Bears, Yogi Berra, bats with five-foot wingspans, wildflowers that look like a skeleton’s fingers – not the usual topics found in garden books. But then The Dirt Diaries isn’t your everyday tome about gardening. International award winning writer and rosarian emeritus Lynn Hunt presents the best of her best on gardens and gardening, featuring know-how and nonsense, instructive insight and flights of fancy.

You’ll learn how to build your own nature trail and protect yourself from the bite of a sea dragon. You’ll meet the world’s most accomplished rose hybridizers and chickens that like habanero peppers. You’ll visit historic rose Edens like Mottisfont Abbey in England and take an unfortunate trip to the National “Buttfly” Garden.

And, of course, tales abound about the Queen of Flowers and her glamorous garden sidekicks.

Beautifully photographed and written in Hunt’s distinctive voice, The Dirt Diaries is a charming new bloom in the gardening book garden. After all, anyone can tell you how to grow an insanely hot pepper called the 'Carolina Reaper'. The Dirt Diaries asks why would you want to?