Plants are people too

The premise of this book is a fabulous folly: Plants can be funny, frivolous, shy or seductive, and such anthropomorphic characteristics can determine how they’re used. And, dimple deeply in cheek, the author makes it work.

Klein is a British plantswoman, nursery owner and winner of six gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. She’s also an engaging, informative writer whose second passion, obviously, is words.

She describes hundreds of plants in exquisite detail. “The prostrate stems of Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Nana’ are immensely strokable, softly dense and silvery.” Queen Anne’s lace, from a distance, “makes a fine, frothy picture, full of creamy softness.” And of foxglove she writes: “Look down the spike from above ... the magical geometry of growth which exists in all plants is laid bare.”

The reading is certainly fun, and the gorgeous photographs by Jonathan Buckley enhance the delightful descriptions. But keep Sunset’s Western Garden Book nearby and check its descriptions too -- as many of Klein’s favorite plants are, regrettably, unfit for this region.

Lili Singer