The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.3 - Ava Catherine’s Task: Gardening Lessons

This is a two book task. Read one book from two different options or two books from one option.

REQUIRED: Identify which option or options you select when you post.
No books with the genre Childrens or Kids may be used.

Although I always enjoy gardening and nature, this year the lockdown has made the time spent in my garden especially pleasurable. I have been studying the gardens of Emily Dickinson and Beatrix Potter and have learned so much from their gardening philosophies.

Option 1: Emily Dickinson/Gardener
After reading Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowell, I was inspired to incorporate some of her favorite flowers into my garden. Pansies, hyacinths, lilies, nasturtium, daisies, lilacs, primrose, columbine, and ferns are some of her favorites that I have growing in my garden, too. Emily made bouquets for her friends, and her garden also inspired her poetry. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, and died on May 15, 1886.

* Read a book first published in December or May of any year.

Option 2: Beatrix Potter/Gardener
Beatrix Potter was a late bloomer as a gardener. She was forty years old by the time she saw her first growing season progress through her garden at Hill Top, but the seeds for her love of gardening were planted very early. As a child she lived in South Kensington, London, but she had access to a private park, which she and her nurse visited daily. Regular visits to the Royal Horticultural Society's Horticultural Gardens were part of her childhood life, too. The family visited Scotland during the summer for many years, and Beatrix thrived there since she was a country girl at heart. It was quiet, and the air was clean. The woods were deep and lush; flowers grew beside the lane, and hedges surrounded the lawns. Beatrix made her own little gardens and delighted in the freedom of ditching her tights. When not in London or Scotland, her family was often visiting her paternal grandparents' three-hundred acre estate in Hertfordshire north of London. Beatrix said that as a child it was the place she loved best in the world because of its beauty. Later her family summered near her grandparents in the Lake District, and that is where Beatrix eventually chose to buy Hill Top Farm and create her gardens. She never followed fashion, so her Hill Top gardens were developed following nature instead of the popular formal English garden designs.

*Read a book with the main page genre gardening, main page genre Scotland, or main page genre travel. The genre may be stand alone or embedded. (Note: a specific genre such as Time Travel does not work as an embedded genre.)

Option 3: Peter Rabbit Tales
Beatrix was a chronically shy, awkward child who found quiet affection among a menagerie including, at various times, mice, frogs, snails, lizards, birds, a dog, a hedgehog, a bat, and, of course, rabbits. She also developed a love of art and photography and used these talents to aid in her study of animals and plants. Her love of animals and gardens eventually became the basis for her famous children’s stories featuring animals. There are 23 original Peter Rabbit Tales, which were among my childhood favorites.

*As there are 23 original Peter Rabbit Tales, read a book whose page count contains a 2 and a 3. ex. 132, 223, 332, 320 Your book must have both a 2 and a 3 in the page count.

Option 4: Beatrix Potter Legacy
Beatrix Potter died of pneumonia and heart disease on December 22, 1943, at her home, Hill Top Farm, at the age of 77, leaving almost all of her property to the National Trust. She is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park. Potter’s books continue to sell throughout the world in many languages with her stories being retold in songs, films, ballet, and animations, and her life depicted in a feature film and television film.

*Read a book by a single author whose first and last name initials can be found in LAKE DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK. You may use the letters as often as they appear in the target phrase. Middle names/initials may be ignored.

Option 5: Japanese Maple
The favorite thing I have planted this spring is an amazing Japanese Maple, called the Crimson Queen. Its delicate weeping form stays deep crimson through the summer and turns bright scarlet in autumn, making it look like a lady in a lacy ballgown swaying in the breeze and bringing joy to the heart.

*Read a book set at least 50% in Japan. REQUIRED: If the setting is not clear in the GR description or metadata, include a link to a source establishing the setting.
OR
Read a book with the word TREE intact in the title or subtitle. Examples:The Street Lawyer - sTREEt; The Bean Trees - TREEs.

Approved:
mpg gardening:
Keeping the Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables Herbs by Nancy Chioffi

mpg Scotland:
The Long Drop by Denise Mina
Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith
Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
Die Toten von Inverness (From the Shadows) by G.R. Halliday

*

Could I have this Keeping the Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables Herbs noted as gardening being a MPG-sure it won't change, but rather be safe with it.

Joanne wrote: "Could I have this Keeping the Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables Herbs noted as gardening being a MPG-sure it won't change, but rather ..."

Gardening mpg noted.

Can you please verify, for MPG Scotland, the following books?
I'm still not sure which one I'll be reading
Thanks!

Pia wrote: "Can you please verify, for MPG Scotland, the following books?
I'm still not sure which one I'll be reading
Thanks!









[bookc..."

All four of your books are approved for mpg Scotland.

Could you please verify Die Toten von Inverness for MPG Scotland?
Thank you!

Rina wrote: "Could you please verify Die Toten von Inverness for MPG Scotland?
Thank you!"


Scotland genre noted

i need to be sanity checked (cause my brain has turned to mush sitting in a hotel room)...R.F. Kuang - RK initials - ignore the F right? (for option 4)

Dee wrote: "i need to be sanity checked (cause my brain has turned to mush sitting in a hotel room)...R.F. Kuang - RK initials - ignore the F right? (for option 4)"

Yes, ignore the middle initial, so your author works for option 4.
Have a great weekend, Dee!

thanks Connie - i was like i'm pretty sure this works - but i've been stuck in a hotel room for 7 weeks, so i'm like uhhhh

Dee wrote: "thanks Connie - i was like i'm pretty sure this works - but i've been stuck in a hotel room for 7 weeks, so i'm like uhhhh"

Bless you. At least you have good books. 😊

Could you please lock in The Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs for gardening. I am sure it won't go off the MP, but I have learned to be safe, not sorry ;)

Joanne wrote: "Could you please lock in The Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs for gardening. I am sure it won't go off the MP, but I have learned to be safe, not sorry ;)"

Genre noted