Nancy was so clever and confident! Of course, eventually I found The Secret Garden also English -and fell in love with primroses and snow drops. What a cool idea, and stunning images! As a child I read this book over and over again. Reminds me of the pages of colorful flowers from your books and Zoes. He is working to solve a mystery and when people suggest things to him, he responds, We shall see. I have adopted that saying in recent years and always think of Big Max. I do the same, my granddaughters love to pick my flowers and play in the garden. They influenced me in several ways, I loved the sense of adventure that Pooh and his friends always had, whether catching hefalumps or playing Pooh sticks plus they were always kind to each other. I wish to this day I knew what that book was! The small books of Beatrix Potter were my books as a child and also all funny cartoon ,magical and fantastic!As of today these continue to live through me through making puppets comme to life with felt am working on a flower one, because flowers inspire me in so many ways from colors to textures to scents and multiple varieties hoping to inspire young people with this project !Inspiration from the fields , will surely help the inner artist in me TY. Before I could read, I would definitely spend hours in the seek and find books. I read it from cover to cover so many times! My favorite books were the choose your own adventure books! As a child, I loved books with color and texture- my favorite being The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. I loved adventure books with children finding a way to work with the natural world to surviveThe Boxcar Children, The Chronicles of Narnia, My Side of the MountainI felt very empowered by these books and often spent hours outside trying to live off the land like my heroes. I would read anything I could my hands on when I was young. Id rather have something home-made and free. From apples to zucchini, theres something for everyone. Martha Stewarts books and Victoria magazine were favorites of mine during my early years. my favorite- John Bauer. I am excited about this new book. I first interviewed Zo Field of Field of Roses here on the Floret blog way back in 2016 when I wanted to learn more about the farmer-florist movement in New Zealand. And they covered all the hills every spring, for everybody to enjoy. Its amazing how your question prompted how a book might have had such an impact on me. My favorite series was The Mandie series. I now have a nice selection of books in my gardening library. They all got a laugh out of that but I went to Purdue for Landscape Architecture and have never been the same. Your email address will not be published. I have been creating landscape gardening for many years and I can always find an new inspiration to my designs. I have dreamed for decades of creating my own secret garden and am now finally beginning to bring one to life! I am so grateful to to mother who understood and encouraged me. They are some of the first books I bought for my daughter. But I get my rejuvenation through the sheer beauty of flowers. When I discovered the Peanuts cartoons, I thought Charles Schultz named Snoopy after my dog. As I child, I read whatever I could find. Its just one of the many things we share now. As an adult I know that reading all of those books increased my literacy skills. I loved mystery stories of all kinds: Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and also read the Little House books many times over. She took me with her to our tiny little public library week after week hoping I would be interested in checking out a book. I also loved Aesops fables. my youngest is an environmental planner,vermont grown,nz educated, near wairoa-one of hardest hit towns in hawkes bay I love finding the originals ones in thrift stores and even at the book stores still. . My Father had a couple of semi-custom books made for me as a cold. Growing up I had a tree outside my kitchen window. Planning to read those books to my grandson and to grow sunflowers with him this summer! Id get so lost in book series for girls like Sweet Valley High but also enjoyed non-fiction books and learning about things that are real. I think reading in general as a young person really solidified my love of reading today and I try to pass that on to my own children by building a library of different types/genres of books for them and reading aloud to them daily. The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators. On the weekends we read chapter books. Probably influenced me to become a nurse. Shed weed, plant and till, Id make sprinkler rainbows and earthworm motels. Flowers, bugs, rocksALL of nature! She bought so much acres of farmland to protect nature, everytime she was a great lover of flowers. As an adult Im still thinking about our planet but now its how to make it a little bit prettier with flowers