A BookBrowse Best Nonfiction for Book Clubs in 2024 “Exceptional…[A] gripping narrative of one family divided by the ‘bamboo curtain.’” —Deirdre Mask, New York Times Book Review Sisters separated by war forge new identities as they are forced to choose between family, nation, and their own independence. Jun and Hong were scions of a once great southern Chinese family. Each other’s best friend, they grew up in the 1930s during the final days of Old China before the tumult of the twentieth century brought political revolution, violence, and a fractured national identity. By a quirk of timing, at the end of the Chinese Civil War, Jun ended up on an island under Nationalist control, and then settled in Taiwan, married a Nationalist general, and lived among fellow exiles at odds with everything the new Communist regime stood for on the mainland. Hong found herself an ocean away on the mainland, forced to publicly disavow both her own family background and her sister’s decision to abandon the party. A doctor by training, to overcome the suspicion created by her family circumstances, Hong endured two waves of “re-education” and internal exile, forced to work in some of the most desperately poor, remote areas of the country. Ambitious, determined, and resourceful, both women faced morally fraught decisions as they forged careers and families in the midst of political and social upheaval. Jun established one of U.S.-allied Taiwan’s most important trading companies. Hong became one of the most celebrated doctors in China, appearing on national media and honored for her dedication to medicine. Niece to both sisters, linguist and East Asian scholar Zhuqing Li tells her aunts’ story for the first time, honoring her family’s history with sympathy and grace. Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden is a window into the lives of women in twentieth-century China, a time of traumatic change and unparalleled resilience. In this riveting and deeply personal account, Li confronts the bitter political rivals of mainland China and Taiwan with elegance and unique insight, while celebrating her aunts’ remarkable legacies.

Make your garden and home look and smell heavenly with this accessible gardening guide that explains how to grow fragrant flowers outdoors and bring natural scents indoors by creating floral arrangements, scented beauty products, and more. “A practical guide to a life infused with the scent of flowers.”—Kelly Smith Trimble, senior editorial director for HGTV and author of Vegetable Gardening Wisdom and The Creative Vegetable Gardener There is nothing like the beauty and scent of a flower-filled garden and home. The Fragrant Flower Garden shows you how to grow flowers that are a feast for the nose as well as the eyes, from a naturally perfumed carpet of sweet alyssum and the warm, spicy scent of gardenia to the heavenly aroma of lilacs. A beautiful garden is one where you can find joy in every sense—literally. The Fragrant Flower Garden makes this dream a reality with garden design guidance for a year’s worth of flowers, foliage, and fragrance. Then, reap the wellness benefits of your fragrant flowers through DIY projects such as making floral arrangements, perfumes, tub soaks, and tinctures. Whether you prefer the smell of classic lavender or something more adventurous like chocolate cosmos, The Fragrant Flower Garden opens the door to creating a scented flower garden that is a delight for all.

A campaign on behalf of an almost forgotten pleasure of gardening--the pursuit of fragrance. Tells which plants to cultivate for crisp winter smells and for the sublime nosegays of summer in your home.

With literally hundreds of choices, it can be overwhelming to decide which perennials to plant in your garden. Nancy J. Ondra takes the stressful guesswork out of perennial garden planning by offering 52 vibrant designs, each made up of only five plants. Ondra tailors each simple design to a specific set of growing conditions, with plenty of tips to help your planting mature. Enjoy gardens full of sun-drenched blooming flowers and shade-loving greenery for years to come.

Make your garden and home look and smell heavenly with this accessible gardening guide that explains how to grow fragrant flowers outdoors and bring natural scents indoors by creating floral arrangements, scented beauty products, and more. “A practical guide to a life infused with the scent of flowers.”—Kelly Smith Trimble, senior editorial director for HGTV and author of Vegetable Gardening Wisdom and The Creative Vegetable Gardener There is nothing like the beauty and scent of a flower-filled garden and home. The Fragrant Flower Garden shows you how to grow flowers that are a feast for the nose as well as the eyes, from a naturally perfumed carpet of sweet alyssum and the warm, spicy scent of gardenia to the heavenly aroma of lilacs. A beautiful garden is one where you can find joy in every sense—literally. The Fragrant Flower Garden makes this dream a reality with garden design guidance for a year’s worth of flowers, foliage, and fragrance. Then, reap the wellness benefits of your fragrant flowers through DIY projects such as making floral arrangements, perfumes, tub soaks, and tinctures. Whether you prefer the smell of classic lavender or something more adventurous like chocolate cosmos, The Fragrant Flower Garden opens the door to creating a scented flower garden that is a delight for all.

