Bedside Companion for Gardeners: An Anthology Of Garden Writing For Every Night Of The Year

by Jane McMorland Hunter

A mix of fact and fiction, fantasy and experience, the Bedside Companion for Gardeners is a treasure trove of green-fingered inspiration where practical advice blends seamlessly with poetry and prose from intrepid gardeners past and present. Dip in and out of this collection with an entry for every night of the year that draws on writing through the ages and from across the globe.

The Bedside Companion for Gardeners incorporates practical advice from the 17th-century gardening diarist John Evelyn; inspiring prose from Elizabeth von Arnim and John Milton; astute commentary from Horace Walpole on William Kent and Nancy Mitford on the vulgarity of a Surrey garden. Kipling offers practical advice, while Tennyson waxes lyrical on an Arabian night garden.

The perfect gift for any gardener, this magical book is an invaluable source of inspiration and guidance to revisit throughout the year.

Genres: Gardening, Nature, Nonfiction, Poetry

448 pages, Hardcover

Published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[Jenny Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read each day's entry. Then chose a word to do my Wordle each morning!!

[Jo Ann Rhodehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful experience. Knowledgeable, meditative, and fun. It took me back to a walk through Chatsworth, UK and Kingwood Center, my favorite Ohio hometown estate.

[Catie · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4.5 Stars**
Poetry Anthology for 2022

[mimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up in the library because the cover was pretty and I wanted gardening vibes for some literary inspiration. While some of the quotations are impactful (a rare poem will go very hard) or at least interesting (seeing how different novels portray gardens), these are in the minority.

I particularly didn't think much of all the quotations about what different types of garden should look like, in the English tradition over time. I'm aware of the history thanks to my bachelors in literature, but it's not what I expected from an anthology aimed at, presumably, gardeners nowadays whose practices surely have other priorities.

It's true that I read this book fast, and that may have influenced my opinion, but I feel like even if I'd read it as slowly as prescribed - one piece of writing each day, for a year - that wouldn't have helped. Some of the excerpts are so... meh. I'd have felt disappointed to have cracked open the book for the night and gotten only that for my trouble.

[Maj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This was a very cozy ritual to have, although it was a bit daunting. I really enjoyed the selections in this book as well, they were very well chosen, but some sections did drag a little bit. All in all a fun time throughout the year.

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this at Ravenna Gardens at University Village in Seattle. What a delightful book for gardeners like me! Each page is a piece of gardening history.

[GB · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea is to read the daily entry every day in 2025. Update, I decided to let this project go. I enjoyed some of the entries, but they are quite anglo-centric and there are a lot from clergymen in England. I found some of the pieces pompous and some just not inspiring.

One of my favorites was called "A Second Chance" from In The Eye of the Garden by Mirabel Osler. Excerpt of the excerpt:
"Gardening is unique in many ways... Gardeners are always on their way but never arriving... Gardening is unique too, for giving us a second chance. That doesn't often happen in life. You cannot have another go with the job you have bungled, with the crucial advice you failed to take...But gardens, however disastrous, are beneficent. The return of the seasons allows us to try again...The continual cycle of decay and regeneration gives us forever the opportunity to broadcast fresh seeds, for there is one in intrinsic truth: a garden never repeats itself. Never again can you have this year what you achieved in the last."