Sleeping With a Sunflower: A Treasury of Old-Time Gardening Lore

by Louise Riotte

Arranged month by month, this book is packed with pure gardening folk planting by the moon, fishing when and where the bass will bite, and more. A treasured gift for anyone interested in the forgotten lore of gardening.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Reference

220 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

Beloved Storey author and life-long gardener Louise Riotte passed away in 1998 at the age of 89. She wrote 12 books on gardening, companion planting, and garden lore, among them the ever-popular Carrots Love Tomatoes, which has sold approximately 515,000 copies. Her father taught her to believe in and practice astrology, while her mother was a practicing herbalist. Together they inevitably influenced her life and her books, Roses Love Garlic, Astrological Gardening, Sleeping with a Sunflower, Catfish Ponds & Lily Pads, and her most recent book, Raising Animals by the Moon. Her own line drawings are included in all her books. Before authoring books, Riotte was a ghost writer for Simon & Schuster and for Jerry Baker's radio gardening show, and she also wrote a number of articles for Organic Gardening. Riotte took pride in her garden near her home in Ardmore, Oklahoma, which her son Eugene helped care for in her later years.

- from Amazon

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

you can dye easter eggs with onion skins and people did before there were commercial dyes. information like this fills the book. i eat it up ...

[M.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of gardening lore and advice from a time before chemical fertilizers, garden centres & big chain supermarkets.

[Patience Virtue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah it's informational but also a lot of ignorance throughout. Like the way the author refers to "indian" ways throughout, as if the American Indians are one monolith with one set of beliefs and practices (even went as far as to use the r-slur once. Gross).

And the history is super whitewashed white European dudebro which wasn't great either.

But the gardening advice seemed pretty solid?

[Julie Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Louise Riotte's books. I find so many interesting tidbits of information that I haven't read before on the pages of her books.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, planting with the moon.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little book to read throughout the year. It's split into the different months of the year so you read one at a time. Each chapter tells you about different gardening tasks to get done at that time of year, gardening tips and tricks, and garden lore. I enjoyed reading it!

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book I am putting up for sale. Month by month old-fashioned gardening lore with black and white line drawings. It has it's charms.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this woman's personality and the book is mostly great. I only give it three stars, however, because, for a book that's supposed to be about gardening, there sure is a lot of info on hunting and fishing! I don't get it.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book a whole lot better when I was much younger & more gullible. It is interesting, though.

[Gwnhwyfer]

From the bibliography of Ellen Dugan's Garden Witchery (2003).