A Garden of Nonfiction

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden by Diane Ackerman (635 ACK)
Naturalist, poet and gardener, Ackerman brings a diverse background to her collection of essays focusing on what a garden can do for a person's spirit and soul.

Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion by Alan Burdick (577 BURDI)
Increasingly, exotic animals and plants have been migrating to new environments, resulting in a phenomenon that biologists call the homogenization of the world. Burdick's journey found him searching for the brown tree snake (indigenous to Australia) in Hawaii – once a paradise without serpents – and visiting NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the foothills of Pasadena, Calif., where scientists take extreme measures to make sure that we neither introduce nor bring back alien species in our exploration of space. He had set out to solve an ecological riddle; but as he followed invasion biologists fighting exotic invaders in Tasmania, Guam and San Francisco, his observations led him to ask philosopical questions about the nature of the natural world.

A Garden of One's Own: writings of Elizabeth Lawrence edited by Barbara Scott & Bobby J. Ward (635.9 LAWRE)
A collection of the essays of garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence, who died in 1985, and of whom Katharine S. White of the New Yorker said she had "learned more about horticulture, plants and garden history...than from any other one person."

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession by Susan Orleans (364.1 ORLEAN)
Orchidelirium is the name the Victorians gave to the flower madness that is for botanical collectors the equivalent of gold fever. And, as journalist Susan Orlean found out, there still exists a vein of orchid madness strong enough to inspire larceny among collectors.

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan (306.4 POLLA)
Pollan focuses on the histories of apples, tulips, potatoes and marijuana to illustrate the complex relationship between humans and the natural world.

North Carolina Nature Writing: Four Centuries of Personal Narratives and Descriptions edited by Richard Rankin (508.756 RANKIN)
The rich and varied landscape of North Carolina has inspired writers from the earliest colonial days up to the present. The natural resources of the state astounded early naturalists such as John Lawson and William Bartram, whose writings described a world teeming with an almost miraculous assortment of wildlife, plants and trees. Over the years, the landscape of North Carolina has changed, but the beauty of the state's natural habitats continues to inspire some of the finest nature writers in the United States.

Earthly Delights: Gardening By Seasons the Easy Way by Margot Rochester (635.9 ROCHE)
Personal anecdotes from this self-described "lazy" gardener give way to abundant planting tips and advice on garden maintenance.

A Contemplation Upon Flowers by Bobby J. Ward (809 WAR)
Raleigh resident Ward shares the folklore of ornamental plants.

100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names by Diana Wells (582.13 WELLS)
From abelia to zinnia, Wells provides a short history of common flowers.