Garden Ideas from Dad

About the Book

With respect to the plants reviewed in this book and the author's recommendations on plant culture, we will generally be considering plant culture in climates north of the midtemperatures between the Gulf of Mexico and Canada. This does not refer to a straight line east to west across mid-America since temperatures change with elevations. Although I have never gardened in Canada, I assume this would include the southern areas of our northern neighbor, as well as southern areas in the United States, which have higher elevations. As a precaution, I wish to remind people that various plants may be poisonous to taste and, for some people, to touch, so children in particular should be cautioned.

About the Author

Phil Smith is a member of various garden organizations and has been a gardener since he was eight years old. He was born in Hartford City, Indiana, in 1936 and obtained his engineering degree at Purdue University in 1956 at age twenty. He then earned a JD (doctor of jurisprudence) law degree at Indiana University in 1959. Mr. Smith specialized in trademark law in Minneapolis with the firm of Merchant, Gould, Smith, and Edell, now known as Merchant & Gould. He wrote the law book Intent-To-Use Trademark Practice published in 1992 by BNA Books. Because of his interest in gardening and plant terminology, Mr. Smith wrote and prosecuted several US plant patents. The most well-known is Plant Patent 7197 on the Honeycrisp apple, which was developed by the University of Minnesota. Phil Smith had extensive flower gardens at the home of his and his first wife, Anne, on Coolidge Avenue in St. Louis Park. Quite a few years later, Phil and his second wife, Wanda, had a home in the Tyroll Hills subdivision of Golden Valley, and Phil had large flower gardens there. The writer retired at age fifty-seven, and then he and Wanda lived in Montana in the summer and Florida in the winter. Phil's gardens in Golden Valley were on tours most summers, sometimes by nationwide groups. The author has been a member of the Men’s Garden Club of Minneapolis (now known as the Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis) for over fifty years, and he also served as president of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society in 1973 and 1974. Phil was one of the founders of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and was the first chair of their Board of Directors. Also, for several years, he was the US vice president of the Delphinium Society headquartered in England. The primary interests of the author are perennials and the design of flower borders with numerous varieties.