Combining lovely scrapbook pages with a wealth of inspiration, recipes, and design suggestions, the Spring Notebook from Carolyne Roehm is the last seasonal title in her series. With a gorgeous matte cover disguising a practical spiral binding, you can refer to this frequently, and for years to come, without affecting its sturdiness one bit.

Separate areas focus on individual types of blooms--all the spring classics are here, including daffodils, tulips, pansies, and peonies. Discussion is mainly about the arranging and choosing of plants--for details on such practicalities as pest control or bulb rot, look elsewhere. Even a few favorite seasonal edibles are addressed--recipes for rhubarb, strawberries, and asparagus will have your mouth watering, and most, such as simple Rhubarb Bread, are straightforward and without a lot of extra steps. In all sections, the photographs are lush and light-filled, and seem evenly mixed between close-ups full of incredible detail and larger shots that provide a sense of a plant's overall effect in a garden. Detailed lists of possible plant choices are given for each category, limited to the author's favorites from her own gardens--with 3,000 tulips in the world to choose from, you'll be glad for the restraint Roehm shows in including only 62. A delightful way of containing all of spring's bounty into one book, this scrapbook will provide you with one special place for keeping your ideas, notes, and memories of the season. --Jill Lightner


Book Description
A spring scrapbook of gardening methods, recipes, and tabletop designs. Hands-on workbook format with pockets for clippings and graph paper for plans. Tips on Easter and Mother's Day festivities and decorating ideas with pages for notes. Full-color instructions to create magnificent spring bouquets. How to make over the vegetable garden into potager.


About the Author
Carolyne Roehm, noted author and lifestyle contributor to Good Morning America, brings her gardening expertise to viewers weekly as the host of Country Homes, Country Gardens.In 1991, Roehm, who had always taken great pleasure in indulging and surrounding herself with things she loved, decided to turn her personal passion for beauty and comfort into a fulfilling career. A longtime associate (and neighbor) of famed couturier, Oscar de la Renta, Roehm began her own fashion business, setting her designs apart from many others in the industry with her unflagging insistence on only the finest quality materials. Her designs quickly found a home with discriminating consumers, as her first year alone saw revenues exceeding $3 million. But Roehm's passion for beauty extended beyond the world of fashion, and she became determined to broaden her horizons accordingly.Following a stint at the famed Paris flower shop, Moulie Savart, Roehm took the knowledge she gained there and put it into practical use for the everyday gardener. Resulting from her considerable experience, she takes great joy in revealing the many secrets she learned to help everyone achieve a bountiful and beautiful garden.In 1997, Roehm published her first book, A Passion for Flowers (September 1997, HarperCollins Publishers) in which she detailed the experts' tricks to perfect gardening. A firm believer in luxury for everyone, Roehm feels that luxury doesn't necessarily mean expensive. Her breathtaking floral arrangements, for example, traditionally contain many common flowers such as carnations, marigolds, bleeding hearts, and Queen Anne's lace, which she collects from her own garden at her Connecticut home.Roehm applies the fashion lessons she learned to her flowers. The familiar cry of "accessorize" is as important to arranging blooms as it is to one's own appearance. "I can't tell you how often I've seen a dress ruined with the wrong accessories," Roehm explains. "It's the same with flowers. Even the most beautiful flowers don't work if they're in the wrong vase or placed against the wrong background."


Excerpted from Spring Notebook : Garden Hearth Traditions Home by Carolyne Roehm. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
The first sign of spring--a robin pulling worms from the moist ground or the appearance of the first crocus--always fills my soul with the expectation of renewal. It is true that the arrival of spring is expected, but each year I am taken by surprise at the earth's willingness to get out of bed and start anew. After the long winter, I am just as eager as the plants to feel the sun and spring rain on my face, to push my fingers through the rich soil. The anticipation of things to come starts with the appearance of hellebores in late winter. By the time the apple blossoms, daffodils, and, finally, tulips arrive, I am overwhelmed by spectacular beauty . . . and a huge list of chores. Hundreds of hardy seedlings of lettuce, parsley, broccoli, chard, onion, leek, and kale leave the comfort of the cold frame to be planted in the potager. Lawn furniture is brought out of storage and dusted of cobwebs.Perennial weeds like dandelions, thistles, and pokeweed need yanking from beds and bordersbefore they get a foothold. Peonies must be staked or spring rains will push their faces into the ground. Harvesting begins. Daily cuttings of asparagus and rhubarb mean that the kitchen is humming with new inventions. Mother's Day and Easter celebrations need to be planned and rooms made ready for visitors. In the midst of all these activities, Weatherstone is being rebuilt, so this particular spring will be one of the busiest times in my life. As workmen hammer away, I will be equally busy on my hands and knees, bringing back to life my old faithful companions. As each bloom arrives, further affirming the arrival of spring, my worries will dissipate. With the rebirth of this garden comes the rebirth of a new chapter in my life.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A spring scrapbook of gardening methods, recipes, and tabletop designs.

Hands-on workbook format with pockets for clippings and graph paper for plans.

Tips on Easter and Mother's Day festivities and decorating ideas with pages for notes.

Full-color instructions to create magnificent spring bouquets.

How to make over the vegetable garden into potager.

Author Biography: Carolyne Roehm, noted author and lifestyle contributor to Good Morning America, brings her gardening expertise to viewers weekly as the host of Country Homes, Country Gardens.

In 1991, Roehm, who had always taken great pleasure in indulging and surrounding herself with things she loved, decided to turn her personal passion for beauty and comfort into a fulfilling career. A longtime associate (and neighbor) of famed couturier, Oscar de la Renta, Roehm began her own fashion business, setting her designs apart from many others in the industry with her unflagging insistence on only the finest quality materials. Her designs quickly found a home with discriminating consumers, as her first year alone saw revenues exceeding $3 million. But Roehm's passion for beauty extended beyond the world of fashion, and she became determined to broaden her horizons accordingly.

Following a stint at the famed Paris flower shop, Moulie Savart, Roehm took the knowledge she gained there and put it into practical use for the everyday gardener. Resulting from her considerable experience, she takes great joy in revealing the many secrets she learned to help everyone achieve a bountiful and beautiful garden.

In 1997, Roehm published her first book, A Passion for Flowers (September 1997, HarperCollinsPublishers) in which she detailed the experts' tricks to perfect gardening. A firm believer in luxury for everyone, Roehm feels that luxury doesn't necessarily mean expensive. Her breathtaking floral arrangements, for example, traditionally contain many common flowers such as carnations, marigolds, bleeding hearts, and Queen Anne's lace, which she collects from her own garden at her Connecticut home.