THE PASSIONATE GARDENER:
Adventures of an Ardent Green Thumb
By Des Kennedy
ISBN: 1553651987
Greystone Books
Reviewed by Dave Abbott
A Delightful Tongue-in-Cheek Gardening Adventure
Gardeners are an interesting breed, eccentric and frequently out-and-out casually idiosyncratic. Among those, Cork-born Owen Finnegan was a standout. He tended the flowerbeds, shrubs and playing fields of Brentwood College at Mill Bay with a lover's intensity and mother's care for 30 years.
Another favourite was the character Chauncey Gardiner played by Peter Sellers in the film Being There. He became President of the United States by using the four seasons as metaphors - a time to plant, sow, reap etc. - to solve the problems of the world after amazing the White House with his ability to simplify complex issues.
If that sounds familiar check out Harper and Bush!
Now I've also met Des Kennedy, an Irish-Liverpudlian, who came to Canada as a youngster. He's on my list of green thumbed characters. With his flaming red hair, blue eyes, green thumbs and pale skin, he could perch on one his beloved arbors like a leprechaun. He is also a damn good storyteller.
Kennedy is a passionate gardener with a sense of humour. He lives on Denman Island in a stylish (I gather) log cabin. His latest book, The Passionate Gardener: Adventures of an Ardent Green Thumb (www.greystonebooks.com) is a delightful tongue-in-cheek gardening adventure that spells out the Seven Deadly Sins and the Ten Commandments of gardening.
An active environmentalist and traveller, his account of two tours of the "Isle of Saints and Scholars" is amusing and irreverent. He loves the way the Irish gardeners use stonework and is struck by the exotic variety of plants that grow in the lush damp climate.
His descriptions of famous Irish gardens like Powerscourt, County Wicklow, Kylemore Abbey, and Butterstream Gardens in County Meath is a plethora of adjectives designed to make you drool with envy. You'll want to go!
He's also taken a guided tour of gardens in New Zealand, a country A.A. Gill describes as being like East Cheam in the 1950s, and introduces us to the flora and fauna of "The Land of the Long White Cloud."
Kennedy has a charming manner, an ardent green thumb, a fertile mind and a quiet wit that's as cultivated as his garden.
His next garden tour is to China April 2-15, 2007. If you're interested in joining him, call Julia Guest at (604) 926-8511.
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