Our September read-aloud selection is The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty, book two of the Amina Al-Sirafi adventure series. I love Amina, the ship’s captain and pirate. She’s a badass. The first book was such an epic tale, it felt like multiple books!

I also revisited The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change by Ken Druse. I recently did an online propagation class with Ken and loved it. If you have a chance to take a class with him, do it! One of the side benefits is that I heard his voice while reading this book. He was ahead of his time on shade gardening and the impacts of climate change, so although published in 2015, the book feels current.

I also read Planting Design for Dry Gardens by Olivier Filippi. Some of the plant selections won’t work in my part-to-full-shade yard, but I did learn some useful tips for decompacting the soil when planting. I also learned about biological decompaction: using plants to decompact the soil. Mind blown. I don’t have it in me physically to decompact my whole yard by hand with a garden fork, but I can plant daikon radishes and crimson clover! I have new appreciation for dogged taproots. They will do the digging for you!

Get nerdy with me: https://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/51/4/297