as well as what can I do to be kind to the planet that I always read about when I was little. I am 14 and have a dream of growing my own flowers, arranging them and seeling them in gorgeous bouquets. I guess being a grown up is one big choose your own adventure (except that you cant go back to the last chapter and choose a different route like I used to with the books!). Owning my own horse was a dream. Reading the authors description of the natural landscape (including flowers! Words that almost rhyme with alexis . By: Robert Lopshire. A book worm for all things magical. Playing in the woods with my sisters, acting out our own fairytales, are some of my favorite memories from childhood. Where the sidewalk Ends was a great warning about adulthood- where to draw the line. For me, Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak remains the most vivid childhood story and inspired my imagination, as will this book. Connection is so important for our mental health, and of course with other humans. Once I found an anatomy book at a garage sale, it had a lovely face with hands drawn on the front, but to my moms and my surprise it had more anatomical things than expected! They filled me with such joy! When I was young, The Secret Garden was such an inspiration & continues to be. Over the winter, we pulled out lots of roses that were underperforming. I enjoyed the imaginative stories and beautiful art of the series In the Land of Barely There. And I loved the stories of historical figuresAmy Carmichael, Florence Nightingale, Elisabeth Fry, which have encouraged me to seek Gods purpose for my life. Some are wild, almost gaudy! I plant flowers and a garden every summer, working in the soil grounds me. What fun it was to not only keep my attention but the amount I learned reading it over and over was invaluable. As an adult, I still like solving puzzles, and at my accounting job, I feel like the numbers present me with puzzles I get to solve all the time. As an elementary teacher Ive always read these stories to my students and they love them too. Loved all those characters! Dr Seuss Cat in the Hat. Mais aujourdhui en tant quadulte jadore lire des livres qui parle de croissance personnelle, ou encore des livres de tricot ( jadore le tricoter) et rcemment jai dcouvert quil y avait des fermes florale , chose que je ne savais pas que cela existait. Any and every kind. Thank you, for the look back and the interview. Loved Little Women- their adventurous spirit and how they followed their passions. I too am a photographer and artist, though not a flower farmer yet, these images from the book feed my soul that longs for color. As he talked about planes I though that was reasonable. The boy finally goes out and searches for his mitten and finds it curiously all stretched out with no idea all the little woodland animals tried to find warmth in his mitten. As a child and teen I would spend spring and summer days walking in the fields and woods collecting flowers and putting together bouquets. I have recently become a fan of multi-colored roses like Ziggy, featured in your interview. food that rhymes with alexis. From the book, I learned many camping skills that came in handy over the years. As a young child, I loved the Mr Putter and Tabby books, about an old man and his old cat who loved tulips and roses and tea. I loved books about crafts or art and gobbled books about whales- creatures I adored. I can imagine leaving this classier version out in my living room for years to come! These books inspired me to keep reading. It helped me imagine a world beyond mine in the city and made me yearn to live on a farm. In looking back I was irrevocably influenced by the watercolors used in Beatrix Potter & Tasha Tudor illustrations, (among other children book illustrators, no doubt). It was easy to lose myself in that world. As a grownup with littles Ive decided you can never be too old picture books. Perseverance is important with gardening too! When I was about 4 years old my mother gave me a little spot in her large garden for my very own. I loved Charlottes Web, finding true friendship and acceptance with beings who are very different from you. These books have shaped my imagination and aesthetics, and still influence my graphic creations in their own way today. Pets love to eat their favorite foods. She read so many books to us that year in this way. I still have to reference those thoughts and beliefs daily now that were farming. Now I love flower growing and arranging. It would be a fun one to share with my granddaughter! As a young child, I loved the Boxcar Children. It taught me to think about giving and receiving as well as humans impact on nature. I am currently trying to decide on a rain harvesting system. I also loved those I Spy books so this is a perfect combination of the two books I loved as a child! The secret garden a novel by Frances Hodgson that helped