Leaf Your Troubles Behind
Leaf Your Troubles Behind

Author: Karen Hugg

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-07-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1633888185

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Have you ever felt happier after a walk in the woods or fiddling with houseplants but your hectic life stressed you out again? In our rushed, tech-based, indoor society, we may yearn for a break but only manage to get through a noisy day and collapse in bed. Regaining a peaceful mind seems beyond reach. But what if there were easy, low-cost activities to heal the soul? What if we could regularly access tranquility? How would we do that? The answer may be in the simplest, most abundant thing all around us: plants. Plants are like a magic pill for our mental health. Growing science tells us they lower heart rates, make us more relaxed and productive, boost our immune system, help us live longer, and provide air, food, fragrance, and beauty. In Leaf Your Troubles Behind: How to Destress and Grow Happiness Through Plants, horticulturalist Karen Hugg draws on the science and two decades of professional gardening experience to help readers reduce stress and increase happiness. Through her original, approachable system of “Green Leisure,” you will: -discover nature’s scientifically proven power to heal us from stress -explore what “green leisure” activities are right for you -create a soothing green lounge at home, either via plants or just photos and décor -gain confidence in growing low-maintenance but rewarding plants, indoors and out -develop “green leisure” habits to ensure care for your soul any time of year With personal stories, the latest research, and fun easy-to-do activities, Karen guides readers in delving into the wonders of plants while “leafing” their daily stress behind and growing joy.

The Humane Gardener
The Humane Gardener

Author: Nancy Lawson

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2017-04-18

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1616896175

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In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

Get Up and Grow
Get Up and Grow

Author: Lucy Hutchings

Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing

Published: 2021-04-29

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 1784884200

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"Clear, modern and inspiring" - Alan Titchmarsh, gardener and broadcaster In this truly innovative book Lucy Hutchings – aka She Grows Veg – proves that vegetable gardening doesn't always require outdoor space. Through clever uses of space and containers, understanding of growing conditions and a unique, design-led approach, Lucy showcases how anyone can grow pretty much anything in their back garden, courtyard, balcony or kitchen. Lucy creates 19 projects, from living vegetable walls and hydroponics basics, to indoor greenhouses and hanging herb racks that have all the decorative style and visual interest of ornamental house plants. With step-by-step illustrations and stunning photography, with Get Up and Grow, you can go from gardening novice to growing pro in a matter of weeks. Lucy is blazing a trail for new-wave gardening with a mantra of anything is possible, for anyone.

Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd

Author: Stephen Anderton

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2010-03-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1409077365

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Christopher Lloyd (Christo) was one of the greatest English gardeners of the twentieth century, perhaps the finest plantsman of them all. His creation is the garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, and it is a tribute to his vision and achievement that, after his death in 2006, the Heritage Lottery Fund made a grant of £4 million to help preserve it for the nation. This enjoyable and revealing book - the first biography of Christo - is also the story of Dixter from 1910 to 2006, a unique unbroken history of one English house and one English garden spanning a century. It was Christo's father, Nathaniel, who bought the medieval manor at Dixter and called in the fashionable Edwardian architect, Lutyens, to rebuild the house and lay out the garden. And it was his mother, Daisy, who made the first wild garden in the meadows there. Christo was born at Dixter in 1921. Apart from boarding school, war service and a period at horticultural college, he spent his whole life there, constantly re-planting and enriching the garden, while turning out landmark books and exhaustive journalism. Opinionated, argumentative and gloriously eccentric, he changed the face of English gardening through his passions for meadow gardening, dazzling colours and thorough husbandry. As the baby of a family of six - five boys and a girl - Christo was stifled by his adoring mother. Music-loving and sports-hating, he knew the Latin names of plants before he was eight. This fascinating book reveals what made Christo tick by examining his relationships with his generous but scheming mother, his like-minded friends (such as gardeners Anna Pavord and Beth Chatto) and his colleagues (including his head gardener, Fergus Garrett, a plantsman in Christo's own mould).

