Many interviews include the question, “What book is on your nightstand?”
In my case, it’s “books.” There are the expected gardening books. “Month by Month Gardening in Illinois” by James A. Fizzell, is one every gardener needs. “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden” by Tracy DiSabato-Aust provides everything we need to know about perennials from preparing the soil to maintenance of the garden of our dreams.
My most recent book is “Common Backyard Weeds of the Upper Midwest” by Teresa Marrone. Written for the amateur gardener, it includes lots of pictures and I sadly recognized many. What I had been calling clover is actually yellow wood sorrel and a good solution to its removal is pulling by hand. I already knew that, but what I hadn’t fully embraced is Teresa’s advice to fill every hole that we make by pulling a weed either with a new plant or mulch. Now I have a little pail of mulch with me as I weed. I rake over the hole and cover it with a handful of mulch.
As I am a well-rounded person, my stack of books includes non-gardening ones. An international bestseller, “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” by Margareta Magnusson, is really about putting our house in order and freeing us and our families from a lifetime of clutter. I don’t think of my things as “clutter,” but I know I could/should thin my possessions a bit. This book provides encouragement and guidance and joined my stack because of fellow columnist Bev Frier’s September column.
Also, I am immersed in “The Particle at the End of the Universe”- how the hunt for the Higgs boson leads us to the edge of a new world- by Sean Carroll. I love that it is dedicated “To Mom, who took me to the library.” In nearby Batavia, Fermilab scientists have been very involved in research concerning the Higgs boson as well as many other scientific endeavors. Fermilab is often open to the public and is very, very interesting. Check out their website for details and thank you, fellow columnist Michael Albrow who often is my neighbor in PN, for your fascinating stories!
What’s on your nightstand?
