The Cocktail Hour Garden

The majority of gardening books tell you what to plant and where and how to grow it. Few take you out into the garden and help you enjoy the spaces you worked so hard to create. That's why I'm so delighted with C.L. Fornari's latest book, "The Cocktail Hour Garden." -- Pam Baxter
The Cocktail Hour Garden gives a plethora of ideas for designing, planting and accessorizing your garden space to offer maximum enjoyment for those couple of hours when you can actually indulge in sitting down. Whether that is an hour before you start dinner with a calming cup of tea or like us, taking your wine glasses (and chocolate) over to the fire pit at dusk to watch the bats start to fly and the stars come out. C.L helps the reader evaluate their current garden and ask what each plant 'brings to the party'. -- Karen Chapman
Fornari has taken the term "green" to a whole other level with a book full of green things (i.e. plants) to festoon the area where we like to rest and enjoy beverages. Readers will discover abundant ideas for plant selection, furniture and hardscaping, attracting birds and pollinators and a whole section on edible plants for snacking and concocting beverages. -- Peg Tillery
[C.L.'s] tone is conversational, a charming invitation to join her for a cocktail and conversation at the end of the day. -- Pat Leuchtman * After Pollinators and Wildflowers Comes a Cocktail Hour *
If you're looking for an excuse to slow down and reconnect with nature - whether meditatively solo or socially with friends and family - you'll find plenty of ideas to incorporate into your garden and your lifestyle. For me, the book served best as a reminder that gardens are meant to be enjoyed, not just worked in, and I resolved to spend more time sitting in mine, and inviting friends to join me in that noble endeavor more often. Cocktails are being shaken. Chair cushions are being fluffed. Here's to the green hour! -- Pam Penick