The Forgetting Flower
The Forgetting Flower

Author: Karen Hugg

Publisher:

Published: 2020-04

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781949116342

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Secrets and half-truths. These litter Renia Baranczka's past, but the city of Paris had offered an escape and the refuge of her dream job. The specialty plant shop kept her busy, but also had brought her to a new friend, Alain. His presence buffered the guilt that kept her up at night, dwelling on the endless replays of what happened to her sister. All too suddenly, the City of Light seems more sinister when Alain turns up dead. His demise threatens every secret Renia holds dear, including the rare plant hidden in the shop's tiny nook. It emits a special fragrance that can erase a person's memory--and perhaps much more than that. As Renia races to figure out the extent of the plant's powers, she's confronted by figures from her past who offer a proposal she can't outright refuse. Bit by bit, she descends into a menacing underworld of black market mobsters, navigating threats and fending off abuse to protect the safe peaceful life she's worked so hard for in Paris. Desperate to outwit her enemies, Renia maneuvers carefully, knows one wrong move will destroy not only the plant, but the lives of her and her sister.

Little Lovely Things
Little Lovely Things

Author: Maureen Joyce Connolly

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2019-04-02

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1492672505

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"Combining the suspense and razor-sharp outlook of a Gillian Flynn novel, Maureen Connolly's debut sizzles. I finished Little Lovely Things in one heartbreaking, tear-batting gulp."—Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling author of Wicked River A mother's chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent's worst nightmare in this gripping thriller. Could any family endure such crippling suspense? It is the wrong time to get sick. Speeding down the highway on the way to work, her two little girls sleeping in the back seat, medical resident Claire Rawlings doesn't have time for the nausea overtaking her. But as the world tilts sideways, she pulls into a gas station, runs to the bathroom, and passes out. When she wakes up minutes later, her car—and her daughters—are gone. The police have no leads, and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each new hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere. As uplifting as it is devastating, Little Lovely Things is a poignant mystery about a family shattered by tragedy and a mother's fierce determination to make it whole again—whatever that may take. Perfect for readers of Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown and After Anna by Lisa Scottoline! Praise for Little Lovely Things: "Little Lovely Things is an insightful and moving read that is well worth the journey."—Vivian Schilling, bestselling author of Quietus "Finding shards of hope amidst the chaos of tragedy is a testament to both the writer, and the characters she creates."—Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling author of Wicked River "A shattering adventure."—Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Seriously...I'm Kidding
Seriously...I'm Kidding

Author: Ellen DeGeneres

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2011-10-04

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 0446585033

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~b~>With the winning, upbeat candor that has made her show on of the most popular and honored daytime shows on the air, beloved talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres shares her views on life, love, and American Idol. "I've experienced a whole lot the last few years and I have a lot to share. So I hope that you'll take a moment to sit back, relax and enjoy the words I've put together for you in this book. I think you'll find I've left no stone unturned, no door unopened, no window unbroken, no rug unvacuumed, no ivories untickled. What I'm saying is, let us begin, shall we?" Seriously... I'm Kidding is a lively, hilarious, and often sweetly poignant look at the life of the much-loved entertainer as she opens up about her personal life, her talk show, and more. PRAISE FOR Seriously... I'm Kidding "DeGeneres's amiably oddball riffs on everything from kale to catwalks to Jesus will make fans smile." -- People "Whatever the topic, DeGeneres's compulsively readable style will appeal to fans old and new." - Publishers Weekly "Fans will not be disappointed...[DeGeneres's] trademark wit and openness shine through and through." -- Kirkus/DIVspan

Harvesting the Sky
Harvesting the Sky

Author: Karen Hugg

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 9781949116922

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Botanist Andre Damazy lands on the opportunity of a lifetime when he discovers a rare medicinal apple in Kazakhstan and brings back tree cuttings to his hidden greenhouse in Paris. Growing the cuttings into trees is personal for Andre since the apples can heal people with serious illnesses, like his sweet mother who's suffered a stroke. But a mysterious stranger constantly thwarts Andre's work, sending harassing calls and menacing effigies, stalking Andre, and vandalizing his trees. Andre doesn't understand why anyone would do this, but he wonders if it's related to a project from his past that went all wrong and resulted in a deadly mistake. So with the help of his new friend Renia (The Forgetting Flower) and her street smarts, he works to outmaneuver his enemy while uncovering a larger, more dangerous plot that threatens the foundation of all that Andre holds dear, including the woman he secretly loves. Harvesting the Sky is the second book in the Botanique Noire series which combines vivid literary prose and a thriller plot, while enticing readers with the wonder and magic of plants.