If it sometimes seems that gardening is all work and no play, here's the book that will turn that canard on its head. Garden Whimsy is an entertaining look at the lighter side of gardening -- a refreshing change from how-to books on composting and double-digging. When author Tovah Martin lectures, her talk on garden whimsy is the one her audiences like best. This book brings her marvelous stories, illustrated by Richard Brown's stunning photographs, to the wider audience that has come to appreciate this talented team. So what is whimsy, botanically speaking? It may be as subtle as an inscription on a sundial or as noticeable as a child-size lighthouse. Birdhouses and scarecrows are favorite subjects, and so are topiary animals, capricious gates, and fences topped with the gardener's collection of blackbirds, kitchen utensils, or gardening gloves. It is eccentric, askew -- in short, whatever strikes a witty gardener's fancy. Best of all, it will inspire the reader to go and do likewise.
There is no question that gardening inspires creativity and playfulness. A full measure of both is captured in this book on garden accessories. Giant bronze frogs standing erect and playing the sax and cello, sunflowers sporting hats, fence posts sprouting gloves, and a bench with undulating serpent arms are just a few of the compelling images captured in the many color photographs.
Gardeners tend to be eccentrics, and it looks as if the gardeners in this book have fully indulged their visions, making the very best kinds of personal gardens. While many of the ideas are large and expensive, such as Italian stone follies carved into huge mask faces topped with bridges, or gazing balls eight feet in diameter, many more are simple and easy to emulate. Many of the lightest touches are created with paint or found objects--trellises woven of twigs, fences built of old shovels and rakes, a shed roof painted cobalt blue, or a scarecrow dressed up in bohemian duds including shawl and beret. What makes all these delightful ideas work is that they are buried amid flower borders or set onto pedestals on smooth expanses of emerald lawn--what better backdrop could any flight of whimsy ask for than a beautiful garden? --Valerie Easton
