My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love

A delightful compendium of writing on plants.The passion for gardening and the passion for words come together in this inspired anthology, a collection of essays on topics as diverse as beans and roses, by writers who garden and by gardeners who write. Among the contributors are Christopher Lloyd, on poppies; Marina Warner, who remembers the Guinée rose; and Henri Cole, who offers poems on the bearded iris and on peonies. There is also an explanation of the sexiness of castor beans from Michael Pollan and an essay from Maxine Kumin on how, as Henry David Thoreau put it, one "[makes] the earth say beans instead of grass." Most of the essays are new in print, but Colette, Katharine S. White, D. H. Lawrence, and several other old favorites make appearances. Jamaica Kincaid, the much-admired writer and a passionate gardener herself, rounds up this diverse crew. A wonderful gift for green thumbs, My Favorite Plant is a happy collection of fresh takes on old friends. Wayne Winterrowd / Meconopsis Marina Warner / The Rayburn and the Rose Michael Pollan / Consider the Castor Bean Ken Druse / Desire under the Jacks Duane Michals / The Vanishing Act Colette / Lily Christopher Lloyd / Poppies Karel Capek / Buds Colette / Hellebore Daniel Hinkley / Hellebores Katharine S. White / Irises Henri Cole / Bearded Irises, Peonies Michael Fox / My Grandmother and Her Peonies Thomas C. Cooper / Hardy Geraniums D. H. Lawrence / Sicilian Cyclamens Nancy Goodwin / Cyclamen Mary Keen / Auriculas Maxine Kumin / Beans F. Kingdon Ward / A Day on the Edge of the World Tony Avent / Hostas Hilton Als / Marigolds Dan Chiasson / Ovid at Tomi David Raffeld / Thirteen Roses Graham Stuart Thomas / Old Clove Carnations Steven A. Frowine / Tropical Lady's Slipper Orchids Ernest Wilson / Honeypots and Silver Tree Philip Levine / Wisteria Thomas Fischer / Delphiniums Geoffrey B. Charlesworth / A Favorite Plant Frederick Seidel / Prayer Katharine S. White / Gourds Ian Frazier / Memories of a Press-Gang Gardener William Carlos Williams / Queen-Ann's-Lace D. H. Lawrence / Purple Anemones Elaine Scarry / Columbine