I'm writing a garden book!

It's real now. There's postcards for it. I am co-authoring a book with Buffalo News and Buffalo Spree garden columnist, educator, TV garden personality, and garden book author Sally Cunningham.

The book, Unforgettable Gardens, Dazzling show-garden design secrets for your beautiful garden, will be published by St. Lynn's Press in Pittsburgh, PA. It will be on store shelves in a bookstore near you in November. St. Lynn's is a garden book publisher of great standing in the book-publishing industry and great supportive partners.

Our deadline is May 1. We've been working on the book's content and photos since December. Sally's a writing beast. She can pump out conversational, educational, entertaining, and easy-to-understand writing like no one I've ever seen.

The book is ostensibly on garden design, from the basics to learning from other gardens—other gardens from which you might visit and take ideas away—like garden tours. That's where my expertise comes in. There, and my nearly 20-year collection of 40,000+ garden photos from garden tours all over the U.S., Canada and beyond.

We'll feature many Buffalo gardens, but also gardens from around the country. Sally's come up with a few devices that will enable us to share other people's gardens in the book, some in their own words, some through quotes, and all with photos. Often, the gardener's story is as interesting as their garden.

I'll be doing some writing too. My writing friends will be aghast, but it will be filtered through Sally—and then through the crack editor, Cathy, at St. Lynn's Press. Cathy is a great collaborator and has already improved the writing and the presentation of the information.

I am an art director, but will not be designing the book. There is a pro book designer that will work on it. It's odd to produce but not design. I've designed six or seven books—she's done dozens! Being on the other side is a bit of a relief!

Part of the marketing of the book will be giving as many presentations to as many groups as possible—and selling books all the while. So I'll be taking my show on the road more. Already, in the next few months, before the book comes out, I have three gigs—Plantasia (the regions annual garden show) tomorrow (hence the need for the postcards); The Western New York Hosta Society in April; and Buffalo's 20th Century Club garden opening in June.

You can be sure I'll be hawking the book here and if you follow the blog, you'll hear about it. It should be available in book stores nation wide, as well as on Amazon.

Wish us luck!

(Actually, I should be writing my sections for the book and not a blog post (don't tell Sally!), but I was too excited!)