My Favourite Plant

Upstairs green red less than a5: Trafalgar Square, 1999. Paperback. Used: Acceptable. Paperback in average condition. inscription on first page. This anthology, by novelist Jamaica Kincaird is a fascinatingly quirky compilation of writings about plants by the people who love them. Some are exceedingly practical Ken Druse's essay "Desire under the Jacks" gives you all the information you need to grow Arisaema triphyllum from seed, while others are more lyrical, such as Colette's writings on lilies and hellebores and the poetry which is scattered in among the essays. Like a magazine there are pages you may skip over because you find the subject or style doesn't appeal to you, only to find yourself riveted by the next piece of writing which awakens in you a lust to own a plant, the existence of which you were unaware of a few minutes earlier. The very best writing opens your eyes to something new --an experience, an object, a place, or in this instance a plant, and every type of gardener, novice, expert or dreamer will find such writings within these pages. With its compact format this is a book that can be slipped into the pocket and dipped into in those moments that become available between life's many activities, or put next to a guest bed for the enjoyment of your visitors. The idiosyncratic typeface may not appeal at first, but you will get used to it .--Stephanie Donaldson.