Why am I passionate about this?

California’s San Joaquin Valley is so congenial to plants I thought it made me a gardener. When I got my first job in a retail nursery I quickly realized how little I knew. Twenty years in the nursery trade expanded the depth and breadth of my garden skills. I owe my horticultural education to knowledgeable colleagues, an unending stream of interesting questions from nursery customers, and especially to Ed Laivo who introduced me to an ArcticGlo nectarine that commanded my attention.


I wrote

Book cover of Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees

What is my book about?

A backyard fruit tree too often outruns a garden and gardener in terms of size, labor, and overabundance. It doesn’t…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Essential Earthman: Henry Mitchell on Gardening

Ann Ralph Why did I love this book?

For years Henry Mitchell wrote for The Washington Post about the agony and the ecstasy of gardening and, consequently, everything else. This classic is laced with pith, wit, gems, and instruction throughout. No one does it better or funnier. The easiest path is to quote the man himself: “Shasta daisies are far more agreeable and lovely than one thinks they are going to be.”

By Henry Clay Mitchell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Essential Earthman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"The most soul-satisfying gardening book in years." -New York Times (March 1982, reviewing the 1981 cloth edition from IU Press).

"Genuinely a classic . . ." -Los Angeles Times (on the occasion of Houghton Mifflin's paperback edition, which came out in 1994).

"Is there anyone alive with the slightest interest in gardening who doesn't know that Henry Mitchell is one of the funniest and most truthful garden columnists we've got?" -Allen Lacy

"Mitchell is a joy to read. He has tried and failed, persevered and triumphed, and he has many sound recommendations for us fumblers and failures." -Celestine Sibley, in…


Book cover of Botanica's Roses: The Encyclopedia of Roses

Ann Ralph Why did I love this book?

Because of obvious limitations—space in the garden, sun, availability, and one’s responsibility to be a conscientious steward during a probably unending California drought—it’s impossible to grow as many roses as one would like. It’s not impossible, however, to content oneself with two or three plants for cutting flowers, and, instead, moon over this comprehensive collection of gorgeous photographs, descriptions of form, petal counts, habits, parentage, and scents. Keep 2,000 roses on the bookshelf. This book is a treasure.

By Peter Beales,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Botanica's Roses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Botanica's RosesR will prove to be one of the greatest rose books of all time.


Book cover of A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Ann Ralph Why did I love this book?

This comprehensive book about architecture gets at the heart of the garden we live in, the environment where we reside. Each short section on topics as diverse as “Shopping Street,” “Entrance Transition,” “Tree Places,” or “Pools of Light” directs to related sections where you’ll find guidance about how to build or at least encourage a world that works for people, a world that feels right, a world we belong in, and one that feels like home. This world necessarily includes shared public and private spaces, work, light through windows, views, fruit trees, and a place for an old person to sit in the sun.

By Christopher Alexander,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked A Pattern Language as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You can use this book to design a house for yourself with your family; you can use it to work with your neighbors to improve your town and neighborhood; you can use it to design an office, or a workshop, or a public building. And you can use it to guide you in the actual process of construction. After a ten-year silence, Christopher Alexander and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure are now publishing a major statement in
the form of three books which will, in their words, "lay the basis for an entirely new approach to architecture,…


Book cover of The New Sunset Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide

Ann Ralph Why did I love this book?

For more than half a century the Sunset Western Garden Book was the first and last word for Western gardeners. This compendium established a zonal system specifically for the nuanced West, and provided exhaustive, accurate, updated, and unbiased information, plant by plant, variety by variety, from A to Z. It offered a selection guide for specific situations suited to inland heat and the temperate coast. It provided basic information about planting, pests, soils, pruning, and weeds. I sold hundreds of copies of this indispensable volume to nursery customers. My co-workers did the same. That the sun has set on this essential field guide to gardening in the West is a bitter pill. Our Western gardens are diminished without it.

By The Editors of Sunset,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The New Sunset Western Garden Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As surely as gardens change with the seasons, gardening is ever changing. New plants, techniques, materials, and lifestyles are constantly broadening the choices you have and reshaping the way you garden in the West. In response to this natural evolution, the editors of Sunset-the West's most trusted source of gardening information for more than 80 years-have completely redesigned and updated The Western Garden Book in this new 2012 Ninth Edition. Following the best-selling success of the previous editions of The Western Garden Book, this edition includes a fresh new look, thousands of color photographs, fresh illustrations, and an easy-to-follow format.…


Book cover of Get Your Pitchfork On! The Real Dirt on Country Living

Ann Ralph Why did I love this book?

Most of us who took action on our ache to “get back to the land” gave ourselves over to a rustic bucolia we’d created in our minds. And, yes, as it turned out, it was all of that, the harmony of seasons, the deep peace, the night sky, the quail, and deer. It was other things, too, things we hadn’t reckoned on—isolation, endless labor, and the hourly rate of the well man. Readable and entertaining, Get Your Pitchfork On! eases the urban to rural transition with hard-won practical advice. It will infuse your dream, whatever its scale, with a healthy dose of preparedness to assure its best chance of success. 

By Kristy Athens,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Get Your Pitchfork On! The Real Dirt on Country Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For hard-working office workers Kristy Athens and husband Michael, farming was a romantic dream. After purchasing farm land in Oregon's beautiful Columbia Gorge, Athens and hubby were surprised to learn that the realities of farming were challenging and unexpected. Get Your Pitchfork On! provides the hard-learned nuts-and-bolts of rural living from city folk who were initially out of their depth. Practical and often hilarious, Get Your Pitchfork On! reads like a twenty-first century Egg and I.

Get Your Pitchfork On! gives urban professionals the practical tools they need to realize their dream, with basics of home, farm, and hearth. It…


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees

What is my book about?

A backyard fruit tree too often outruns a garden and gardener in terms of size, labor, and overabundance. It doesn’t have to be this way. Grow a Little Fruit Tree is the handbook and encouraging companion I needed when I started out with fruit trees. It describes an easy pruning method that keeps trees small and reduces crops to household-sized quantities. It explains the simple logic of pruning. The book concerns itself with basics, rules of thumb, and, above all, the knowledge and confidence to manage the task. 

Book cover of The Essential Earthman: Henry Mitchell on Gardening
Book cover of Botanica's Roses: The Encyclopedia of Roses
Book cover of A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

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Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever

By Barbara Hemphill, Maggie Bedrosian,

Book cover of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever

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Barbara Hemphill Author Of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Visionary Encourager Entrepreneur Speaker

Barbara's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

In Love It or Lose It, I share the wisdom and techniques I’ve gained over decades of helping people declutter their lives. Alongside my colleague, Maggie Bedrosian, we offer a roadmap for those feeling overwhelmed by the physical and emotional weight of clutter. This book isn’t just about tidying up—it’s about transforming your space so it can better serve your purpose and bring more peace and joy into your life.

Through stories of real-life clients and our own personal experiences, you’ll discover how to tackle clutter with humor and heart. Whether you’re a business leader, a busy parent, or…

Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever

By Barbara Hemphill, Maggie Bedrosian,

What is this book about?

Finally, here’s your chance to break free from the clutter that’s weighing you down. It’s your opportunity to move from being overwhelmed and disorganized to clutter-free and clear.

In Love It or Lose It, long-time organizational experts Barbara Hemphill and Maggie Bedrosian share the secrets and techniques their clients—everyday people, celebrities, business and political leaders alike—have used to dig out from under all their junk and distraction. In stories filled with humor, heart, and success, you’ll learn how to declutter your own home and work spaces, and keep them that way for good.

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