Insects and Gardens [Hardcover]

This is a thorough introduction to the biology and ecology of insects commonly found in North American gardens, as well as a guide to the principles of ecologically-sound gardening. Grissell, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, emphasizes that insects, as well as other invertebrates, play key roles in maintaining a garden's ecological balance; furthermore, he advocates that gardens be managed as balanced, biologically diverse "naturalistic" systems, since they are, for the gardener, more enjoyable and easier to maintain. The text is lengthy but engaging, and a very extensive list of additional readings is provided. The accompanying close-up of insects and other creatures and other photographs are beautifully composed and illustrate the text well. A good complement to other natural gardening books, such as Natural Gardening, edited by John K. Boring and others (Time-Life, 1996); highly recommended for all gardening collections. Brian Lym, City Coll. Lib. of San Francisco
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gardeners may love butterflies, but Grissell stresses a far more encompassing point of view--one that welcomes myriad insects into our cultivated spaces. With a captivating blend of humor and candor, this research entomologist describes in detail the insect orders residing in our gardens and their habits. Who would have guessed that female earwigs protect their eggs until they hatch? Next, Grissell looks at ecological aspects of gardening as he puts forth an erudite overview of the balance and interactions between plants and insects. Maintaining a delightfully readable style, Grissell concludes with an engagingly thought-provoking section devoted to relationships between insects and humans. Goodpasture's fine photographs befit Grissell's effervescent treatise; proposing a laissez-faire attitude that promises to have gardeners with an "us and them" mentality (and a dependence upon chemicals to kill insects) finding new ways of thinking about the tiny and essential critters found ambling about on leaves or creeping about the soil. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

An excellent general account of these interesting and useful organisms...Profusely illustrated with excellent photographs. -- Choice, May 2002

I can say without reservation that this should be required reading . . . for everyone interested in the world around them. -- Susan Banks, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, February 9, 2002

If I had to live on a desert island with only ten books, [title] would be one of them. -- Pat Pawlowski, California Garden, May - June 2002

Insects and Gardens is destined to become a classic of garden literature. -- Deborah Brown, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, December 20, 2001

Insects and Gardens provides science readers with an excellent survey. Highly recommended. -- The Bookwatch, March 2002

This is an important book indeed, with the potential to become a classic. -- Ethel Fried, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, CT, February 28, 2002

[Eric Grissell] certainly knows his subject. He has a gift for presenting scientific ideas in an engaging and understandable way. -- HortIdeas, April 2002

It might be time to declare a truce with the insects in our lives. With a sound basis in science and a practical grounding in gardening experience, Grissell introduces the reader to the role of insects in garden ecology. Illustrated with gorgeous photographs and now available in paperback, this book will be loved by anyone seeking a greater appreciation and understanding of these often-maligned garden visitors.

Eric Grissell was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. After receiving his doctorate in entomology in 1973 from the University of California, Davis, he worked as a taxonomic entomologist for the Florida Department of Agriculture until 1978. From 1978 to the present he has worked as a research entomologist for the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, located at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. He is also a research associate for the Smithsonian Institution and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Maryland. Grissell has gardened since the age of 8 and has been an avid entomologist since the age of 11. He has published two popular books on gardening, several technical books on entomology, more than 75 scientific papers.

When an insect awakens, the first thought that comes to its puny mind is not how much trouble it can create for you, the gardener. The concept of trouble is confined entirely to the mind of the gardener and his philosophical outlook on such things. As for the insect, all it wishes to do is eat, develop, and reproduce. In fact, it does not even know it wants to do this. An insect does what its genes instruct it to do and has no preconceived idea of what it wants to do. In metaphysical terms, an insect simply is it is the living essence of isness. Insects play a diverse and complex role in our gardens, of which gardeners have little knowledge. At most we might be familiar with the aphids that attack our roses or the butterflies we see fluttering by (if we are lucky); we might note a few ants in passing or a hornworm on our tomatoes. But essentially gardeners know very little about insects. Ignorance can certainly be blissful, but a good dose of reality now and again is more useful. Ignorance should be overcome in some cases, at least and I believe that our gardens will be better off for the effort. It may seem superfluous to state that the focal points of all garden interactions are the plant no plant, no garden. (Some could agree and point to a contemplative gravel garden, I suppose, but then they would not be reading a book such as this.) The horrible truth about plants is that plant-eating creatures, or herbivores, attack them. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.