply and exuberantly, eschewing customary horticultural standards in their amateur pursuits of personal bliss. Included in Maverick Gardeners are classic "passalong plant" lists, a dollop of how-to, numerous color photographs, and thought-provoking essays on quintessential tools, sharing with others, getting away with wildflowers in suburbia, and organizing a plant swap. The centerpiece of this unique gardening journey is the no-holds-barred story of a ten-year cross-cultural collaboration between the horticulturist author and a flamboyant rebellious gardener who called himself Dirt. Through swapping plants and garden lore-and rubbing shoulders with fellow DIGrs-they unraveled their shared humanity. From the practical to the inspiring, Maverick Gardeners is the perfect book for those nonconformist souls who see no sense in trying to fit in and follow the footpaths of others"--
190 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 17, 2021
About the author
Felder Rushing
47 books11 followersFelder Rushing is a 10th-generation American gardener whose pioneer ancestors settled across the Southeast, bringing many plants with them. Rushing's overstuffed, quirky cottage garden has been featured in many TV programs and magazines (including a cover of Southern Living), and includes a huge variety of weather-hardy plants along with a collection of folk art. There is no turfgrass, just plants, yard art, and "people places."
The author or co-author of 15 gardening books (including several national award winners) and former Extension Service urban horticulture specialist has written thousands of gardening columns in syndicated newspapers, and has had hundreds of articles and photographs published in regional and national garden magazines, including Garden Design, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening, and the National Geographic. He has hosted a television program that was shown across the South, and appeared many times on other TV garden programs. Felder currently cohosts a call-in garden program over public radio with his longtime friend Dr. Dirt called The Gestalt Gardener.
Rushing has served many years as a distinctly non-stuffy board member of the American Horticulture Society, national director of the Garden Writers Association, and member of the National Youth Gardening Committee. Felder gives over a hundred lectures a year, coast to coast at flower shows, horticultural and plant society meetings, and Master Gardener conferences. Believing that too many would-be gardeners are intimidated by a crush of "how-to" experts ("We are daunted, not dumb," he says), Felder uses an offbeat, "down home" approach rife with humorous anecdotes and garden-irreverent metaphors, zany observations, and stunning photography and to help gardeners get past the "stinkin' rules" of horticulture.
The author or co-author of 15 gardening books (including several national award winners) and former Extension Service urban horticulture specialist has written thousands of gardening columns in syndicated newspapers, and has had hundreds of articles and photographs published in regional and national garden magazines, including Garden Design, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening, and the National Geographic. He has hosted a television program that was shown across the South, and appeared many times on other TV garden programs. Felder currently cohosts a call-in garden program over public radio with his longtime friend Dr. Dirt called The Gestalt Gardener.
Rushing has served many years as a distinctly non-stuffy board member of the American Horticulture Society, national director of the Garden Writers Association, and member of the National Youth Gardening Committee. Felder gives over a hundred lectures a year, coast to coast at flower shows, horticultural and plant society meetings, and Master Gardener conferences. Believing that too many would-be gardeners are intimidated by a crush of "how-to" experts ("We are daunted, not dumb," he says), Felder uses an offbeat, "down home" approach rife with humorous anecdotes and garden-irreverent metaphors, zany observations, and stunning photography and to help gardeners get past the "stinkin' rules" of horticulture.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 1, 2021
I enjoyed Felder Rushing's collaboration with Steve Bender, Passalong Plants. Years have gone by since then, and there was a lot to catch up on. Dr. Rushing had a long-time radio show program that he co-hosted with a gifted gardener, "Dr. Dirt," who didn't have a formal education in horticulture, but had a lot of knowledge nonetheless. "Dirt" is one of the "Determined Independent Gardeners" that Dr. Rushing fondly describes.
I don't recommend reading this one on a black-and-white e-reader, but when I used the Kindle app on a computer, I could appreciate the vivid pictures. A Kindle Fire or a tablet would have worked fine for that, too.
The book is a celebration of people who do their own thing, sometimes to the dismay of those of their neighbors who have much more regimented and/or orderly landscaping. Although there's joy in the book, there are bittersweet aspects, too, as some of the people who taught Dr. Rushing about gardening and encouraged him had passed away, including one of his earliest teachers, his mother, Wilma Jean.
I could recognize myself in some of the characteristics of those free spirits of gardening that Dr. Rushing lists. I wasn't too surprised about that.
I don't recommend reading this one on a black-and-white e-reader, but when I used the Kindle app on a computer, I could appreciate the vivid pictures. A Kindle Fire or a tablet would have worked fine for that, too.
The book is a celebration of people who do their own thing, sometimes to the dismay of those of their neighbors who have much more regimented and/or orderly landscaping. Although there's joy in the book, there are bittersweet aspects, too, as some of the people who taught Dr. Rushing about gardening and encouraged him had passed away, including one of his earliest teachers, his mother, Wilma Jean.
I could recognize myself in some of the characteristics of those free spirits of gardening that Dr. Rushing lists. I wasn't too surprised about that.
June 18, 2021
Fun read and very informative. I can feel good about my eclectic choices of plants and quit worrying about whether that plant should go in that spot.
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October 7, 2021Enjoyed Felder's perspective...Love the inspiration and the variety
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews