Let us now praise DDT.

Let us now praise DDT. I am sure that the claims against it are all true, but a chemical that has killed that many mosquitoes cannot be all bad. If we were to compare the human lives saved (think of malaria and the other diseases that are spread by this diptherian pest) with the ecological harm done by DDT I am sure that we would want to give the inventor of this stuff a prize.

I am writing this at 4:23 in the morning mostly because a mosquito has been buzzing my ears for the last hour and a half, compounding the aching in my abdomen and the general rebellion I am getting from my bones against sleeping upright, and you might understand why I am ready to buy gallons of DDT on the black market. Our neighbor has a decrepit boat in her driveway that, in spite of her efforts at tarping, fills with water during the rainy season. I think word got out that I was calling it the West Nile Sloop, because the boat has been miraculously drained this year, just at the dawn of mosquito season.

But the good news is that mosquitoes make me think of insects in general and that makes me think of gardens and that reminds me that I have to post something about a certain book tonight. I was watching Bread and Tulips last night and forgot about posting. So, here I am, a Dipthera-hating insmoniac typing my little piece in the dark, with a maniacal grin. And this is without the painkillers!

The book that I think every gardener must own is the American Horticultural Society’s Encyclopedia of Gardening: The Definitive Practical Guide to Gardening Techniques, Planning, and Maintenance. It is edited by Christopher Brickell and Elvin McDonald and was published in 1993 by DK. They have a companion volume, The American Horticultural Society’s Encyclopedia of Garden Plants: A comprehensive, illustrated guide to more than 8,000 trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, foliage,and water plants and cacti and succulents. Contains more than 4,000 full-color photographs, which is excellent and useful for those who are getting deeper into it (particularly if you see a plant in someone’s garden and want to figure out what it is and if it will grow in your garden), but this first one is the one to get. I refer to it first whenever I have a gardening question. I read it for design ideas. I read it to diagnose problems in the garden.

For instance, Jeff mentioned on Pansy and Peony’s Blog that he was having problems with plumbago in Sacramento. Now, I know the climate of Sacramento very well, but I was not sure what a plumbago was. I looked it up and can now tell Jeff with confidence that his plumbagos (depending on the type) would probably do well in a cool greenhouse or other well-shaded and protected area. Sacramento’s climate is probably hitting the poor things at both extremes (too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter).

The only book that is probably as much of an essential to gardeners is the Sunset Western Garden Book, although I am not too sure that it is geared for those on the Atlantic Coast so much. The American Horticultural Society’s book is perfect for everyone who is serious about this stuff.