A review of 'The Curious Gardener' by Jurgen Dahl
 (Read 50+ times)
By Emma Cooper
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The Curious Gardener brings together, for the first time in English, three of German gardener Jurgen Dahl's works.
The first is "Gardening Virtues and Botanical Surprises" and is a tour of the four seasons in Dahl's eclectic garden. Dahl grows each plant because of a joy in all plants - he wants to meet each species individually, get to know them and share his fascination. Some thrive in his garden - in the author photograph he is all but hidden in an enormous stand of gunnera. Some don't, and Dahl keeps a pot of old plant labels in remembrance of plants past.
His writing, even in translation, is so inspiring that it makes you want to rush out and check on whether a plant in the garden has started flowering, set seed or simply responded to a change in the weather. Your gardening To Do list will become ever longer as Dahl's prose suggests plants to try and ideas will be popping up in your head whenever you dip into the book. Everything here is an experiment that can be repeated by the reader.
Which is not to say that Dahl writes as a dispassionate, scientific researcher. His opinions are clear, whether he is talking about ground cover plants, weeds, or his hay collection. He obviously loved trying new and unusual plants, and spent a lot of time ploughing through old horticultural records.
The second section of the book is called "The Stinking Garden" and it is here that we meet all kinds of scented plants, from the common and pleasant scents of the mint family to plants that mimic body odors, or use their scents to attract prey.
'How to eat a lily' is more concerned with edible plants, including blue potatoes, edible weeds and blackberries. There is a discussion about the longevity of seeds and notes about the beauty of faded seed heads.
This is not a conventional gardening book, because Dahl was not a conventional gardener. He was a man who had a life-long love affair with plants, and who tried to share some of his wonder and fascination through his writing. The photographs may only be in black and white, but Dahl's plants will shine in your imagination and send you outside to find the magic in your own garden.
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Author Bio Box: Emma Cooper
Emma Cooper is the author of Growing Vegetables is Fun. She also has a weekly gardening podcast, The Alternative Kitchen Garden, all about growing your own food in an environmentally friendly way. Check out her website for her gardening blog and more articles.
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