heal children both mentally and physically. I had a book called The Secret Garden, that I was obsessed with. Et cibo reque honestatis vim, mei ad idque iisque graecis. Im still in awe of that experience and have been so fortunate and grateful to have visited such an incredible site. Perhaps the idea of finding and nurturing treasures back to their full glorious beauty stuck with me. But the best part of all is that my imagination has come alive again with the textures, placement and most importantly color. There are so many favorites, among them being the Dr Seuss books, One fish two fish red fish blue fish, Green Eggs and Ham. I was shocked to find out at 13 that Great Expectations by Charles Dickens would become one of the most formative and enjoyable books of my childhood. Beautiful photos and flowers! Growing up in a small town, I was so curious about the rest of the world, other landscapes, other cultures I guess it is was led me to learn foreign languages, and later on to study and live abroad. My favorite book as a child was The Secret Garden. The mystery behind every novel was just thrilling. Do not laminate the plate because its hard for magnets to stick through the lamination. As a kid, I loved adventure books, especially ones that took my imagination to far off places. I would love a copy of Zoes book. But, they also informed my tendencies of being spunky, confident, and a go getter. Throughout my childrens elementary years we read Frog and Toad, Magic School Bus and various books of exploring and learning always with a theme of humor woven through. One of my favorite books ever was this book called The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang. I loved The Babysitters Club books when I was growing up. When I was little, I was drawn to romantic books like The Secret Garden, Magic for Marigold, and Anne of Green Gables. Our favorite books as I raised my four babies were The Wheres Waldo series and The Choose Your Own Adventure Series. As a child, I read a lot of series-little house on the prairie, babysitters club, etc -not sure how those stories shaped who I am however, Ive continued to be a voracious reader -mostly if cookbooks and any gardening book I can get my hands onwhich help me relax, dream, plan and reap heaps of delicious food and flowers! When I was a little girl of about 7, my Dad took me to the library for the first time. Ive reread the book and listened to an audio version many times since. I immersed myself into the pages for hours and entered the world I found inside. I also really liked the Little House on the Prairie series, as I live in the same area Laura Ingalls did. Its the reason I chose to garden organically and to use no kill methods to deter pests from my plants above and below the ground :). I loved those books! I loved coming off age novels that included nature and magic. I fell in love with The Magic Pudding stories by Norman Lindsay in Australia. . Happy to hear Zoe and her farm are safe. sports illustrated power rankings nba; st joseph's sfinge recipe; how long does raid take to kill roaches I am so drawn to it. As I grew up I developed sewing skills of my own, and these days I make quilts and other useful things out of mostly scrap fabric. My favorites were the Nancy Drew series. To see the different animals of all colors, shapes & sizes working together. What a beautiful book, and lovely interview. Even though their lives were so different then, compared to my 1950s childhood, I still related to the themes of friendship and growing up. food that rhymes with alexis. I had the luxury of living down the street from the local library. Growing up on a little farm in the middle of Illinois the photos were so magical. Im so excited for this book! I sped through the Goosebumps series at the library and then was left hunting for more ways to get that safe, scary thrill of reading a horror novel. We were running back and forth from the field getting those last little bits until we were both happy. I related to her love of nature and the beauty in each season and used it for imaginative play. I was just thinking of the irony of getting a subscription to Travel and Leisure as a sub for a magazine I used to get which folded. The honey-toned roses for The Beekeeper, sepia chrysanthemums for The Photographer, fluffy peonies for The Florist, muddy bearded iris for The Pottertheir worlds slowly revealing themselves bloom by bloom, in form, texture, and colour. As a young child I was into poetry. Interestingly, Zoe is a family name, my grandmother Zoe from Belgium, my sister Zoe, my niece Zoey.and my husbands nieces name is Zoe. Its in my top 10 favorite books (childhood AND adult). I didnt go on to become a super babysitter or have any run ins with monsters or ghouls, but they did instill a life long love of reading. Thank you very much for sharing it all with us and best wishes to Zo, her mother, and the rest