Although I admit that I did not read every word pertaining to the description of each plant, this book was nonetheless quite informative in apprising my ignorant mind of some of the basics of gardening in Iowa. Interestingly, I learned that the soil in Iowa tends to be slightly alkaline, with a Ph averaging around 7.5. This makes it harder to grow some plants that thrive in acidic soils, such as azalea. I also gained vocabulary through this book. My favorite new word is “glaucous” which means that the plant’s stems and leaves have a waxy coating. In one section, I learned the difference between bulbs, tubers, corms, tuber-corms, and rhizomes, after the discussion of which the author lumped all of the above into the category of “bulbs.” As a child, my green-thumbed brother grew gladiolus corms, which I pronounced “glad-ee-ow-lez” and thought that the singular was gladiola. Apparently not. They are beautiful flowers, however, and with the doldrums of March upon us, it would be lovely to see some of their brilliant color.
One plant that particularly caught my attention was an annual called datura, which I thought looked similar to the “Angels Trumpet” that I was so fond of during a recent vacation to Zion National Park in Utah. Upon further research, I discovered that the datura meteloides described in Prairie Lands Gardener’s Guide is of the same family as the Angels Trumpet or datura wrightii regal. Both are of the potato family, both only bloom at night, and both are unfortunately
poisonous. Thus, despite their elegance and beauty they will perhaps not end up in my eventual garden.
Photo Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36613107@N05/3748960967; http://coolspringspress.com/gardening-books/581/584/Prairie-Lands-Gardeners-Guide/9781591860693
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