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How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart
by Carol Wall
Book Reviewed by:A true story of a unique friendship between two people who had nothing - and ultimately everything - in common.
Carol Wall, a white woman living in a lily-white neighborhood in Middle America, was at a crossroads in her life. Her children were grown; she had successfully overcome illness; her beloved parents were getting older. One day she notices a dark-skinned African man tending her neighbor's yard. His name is Giles Owita. He bags groceries at the supermarket. He comes from Kenya. And he's very good at gardening.
Before long Giles is transforming not only Carol's yard, but her life. Though they are seemingly quite different, a caring bond grows between them. But they both hold long-buried secrets that, when revealed, will cement their friendship forever.
Gardening in its many forms requires patience. Carol Wall's garden doesn't transform into a colorful, blossoming maze of delightful flowers and trees overnight. Under Giles Owita's tutelage, we learn along with her that what we need most in our lives might not come right away. But when it eventually does, it gives us our just rewards...continued
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(Reviewed by Rory L. Aronsky).
If you've always been wowed by azaleas, which feature in Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening, here are some fun facts.
Azaleas, members of the genus Rhodondendron, can be found all around the world. There are deciduous azaleas with origins in North America; evergreen varieties from Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan, and a whole host of hybrid crosses from some of these same countries. The Royal Horticultural Society, based in London, has an International Rhododendron Registry that lists over 800 species of azaleas.
There are 17 azaleas native to North America. R. vaseyi (the R stands for Rhododendron), which has pink to white flowers, can be found mostly in four mountainous North Carolina counties. R. canadense was described by ...
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Jonathan Odell, author of The Healing
Carol Wall's disarming memoir Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening is a poignant tale of an unlikely teacher and a doubting student, who, by bringing a neglected patch of ground back to life, reveal the secrets of reclaiming, restoring, and freeing a wounded soul.