One of our finest writers on one of her greatest loves. Jamaica Kincaid's first garden in Vermont was a plot in the middle of her front lawn. There, to the consternation of more experienced friends, she planted only seeds of the flowers she liked best. In My Garden (Book) she gathers all she loves about gardening and plants, and examines it generously, passionately, and with sharp, idiosyncratic discrimination. Kincaid's affections are matched in intensity only by her dislikes. She loves spring and summer but cannot bring herself to love winter, for it hides the garden. She adores the rhododendron Jane Grant, and appreciates ordinary Blue Lake string beans, but abhors the Asiatic lily. The sources of her inspiration -- seed catalogues, the gardener Gertrude Jekyll, gardens like Monet's at Giverny -- are subjected to intense scrutiny. She also examines the idea of the garden on Antigua, where she grew up. My Garden (Book) is an intimate, playful, and penetrating book on gardens, the plants that fill them, and the persons who tend them.

Provides information on planning, designing, planting, and caring for flower gardens; contains plans for gardens in a variety of styles; features an encyclopedia of over 450 perennials, annuals, bulbs, roses, ornamental grasses, and ferns; and includes advice from gardeners across the country.

The ideal gift book on this flower that has seen a rise in popularity, illustrated with beautiful color photographsThe ultimate book for every flower lover"Dahlias have enriched my life. By making this book, I want to share my passion and show how versatile and special dahlias really are;" - Marlies Weijers"Everyone is capable of letting dahlias flower. And what we love the most is spreading the love for flowers with #spreadtheloveforflowers." - Linda van der SlotThe dahlia, a flower that was once thought of as old-fashioned, has surged in popularity over the past few years due to the development of new varieties and an uptick in appreciation from Royals and celebrities. They appear in a broad spectrum of beautiful colors and eccentric shapes, and thanks to their long flowering time they are garden crop favorites. This inspirational book explores every aspect of the dahlia from its history to its sustainable cultivation.

"Growing Roses Organically" Not many gardeners can resist the beauty of a rose-- a flower so divine and graceful in appearance and, in many cases, so wonderfully fragrant that it evokes thoughts of love and romance at first encounter. Many gardeners, however, also see a fussy plant that's hard to grow and needs special attention, as well as a host of chemicals to keep diseases and pests at bay. In" Growing Roses Organically," Barbara Wilde challenges the myth that growing roses has to be a time-consuming task that you can't do effectively without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In fact, she takes the intimidation out of growing roses by sharing her well-rounded, holistic approach for success. Wilde starts with tips for choosing healthy varieties, including hints for buying the best bareroot and container plants. She guides you through careful soil preparation and proper planting techniques and offers advice on how to gently intervene when it comes to pest and disease problems. Wilde also demystifies pruning-- a task that perplexes many gardeners. Her step-by-step explanation of various techniques makes this task doable for every gardener, including beginners. You'll also find invaluable information in A Gallery of Roses, an eye-catching identification guide that boasts more than 100 roses best suited for organic gardening techniques. Each entry in the gallery includes a detailed description of the rose and its best uses, as well as ratings for fragrance, disease susceptibility, and shade tolerance. To round out "Growing Roses Organically," you'll discover how to incorporate roses into your garden. Wilde dismisses the notion that you need to grow roses in aformal setting and instead presents four garden designs that incorporate roses with everything from perennials and wildflowers to trees and shrubs. Her design do's and don'ts along with winning plant combinations demonstrate how naturally roses fit into the landscape. In sharing her wisdom and experience, Barbara Wilde shows that growing roses doesn't have to be labor-intensive or frustrating. By choosing the right varieties and providing proper care, roses really can be a welcome part of every garden-- including yours. n0 About the Author Barbara Wilde has been gardening organically since the age of 17, when her Swiss grandmother first introduced her to gardening. As owner of a midwestern specialty plant nursery, Barbara spent 10 years exploring garden design and ornamental horticulture and growing heirloom and European fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers organically. As a garden designer and education specialist for a premier midwestern landscape firm, she developed staff training curriculum and pioneered organic landscaping techniques still in use by the firm today. Barbara has written for "Horticulture" magazine and Rodale publications and is the regular garden columnist for "Indianapolis Woman" magazine. A frequent public speaker on horticulture, she is known for her ecologically sensitive designs that use a wide variety of unusual plants. Barbara currently lives in Paris, where she maintains her own Web site, www.frenchgardening.com. At the site, you can find articles on French gardens, practical gardening advice, favorite plants, kitchen gardening, her life in Paris, and even cooking-- her (barely) subordinate passion. When not writing content for the site, Barbara spends her time traveling throughout France searching for traditional French garden seeds and artisanal products, including tools, books, and decorating items, which she sells on her Web site. She also gardens with her companion, Denis, on their Parisian terrace and on weekends at an old Normandy farmhouse.