By Jill Chase
After a busy gardening season, one almost looks forward to the garden going to sleep, allowing the gardener to enjoy a well-deserved pause. Although it might be time to take a break from the physical toil, winter is the ideal time to do some serious reflecting on the season past and planning for the garden to come.

Cozying up with a few good books is the best part of this sort of garden dreaming. There are garden or environmental subjects to help further one’s education on, for instance, native plants, meadows or composting. Another category of garden reading is pure inspiration—the “Oooh, I should try that!” type of book. Some books aren’t necessarily new, but they are ones many go back to over and over because they are “best in class” on particular subjects.

Here are a few nightstand suggestions for winter reading:
The Living Landscape: Design for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden
by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy
Two of my favorite authors on gardening and the environment have teamed up to produce a book jam-packed with good inspiration and information. The plant index in the back alone is worth the price of this book.

Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change
by Larry Weaner
Weaner’s goal is to help anyone create a garden that is full of life, is less time-consuming and is beautiful to be in—all by choosing the right plants.

100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to help Pollinators Thrive
by The Xerces Society
This is one of the most useful “go to” references around for finding the best plants for native bees, honeybees, hummingbirds, butterflies and moths.

Lawns Into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape
by Owen Wormser
This is a how-to guide to changing any patch of un-productive lawn into a low-maintenance, eco-friendly meadow full of life.

Life in the Garden
by Bunny Willams
This gorgeously photographed coffee table book is pure drool-worthy garden design inspiration. It’s full of aspirational garden antiques and grand scale garden features.

My Summer in the Garden
by Charles Dudley Warner
Warner is best known for being a creative collaborator and close friend and neighbor to Mark Twain, and he shares the same snarky sense of humor. This book may be 150 years old, but it goes to show that gardeners then faced the same frustrations as gardeners today. A lovely, funny and cozy read for a cold
winter’s day.