Essays on Gardening in a Cold Climate: Book Review

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Essays on Gardening in a Cold Climate by Brian BixleyLiving in Ontario, Brian Bixley has the well-earned ambivalence of the cold climate gardener, calling winter “the icicle in the soul of the gardener” and yet acknowledging its “shivery perfection.” But the range of his thought and the dry subtlety of his wit in Essays on Gardening in a Cold Climate go beyond the confines of one region or climate.

Who can help but smile as Bixley relates

…Walpole said of Kent that ‘He leaped the fence, and saw that all nature was a garden.’ From the first time I encountered that phrase, I loved the visual image, of a still slender, youthfully middle-aged, perhaps dandyish figure sailing over the confining fence, the sense of psychological freedom as Kent skipped, or scissored, or straddled, or did the Fosbury Flop, one of those long-legged long-armed characters from illustrations to slightly scary children’s stories, a frayed jacket and an Old School scarf flying in the breeze.

While seriously considering the relationship of a rural garden to the larger natural landscape surrounding it, Bixley avoids descending into academic pomposity by confessing to his outlandish mental picture of a phrase “cherished by garden historians.” Yet it is only after tracing the idea of nature held by proponents of the English Landscape Garden, and articulating his own resolution to this tension between artifice and nature, that he ends his essay by revealing that

the fence that Kent metaphorically leaped was, alas, …not a rail fence or a wire fence but a sunk fence. Kent floated not upwards, but downwards. He didn’t need to leap to see what lay outside the garden. The garden historians, with the exception of Walpole, don’t tell us that.

Now this is one of the things I like about Brian’s writing: he never takes himself too seriously. But he is very serious about gardening. In fact, he calls it “the most profound and complex of the arts.” Indeed, the arts are never far from Brian’s musings; he draws upon literature and music to understand his garden and to better examine the broader issues of garden design and history. And yet he can devote a whole essay to one tiny draba and cause this non-alpine gardener to hold her breath, wondering if the plant will make it.

There is a satisfying mix of the theoretical and the practical in this collection. You will find critiques of garden history and instructions on creating a maze in a meadow with a hand-pushed lawn mower.

Brian Bixley's maze. Photo, though not included in the book, was provided by the author

There is an essay addressing practical considerations when starting a garden you can only visit on weekends and a memorial for a favorite dog. There are some book reviews, yes, and two book review spoofs. The same man who writes about growing trees from seed that will mature after he is dead confesses (quoting Robin Lane Fox), “I look forward to an old age as Snowdrop Inspector.” And who else besides an Economics professor would attempt this:

On the basis of [Sternbergia lutea] flower production from 1984 through 1987 I had been moved to make some alternative forecasts of what was likely to happen in the years to 1995 (see diagram.)

Yes, he includes the graph of his projections for your perusal. Throughout, there is an intelligence and wit underlying the writing, drawing on knowledge of the larger world and synthesizing it in the world of the gardener.

I still feel I have not done this book justice. If you find your thoughts wandering as you weed, not only working out gardening logistics and resolving pedestrian conflicts but connecting the dots between seemingly disparate topics, you will love this book. I don’t know why Essays on Gardening in a Cold Climate is not more widely known. I don’t know why Brian Bixley is not as well known as Eleanor Perenyi or Henry Mitchell. Perhaps it is because he published the book himself and is the only source from which you can obtain it. Yes, Brian is hoarding the world’s supply, and quantities are limited. Order your copy here before they’re all gone.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

What differentiates a bulb from a perennial plant is that the nourishment for the flower is stored within the bulb itself.…There is something miraculous about the way that a little grenade of dried up tissue can explode into a complete flower.

~Monty Don in The Complete Gardener pp. 142

Comments on this entry are closed.

commonweeder May 12, 2011, 11:33 am

I missed this review the first time around. I am definitely going to get this book. thanks for the reminder this morning.

Tessa (aka dirtdigger) February 8, 2011, 4:39 pm

Sounds like a good book- one I think I’ll add to my (very long) wish list! Now that I’ve moved to a much colder area I’m trying to gather as much info as possible- thanks

Patrick/Patrick's Garden February 8, 2011, 2:21 pm

Thank you for bringing his work back to life. Wouldn’t it be great if a publisher got interested in his self-published title. Maybe that could be an objective for you, Kathy?

Carolyn? February 8, 2011, 10:12 am

Your review in it’s self is a delightful read. I’m curious to read more… I’m off to visit his site as well.

allanbecker-gardenguru February 7, 2011, 8:30 pm

Two thumbs up for your book review!

Kathy Purdy February 7, 2011, 11:51 pm

Have you read the book? I know you really liked one of Brian’s guest posts.

allanbecker-gardenguru February 8, 2011, 8:30 am

No. I haven’t read it, yet. It’s on my list of must reads.

Gail February 7, 2011, 7:38 pm

PS I see that link is to the order page!

Kathy Purdy February 7, 2011, 8:08 pm

Yes, Mr. Bixley is not high tech. He doesn’t have a website. He sent me his guest posts via email and I had to paste them into WordPress for him. His book was self-published–in 1998. Horticulture ran two essays from that book, which is how I first discovered it.

Gail February 7, 2011, 7:36 pm

Kathy, A delightful review and I am going to head over to check out the book at Brian’s site! gail

dave February 7, 2011, 4:55 pm

If there were a winter for cold climates this is the year. Really liked the article and review