Through conversations with twelve vastly different gardeners—among them a Trappist monk, a retired mailman, and an advertising copywrite—this enchanting volume captures the spirit of midwestern garderners. Illustrated throughout it is the wholesale dedication of midwesterners to their gardens—despite drought, heat, disabilities, and other challenges. Anyone who delights in gardening, the Midwest, or human triumph will enjoy this book.

 Mary Swander is Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University. A regular commentator on Iowa Public Radio, she is the author of, among others, The Desert Pilgrim, Heaven-and-Earth House, Driving the Body Back (Iowa paperback, 1998), and Parsnips in the Snow (with Jane Staw, Iowa, 1990) and editor of The Healing Circle: Authors on Recovery from Illness, Bloom and Blossom, and Land of the Fragile Giants (with Cornelia Mutel, Iowa, 1994).