James Fenton writes:

It seemed a simple and interesting idea for a newspaper column: what plants would you choose if starting a garden from scratch, given that you were only allowed to propagate them from seed? The resulting articles were collected and published in Britain in 2001, and in America a year later. The list is a mixture of the very obvious, such as nasturtiums and forget-me-nots, and rarer items such as Venus's Navelwort (one of the characteristic plants in my garden). The emphasis is on childish simplicity of approach, and - although this kind of gardening often has its setbacks - economy of outlay.

Reviews and Critical Discussions

'A Garden From a Hundred Packets of
Seed.' Kirkus Reviews 70.3 (1 February 2002): 157.

Urquhart, Alexander. 'Breaking New Ground.' Times Literary Supplement 5159 (15 February 2002): 36.

Carey, Leo. 'Growth Industry.' New Yorker 78.11 (13 May 2002): 23.

Klinkenborg, Verlyn. 'Gardening.' New York Times Book Review (2 June 2002): 13 (3 pgs.).

Perkins, Carleen Madigan. 'Summer Reading: A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds.' Horticulture 100.4 (August 2003): 70 [short review].