of her family! This book looks amazing, congrats on all the hard work!! I loved books about animals: Dr. Doolittle, All Creatures Great & Small, Paddington Bear I felt drawn to the characters with their secrets and troubles, the beautifully strange darkness of the rainy days up on the Moor as described in the book, and mostly the dear old secret garden itself, with its creative powers of healing and health. Barb Hartle March 2 2023 I was hooked on the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She recently passed, and I am so grateful for all that I learned from her, I too have many many flowers in my gardens today and have passed this on to my children. My favorite books were the Harry Potter series. Growing up on a large farm in the Midwest, I took so much for grantedmy dad worked the fields and my mom had a huge gardenmostly veggies and some fruit but always some flowers tucked here and thereas a child I didnt appreciate the garden or produce or the flowers like I should haveas I grew older, married, moved to the Pacific Northwest, I find myself wishing I would have paid more attention to my dear moms passion for flowersI loved to read mostly anythingmy children grew up with the seek and find booksand I must say I enjoyed those books right along them! But now that I am getting older and more into gardening as a hobby, I cannot get enough picture books of anything floral! Ive always loved fairytales and still do. As long as there's beef, I'm happy as can be!" 3. The melody of the books were very soothing to me. They were so well written and made you think. I was a Nancy Drew series reader, and having the set next to my bed made for easy access at bedtime. No cell phones, just me and Nancy figuring out the next mystery. I read all the Nancy Drew books when I was young and loved each one. It was thrilling to me to read about each precious girls adventures in their gardens and it filled me with such joy. Today, Im excited to publish a new interview with Zo and get the opportunity to share about her work and wonderful book with you, which is a must-add to your flower library. I loved those adventurous stories and the magic that happened (cue my later obsession with Harry Potter), but they also presented real facts and history in a way that was so beautiful and interesting. The beautiful nature images inspired my love of flowers. I spent the entire summer of 5th grade immersed in Nancy Drew books. They are in my garden today. I remember my Granddaddy reading to me from The Bumper Book. We recently moved from are home of 20 years in the fall of 2021 . Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand But the Lost and Found books also remind me of Richard Scarys books, where I loved all the little illustrations of everyday things. and It is lovely seeing contributions from New Zealand, thank you. I have memories of my grandpa reading this book to us over and over, while us grandchildren were clustered around the sofa peering over his shoulder. I did not find out until I was an adult, that there were more books in the Narnia series and I still read them all now! When I was a little girl back in the Philippines around 1973, one of my favorite books was Namcy Drews , Password to Larkspur Lane. Such a beautiful book! Some of them (looking back now) were kind of scary but I loved them all the same. I cannot bend over any more but sprinkle flower seeds then pray whatever God wants to grow, it grows. Lost & Found looks gorgeous and it would be a real treat to win and enjoy every page. After I left for college my parents went in to the store to pick up my last paycheck and were handed a bill for an additional amount that I had purchased on store credit. I passed my books along to my nieces years later, and will share them with my granddaughters when theyre just a little older. X Tania. I enjoyed biographies which helped inspire me to become the person that I have. My kids adored the I Spy books. I bought my first horse in my 40s . Thank you for sharing this interview and the pictures! I loved reading as an escape. Ive spent most of my life trying to become them. This has set me on a path to try to learn, share and inspire all things gardening with the people in my life. I always wanted to be brave and outgoing as Nancy Drew but alas thats not my personality but its okay! The best: Francie held the books close and hurried home, resisting the temptation to sit on the first stoop she came to, to start reading. I get lost in it and then I go into my garden and dote on my flowers. I enjoyed reading books about dogs and war. What a beautiful book! Secret Garden was one of my all time favorites; it showed empathy and something that I now know for sure: nature does heal. To this day, one of the things I treasure most is sitting beside my loved one while we are both lost in our love of reading! Of these, Beatrix Potters Peter Rabbit was one that I read over