Books about Night blooming from Amazon.com

Passalongs are plants that have survived in gardens for decades by being handed from one person to another These botanical heirlooms, such as flowering almond, blackberry lily, and night-blooming cereus, usually can't be found in neighborhood garden centers; about the only way to obtain a passalong plant is to beg a cutting from the fortunate gardener who has one.

In this lively and sometimes irreverent book (don't miss the chapter on yard art), Steve Bender and Felder Rushing describe 117 such plants, giving particulars on hardiness, size, uses in the garden, and horticultural requirements. They present this information in the informal, chatty, and sometimes humorous manner that your next-door neighbor might use when giving you a cutting of her treasured Confederate rose. And, of course, because they are discussing passalong plants, they note the best method of sharing each plant with other gardeners.

Because you might not spy a banana shrub or sweet pea in your neighborhood, the authors list mail-order sources for the heirloom plants described. They also give tips on how to organize your own plant swap. Although the authors live in and write about the South, many of the plants they discuss will grow elsewhere. from the book Amid the clamor of press releases touting the newest, improved versions of this bulb or that perennial, what keeps people interested in old-fashioned plants? Nostalgia, for one thing. It's hard not to feel a special fondness for that Confederate rose, night-blooming cereus, or alstroemeria lovingly tended by your grandmother when you were a child. Such heirloom plants evoke memories of your first garden, of relatives and neighbors that have since passed on, of prized bushes you accidentally annihilated with your bicycle. Recall the time you first received a particular plant, and you'll recall the person who gave it to you..
Price: $14.86 [Notify me when price goes down.]

At the forced invitation of 8th century Germanic king Karl-lo-Magne (Charlemagne), Hiermon Ragoczy de Santus Germainius, a dark and strange man rumored to have traveled to many far places, makes the dangerous journey to France. He is called to validate the authenticity of the king's newly purchased maps, but unbeknownst to Karl-lo-Magne, Ragoczy's knowledge stems from centuries of being chased from these countries, rather than traveling through them. Despite his longing for peace, he yields to Karl-lo-Magne. What he does not expect, though, is to meet the albino woman, Gynethe Mehaut, who shares his curse of solitude. Showing signs of stigmata, she seeks peace from the church. But when she is taken to Rome, accusations of witchcraft fly, and she is left with a difficult choice-one that even Ragoczy cannot deny..
Price: $9.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Each of the stories in Night-Blooming Cereus is set in a different place and time, yet they all deal with the same underlying theme: how the imagination, in its infinite variety, seeks to transcend external events.

A small Jewish boy's life during the Nazi era grows rich with the sounds and sights of the Arabian Desert when he finds an aged copy of Travels in Arabia Deserta in an Amsterdam cellar. An effete and scholarly collector begins to imitate Van Gogh, the painter he worships. An old woman's life is shaped by remembrance as she lies in her hospital bed and recounts a voyage through the Greek Islands during World War II. A reporter remembers his part in a college rape as he interviews a Serbian general being held for war crimes in a Dutch prison. A housekeeper embroiders her deepest yearnings into the laundry of the residents of a rooming house.

K. A. Longstreet's stories are appealing and varied. This collection is unusual in many ways, not the least of which is its breadth. Each story exhibits a dexterous use of detail, often historically based, in providing a landscape for the characters' experiences and musings..
Price: $19.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]