The printed page ruled aiy plant life for many years and — being both a hortist and bibliophile — in many ways it still does. The tendency began with books, of course, plant books in particular. When I was in the sixth grade, my dad and I would go to the Cook County public library in Chicago — a modern palace of books which then, in 1981, had the earliest color photocopiers available to use for one dollar per copy. My dad would seek out books on gambling (craps was his game), and I took out stacksof books about plants. Right away I began to write away for catalogs, copying the addresses of nursery listings onto envelopes, and placing short letters inside politely requesting the latest list The books advised that some nurseries requested a quarter or a dollar for a catalog, but of course I had no money.
展开▼
