Celestial Garden

Gardeners have long timed their sowing by the moon, but Jane Hawley Stevens shows how the moon's passage through the zodiac can sharpen that practice. Drawing on years of growing plants, she sets out a practical system for choosing the right moment for nearly every garden job, from putting seeds, roots, and transplants into the soil to pruning, weeding, propagating, and gathering the harvest. The book also suggests favorable times for launching a new garden project or hosting a garden party.

Stevens is an herbalist at heart, and herbs are her specialty, but her advice covers vegetables, fruits, and flowers as well. Her larger aim is to help people reconnect with nature and the earth through the cycles of the sky, presenting lunar and astrological timing as a way to bring the garden into step with its surroundings.

The astrological framework forms the core of the book. Charts and illustrations trace the lunar cycle and its effects on plants, identify the astrological rulers of the body, and show how the signs of the zodiac relate to the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire. Photographs from the author's own garden offer a visual record of how the method works in practice.

Written for gardeners at any level of experience, the book is meant to be a regular reference, a way to consult the sky before deciding what to do in the garden on a given day, week, or month, in pursuit of greater satisfaction and success.