The Potting Shed

A richly photographed full-color wish book, The Potting Shed from Smith & Hawken celebrates the room that is as much a workshop for the gardener as the kitchen is for the cook. Practical and romantic, idea-filled and beautiful, it is imbued with the Smith & Hawken sensibility: quality, authenticity, and a return to the old ways. There are chapters on the history of the potting shed. The gardener's tools, and how to store and care for them. And seasonal joys and labors, including spring--with tips on germinating seeds, using cloches, transplanting seedlings; summer--the time for picking flowers for potpourri; fall--how to dry herbs, plant spring-blooming bulbs, and gather seeds for next year; and winter--when it's time to relax in front of the woodstove and pore over catalogs. Whether the "potting shed" is a cleared-off space on a kitchen counter, a corner in the garage, an old table and wash basin against the side of the house--or an actual shed--The Potting Shed is every gardener's dream of where the garden begins. Photographs by Hugh Palmer.

48,000 copies in print.