"One of the aspects we do have some control over is our gardens..."; says Thomas Hobbs.";All you need are patience, money (sad, but true) and commitment."; Owner of Southlands Nursery, he has followed his first gardening book Shocking Beauty with personalized text and exquisite garden photography by David McDonald in The Jewel Box Garden (Raincoast $55). He concludes, "the very '90s term 'cocooning' sounds all warm and fuzzy, but the terrorist attacks of 9/11 awakened the desire in everyone for a safe haven. Those of us who have gardens use them as ongoing therapy. As the world gets scarier, our sessions are longer and we schedule them more often."; Hobbs had his first greenhouse at age six, he talks to his plants and he has appeared on Martha Stewart Living. 1-55192-601-6

[BCBW Summer 2004]