and over again wondering what chamomile looked like and its healing properties as a tea. It is funny to me and interesting to my family that I am such a bright, colorful, fun person, with this love of elegant flowers, but I have such a passion for all things horror and macabre. I think I liked to read them so much because I was able to dream of a happier place. Et voil que ce printemps je commencerais mes premires semis de fleurs :) . Zoes book looks magical! Its rather laughable now as an avid flower gardener, but my favorite genre of books growing up were mysteries, lol. I also loved to look at bird identification books because my great grandfather handed some down to me. I had a strong imagination and really felt like I was following the characters on all their adventures. Hoping for a beautiful Dahlia garden this year!! They would paint a fanciful world where humans, animals and plants all lived together in harmonyit was a vision I carry with me still, in my 60s now! Im still a horse nerd and love to share the books with my kids. Heaven! It has become my way and now I earn a living being a gardener. Ive always felt like I was born in the wrong decade, and as a kid in the suburbs, I loved reading books with farm animals, hard work, and everything homemade and homegrown. Posted at 09:02h . As an adult I still love the idea of all of trying all of these things. And now as an adult, Im a pediatric therapist and help kids who are going through struggles of their own. Wed leave with stacks and stacks. I think the second delight was the best! I loved all of the Little House on the Prairie books and now I have a little homestead and *trying* to raise and grow all of our food! New Zealand is a beautiful country with wonderful people. What a lovely interview! I grew up to be a lover of magic realism in adult fiction, so Ive stayed true to form! It truly fueled my imagination which is still going strong. Years later, after college, I was still not reading in my leisure. I was never disappointed when I would pick up a volume , close my eyes and open it up to a page to read. My parents gave me books for every birthday and at Christmas. Thanks for sharing this but of it with us. Thank you for encouraging and growing our floral families . Did you have each character in mind before you created the seek-and-find photo or did they reveal themselves in the creative process? It was kind of like the Wild Thornberrys. Ive watched the movies based on that book almost as many times as Ive watched Growing Floret . I know your flower farm and design studio Field of Roses is a true family affair. I loved all the Mother Goose nursery rhymes and the colorful illustrations but as a preteen I discovered in my parents collection of books, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and was captivated by the story. Enjoying the beauty and artistry of it all. When I think about my journey to entrepreneurship, I always felt different. Erin, you are an inspiration. Also have a beautiful rose given to me by and elderly neighbour that smells so delicious your nose gets lots in it. I loved to read Fairy Tales when I was very young; as an adult now, I tend to be an optimist, and am always open to the influence of something magical to enter my life! Looking for inspiration as I foray into flowers! I loved the Laura Ingalls series and Nancy Drew and couldnt wait to see what would happen next, frequently reading under the covers with a flashlight. Books are important and Id love to have a copy of this one! I loved Beatrix Potter little books with all the darling illustrations. Zoe, I enjoyed reading about your love of flowers. I would pour over the pages and then head outside to try to locate real-life examples. I would check out 20 or so at a time, as many as I could carry. Nancy Drew was my first love, the puzzle/mystery to solve and her inquisitive nature really resonated with me. I read about adventure and hard work and how horses were good for girls. He introduced me to the childrens section and then left me to browse to my hearts delight. Personally I think by reading these books patience and solution finding skills are acquired. As I sit here in my warm, cozy home with 5 feet of snow outside and watching it continue to snow Ive been pulling out my gardening books and coffee table books seeking some inspiration and hope that Spring will arrive before I know it. Ham/lamb?" As a child, I was drawn to stories of nature and animals. I grew up in Estonia, a place with beautiful fields, woods and forests. Magic and nature how could they not be favorite things? Growing up my favorite books to read were the V.C. Hmm, which words rhyme? Imagination and creativity help shape me into a thought provoking and problem solving adult working in my career field. They were books about kids reading books, going on adventures, and solving problems! I especially loved the one on nature & space.