Edited by Ángel Mota Berriozábal,
Laberinto Press, 2024
“For many immigrants,” writes Jenna Butler in the introduction to this bilingual anthology, “though we may have left our home countries and their distinctive landscapes behind out of necessity or desire, we continue to walk in those spaces in our memories… guided by the fragrances that stir our memories.” This link between smell and rural and urban green spaces is explored by each of the contributors, almost all of whom are immigrants. In Kelly Kaur’s account of a return trip to Singapore, for instance, the “perfumy fake pine” air-freshener smell in her cab “makes me homesick for Calgary,” even as the cab driver points out how the many trees among the dense buildings give the Singapore air a “sweet perfume.” “I am here,” writes Kaur. “I am there.”
by Janet Melrose and Sheryl Normandeau,
Touchwood Editions, 2024
“Confidently designing a landscape that incorporates grasses takes a little inspiration and know-how,” write Sheryl Normandeau and Janet Melrose in this thoughtful and well-illustrated book—the 10th in their series of prairie gardening guides. The prairies are a grassland ecosystem, they write, with “little remaining of the original native grasslands.” Protecting what remains can help prevent flooding, provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife, and help conserve “the valuable water resources that provide our drinking water and moisture for our crops.” The same attention to prairie ecology, they say, can be given when planting grasses in our gardens, lawns and ponds. With advice on which native grasses to use—and why—the book gives gardeners both inspiration and knowledge.
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