I may or may not have mentioned to you all that I am in the early stages of piecing together book ideas. These ideas range from straight forward gardening to a mash-up of gardening/personal anecdotes.
I don’t know why it took me so long to realize what the first (yeah I said “first”) book should cover but I think I’ve determined the topic.
Care to guess?
I know you know it.
It’s a part of almost every post that I write, especially from early summer and into the fall and winter.
Yep, you nailed it.
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES.
Was there ever any other choice? Of course not.
Deep down I’ve always known but it wasn’t until I started taking photos before I left for work recently that it all came together.
I do this every single day.
Stare out at my grasses and thank my lucky stars that they exist.
I photograph them as if they were my kids.
We chat and I praise them when deserved and scold them when they aren’t putting in a full effort.
A big ups to whomever invented them or should I say, introduced them to the world as a garden option.
My garden would be next to nothing without them. They are the backbone and they helped me form my identity as a gardener.
The number of questions I receive in regards to grasses via email, in the hallway at work or at the holidays is phenomenal and I’m always thrilled to chat. And if I may forego my humble nature for a moment here, the “you da grass man” comments are another reason why I believe a book is the calling. One recent comment that a put a big ass smile on my face:
Hi John, late post here just to compliment you on your beautiful photos. Since following your blog, I find myself craving more grasses in our landscape and I’m gradually winning my husband and fellow gardener over to my side since they are relatively deer proof.
Swoon.
On to the book.
I have a general feel for the direction and for the content but I’ll keep that as a surprise for now. I have a lot of research to complete and a lot of experts to track down and a lot of gardens to visit. It may sound a bit overwhelming but I got this.
And remember that each of you promised to buy ten copies when it is released.
You’re so awesome.
Seriously, I would pay you handsomely for your feedback on what you would want from a book centered around ornamental grasses.
What intrigues you?
What doesn’t?
Is design as important as understanding all that exists in the grass world?
Do you desire maintenance advice?
Does the history of grasses, both in the US and across the globe tickle your fancy?
Human interest or get to the point already John?
A comment to this post would be great or an email (ongardener@yahoo.com) would work as well.
I’ll be flexing my writing muscle heavily this winter and your feedback would be an incredible means for better understanding what the people want, what the people demand.
While I hopefully still have your attention (and thank you for that by the way) I’m going to self promote just a smidge more.
You may have noticed a while back that I returned to the Obsessive Neurotic Gardener blog name. I struggled with the desire to remain focused on gardening versus the desire to write about other stuff.
Once I discovered the medium that is Medium.com it all became obvious. Keep this blog as ONG and use Medium as an outlet for my other writing desires. One helps feed the other.
So far so good and I’m loving the path I’ve chosen.
If it wouldn’t be a bother, I’d love for you to check out the stories below that I’ve written over at Medium.
While I think the style of writing is still all me, I’ve discovered that I love to write about writing more than I ever imagined.
And 80’s icons …
And my wacky ass dog …
I’m a moron, so every time I fall in love with a plant, I get on google and type in its name along with the phrase “companion plants.”
So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE devote a large portion of your book to integrating ornamental grasses into the landscape and pairing them with other perennials and shrubs.
Thank you in advance!
Done and done Bill. Hope I can pull it off because it is such a key piece of the grass story. Thanks for the feedback!
I will take a stab at this one. Other than lots of pretty pretty pictures to drool over (coffee table book component), my favourite gardening books seem to include a solid plant rundown (reference component) and most importantly a well-written description of the author’s experience and opinion. I really want to know how this plant grows, what it looks good with, what the author finds special about it, and any evocative, funny, or witty, relevant anecdotes too. I recall enjoying Miriam Goldberger’s descriptive take on many natives in ‘Taming Wildflowers,’ and also reading a fairly serious informative tree book which had a few ‘being pelted with nuts from squirrels’ stories in it. Reading Tallamy made me think I could save the world with plants. Maybe what I am saying is that I want to embrace the author’s unique voice and take on gardening? That said, I must reveal that I am a sucker for informational tidbits as well, such as what creatures use, eat or benefit from the plant; if it can be eaten, decorated with; if it was famously used in a garden; where it came from; etc. I hope my somewhat rambling opinion is of some use. Best of luck with your book!
This is more than I ever could have asked for Laura. Thank you so much. I hope I can deliver even 50% of this because it still would be all sorts of awesome and memorable.
It was definitely way too much — reading and gardening are my two favourite things and I get a little too excited about them! I am positive you will find your focus and put your own special stamp on whatever you do.
Well, here’s the thing. We have a very small lot. Our garden is constrained by the requirements of needing to plant things that don’t overpower it and spread rapidly and aggressively. So ornamental grasses tend to be out for us. But I would be interested to know if there was a variety that was in fact contained , Or grew in clumps and spread very slowly…
I am sure we are in the minority of your readers, however – – especially if they are going to read a book on ornamental grasses. So your next book needs to be on growing in small spaces with Specimens that make a big impact in a small package. There you go.
Cheryl – I think grasses for small spaces is a huge topic because most properties are just that. I definitely want to include that as its own section. Thank you so much for the feedback.
I love gardening books that focus on design — how to place plants in the landscape that puts them in their best light (in the case of ornamental grasses, pun intended). Also, plants to combine with them and lots of photos to illustrate different design ideas. And which varieties, grouped by size (very tall, dwarf), do best in which conditions. This kind of information really inspires me to experiment in my garden. Good luck with the book. I know the photographs will be beautiful!
Thank you so much Clare for the response. The lighting aspect should be a huge part of this and I hadn’t thought of it that way until now. Thank you!!
Hi John,
You’ve gotten some good advice here and I would concur that you show how you’ve used your grasses with lots of photos, and diagrams. Show some of your failures, too, assuming that you’re human like the rest of us. Also, use your humor which is a strong point. If you’ve ever read any of Kelly Dodsen’s ( from Far Reaches Nursery) plant descriptions in Fine Gardening, you can see how each plant has its story. He makes you WANT that plant! Good luck.
Linda – I am on all of them. Especially the “story” of the plant. I hope I can deliver on it like Kelly has. Thank you!
I adore ornamental grass and added a purple bluestem to the garden this fall. How cool is that?? I’m also growing a few annual ones from seed this winter. You ought to attend the 2017 Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling. I’m hosting! We have lots of ornamental grass down here. All the hot air out of DC keeps them happy! LOL!
Would love to attend! Have to match up against the work schedule but thank you for the heads up! Please let me know how growing by seeds works out. I’ve never attempted it.
Hi John,
I know how you feel about Northern Oat grass but hoping you do not eliminate this grass
in your book. As speaking for myself, haven’t had a problem with it. Thanks!
I will include for sure Deborah. It has been such a part of my world dating back at least a decade. Even if it has taken years off of my life. Ha.