Rainy day reveals an exceptional garden book

It rained all Saturday, keeping the garden’s creatures, including me, under cover. Few birds braved the torrent. A single male goldfinch – the first this year in summer plumage – came once to the sunflower feeder, and Fat Boy, a white-throated sparrow fond of the corn kernels scattered by squirrels from their cobs-on-nails porch feeder, made an appearance. But there were no squirrels feeding in the rain, no bumblebees bouncing on the lavender stems, no butterflies.

Few garden chores were done. Instead, Marjorie and I took advantage of the respite from transplanting, weeding and thinning seedlings to enjoy a newly published book, “A Maine Artist’s Garden Journal” by Loretta Krupinski (Down East Books, 2006, ISBN 0-89272-702-0).

Loretta is a celebrated marine artist and an award-winning author and illustrator of 25 books for children. This newest book, however, is for gardeners, both novice and expert.

After moving from Connecticut to Maine, Loretta kept a journal of the problems and solutions she discovered as she made the transition to gardening where the topsoil is thinner, the growing season shorter and the climate more severe. Her book combines these journal notes with beautiful watercolor renditions of her midcoast garden and the creatures that share that garden with her. The book is a virtual walk through the garden with the artist as your guide, beginning in winter with the forcing of forsythia and paperwhites and moving through the year from plant to plant. As with any garden tour, you are never in doubt as to the gardener’s favorites. And Loretta shares what she has learned about culture. (I did feel a little uneasy when we stopped at the spot in her garden devoted to rugosa roses, wishing she had read a recent column before the book went to press!)

We sense a kindred spirit as we turn the pages of this beautiful book. Loretta uses her art to teach us about the ecology of the garden, each image reminding us of the connections between the gardens we create and the creatures who inhabit them. Moonlight shines on a lightning bug among the sugar snap peas; a snowshoe hare nibbles lettuce at the garden’s edge; chickadees and chipmunks, bees and butterflies are ever-present.

And then there are the garden cats. I have always believed that a true garden cannot exist without a cat. Loretta’s has at least two and they appear frequently along the tour, always curious about the goings-on of the gardener and other creatures. My favorite portrait shows one of the cats sniffing a basket of onions.

Loretta has captured the essence of her garden’s inhabitants. There is careful attention to detail in her plant portraits, from the peltate leaves that subtend the flowers of a honeysuckle vine to the tendrils of sweet peas. And her portraits of birds and butterflies can serve as a field guide.

The text is often lean and functional, such as simple bullet lists on how to deal with “icky” things in the garden (mostly organic remedies) and reasons why peonies do and do not bloom. A page is devoted to repelling deer (a skinny branch that I have yet to crawl out on), another to mulching, including a handy formula for determining how much mulch to buy. In terms of cultural hints, there is something new for everyone, even the most experienced of us.

I am grateful to Loretta for giving us this tour of her garden. It is a feast for the eyes and the spirit of anyone gardening in Maine. For Marjorie and me, it helped to salvage a rainy day in the garden.

Send queries to Gardening Questions, P.O. Box 418, Ellsworth 04605, or to reesermanley@shead.org. Include name, address and telephone number.