The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19½ Front Gardens

British gardener Dark finds meaning in the micro in his pensive debut, an exploration of what grows along the “length of a suburban road and the course of a single year.” While walking through his Grove Park neighborhood in South London—down a street of “ugly bins and beautiful plants”—Dark became interested in the “human stories” behind urban flora. The 19 varieties he spots include wisteria (the “King Kongs of the plant world”), Red Valerian (an “opportunistic self-seeder”), privet (a “symbol for all that is small-minded and suburban”), and hollyhock (“cowboys made thin on a diet of cheroots and redeye”). Dark notes how lawns are “nothing more than an invitation to enjoyment,” speculates about “the secret worlds that I cannot write about” behind strangers’ homes, and pinpoints common desires: “We want somewhere to drink wine with our friends and lovers, and we want a big fence so the neighbours don’t watch us doing it.” Dark creatively blends practical horticultural knowledge, meditations on his own dream garden, and literary references, including Vita Sackville-West’s husband’s letter on JP Morgan’s garden: “All very good taste and depressing. No inner reality.” This will leave armchair gardeners seeing their surroundings with fresh eyes. (July)