Well, friends, I did it. I submitted my proofed and polished manuscript Garden Envy: Creating Beautiful, Tour-Ready Landscapes to a potential publisher for their review and (please, please) acceptance.
In the post-coronavirus world, garden tours are springing up again. Those who spent their time in seclusion developing home landscape are now ready to show friends and family the results of their efforts. I receive panicky telephone calls, texts and emails from perspective garden tour hosts who want advice on how to proceed. A how-to manual for garden tour preparation is overdue. I have drawn on my personal involvement as a tour host (I opened New Hope Farm & Gardens more than eighty times) and a tour recruiter as well as interviews with other hosts, extensive gardening experience, past employment in a garden nursery, and involvement with fundraising events at a botanical garden/woodland preserve to assemble Garden Envy: Creating Beautiful, Tour-Ready Landscapes, a text that combines horticultural advice with practical logistics for garden-centered events. My comprehensive guide includes design guidelines, entertaining theme ideas, a few recipes, and a tour organizer’s checklist. For components like edging, mulch, and plant labeling, I provide recommendations at several price points so that readers can pick the option that best fits their budgets.
The completed book consists of 67,000 words, 387 photographs, and detailed information on 175 plants. Cross your fingers, light a candle, offer a prayer, and wish me luck. And if you have friends in the industry, call them and insist that they consider me for publication. ~ Mary Snoddy