Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening by Neil Sperry (1991)

This is one I actually finished quite a while ago, but since it took me so long to read it I completely forgot to write up a post. My long reading time has nothing to do with the quality or usefulness of Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening by Neil Sperry (1991), but more to do with the fact that I checked it out from the library twice, renewed it twice, and mostly read it while I was eating my cereal in the morning.

This is a good basic reference to Texas gardening -- particularly the extensive encyclopedias of flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees, complete with photographs, identifying traits, and general care. This second edition was published in 1991 and could probably stand an update to incorporate some more organic and water-conscious gardening techniques. Still, there is a lot to love here and I could see myself buying a reference copy of this book someday as my gardening aspirations grow.

Oh yes, I have gardening aspirations! Right now they are very small and mostly contained in a small metal tub that I've been using to grow a winter garden of lettuce, cilantro, and parsley. Check out my first mini-harvest! Everything I know I learned from my awesome friend Joolie, and beyond her tutelage, most of my techniques have been trial and error. Still, I have managed to grow edible food from seeds in dirt I put into a container by myself and I'm pretty excited to have gotten this far. Maybe in the spring I'll go crazy and try some herbs!