No comments about Specimen Colony.

1 comments about Quincy's Market: A Boston Landmark.

1. I wanted to give a quick thumbs up to this book. If you are the type of person looking for nuggets of information about a city and her landmarks, this is the book for you.

No comments about Cairo: Revitalising a Historic Metropolis (Aga Khan Trust for Culture).

No comments about Gardens and Imagination: Cultural History and Agency (Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium Series in the History of Landscape Architecture).

No comments about Creative gardens.

2 comments about The Garden Design Primer.

1. I was quite disappointed with this book. I hoped for more to look at and less to read in a garden design book. It is more of a text book than a book for inspiration. If you are ready to sit down and read the basics on garden design, then this is for you. If you are hoping for inspiration from looking at photos of beautiful gardens, then look elsewhere. There are only 8 photos - before and after photos of the author's own garden.



2. This book delivers exactly what it promises in clear language addressed to the novice garden designer. Without becoming dogmatic, the author takes the reader step by step through the principles of design. Of my many design books, this is the one I will loan to friends and give as a house warming gift.

5 comments about The Self-Taught Gardener: Lessons from a Country Garden.

1. I have attended many of Sydney's Garden Club lectures and classes at the New York Botanical Garden and by no means is she unexperienced or a novice. Many artists, chefs, designers, authors, etc. are self-taught and have field experience that no classroom can provide.



2. If you're a brand new or relatively new gardener, this book is great! In an almost conversational style, the writer takes you through the lessons learned during her many years of gardening experience. You will learn from her triumphs and mistakes, but most of all, she encourages you to learn from your own. Complete with lots of tips and plant information, this book is a must have for your garden library.



3. I think this is a bogus book on gardening by a complete novice who wants to cash in on the "gardening book" market. Self-taught? If you want a highly successful garden, get a book where the author has a botanical background from a university. You will get farther faster. Why do you think amazon slashed the price to $5.98? Come on! Sydney Eddison might as well write a book on "The Self-Taught Floor Cleaner; Lessons from a House".



4. Sydney inspires all - the beginner, and the expert. She has a compassionate understanding of how gardening touches each of us.

   I highly recommend all her books!




5. For fans of other books by Sydney Eddison, this one will not disappoint. The motif of the book is that Sydney is that "expert friend" who is always one step, but only one step, ahead of where you are. This book covers all the things you would be wondering about in a logical, easy to follow order. It makes for excellent start-to-finish reading, and will also be an excellent reference over the years. Written in a congenial, friendly style, this book is a wonderful mix of anecdote, scientific detail, and good common sense born of years of learning on the part of the author. She has done a great service by getting it all down on paper and will certainly make the way that much easier for many who follow.

   This book should be read with pencil in hand, as the sheer number of ideas and insights you will have while reading it will need to be captured.

   All in all, a wonderful book for those wondering "what do I do now" as well as those with years of experience. Of particular note: the two chapters on "Easy perennials for shade" and "Easy perennials for sun" give you the confidence of where to start when planning your own garden, and form the basis for a lifetime of future learning.

No comments about OASE No. 71: Urban Formation and Collective Spaces (Oase).

1 comments about Fallingwater: The Model.

1. In the late '50s I had the unusual chance to personally ask FLW what school might be best to learn City Planning. Not knowing then that his inimitable, signature response would be "you can't learn that in a School, you have to learn by doing."

   Later, I also had the pleasure of knowing Paul Bonfilio, and can attest that his own product here is a labor of love that reflects an intuitive, heartfelt resonance.

   BTW, if you have the opportunity to personally visit Fallingwater, try to exactly time it to that week in May when the surrounding wooded Moutain Laurel canopy is in their full and profuse bloom for an added breathtakingly magical experience.

No comments about Homelands: A Geography of Culture and Place across America (Creating the North American Landscape).