Lima, Patrick

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LIMA, Patrick

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Larkwhistle Garden, 191 Lindsay Road 40, Dyers Bay, Miller Lake, Ontario N0H 1Z0, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Firefly Books Ltd., 66 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1HI, Canada E-mail—larkwhistle@amtelcom.net.

CAREER:

Writer and gardener.

WRITINGS:

The Harrowsmith Perennial Garden: Flowers for Three Seasons, Camden House (Camden East, Ontario, Canada), 1987.

The Harrowsmith Herb Handbook, Camden House (Charlotte, VT), 1989.

The Natural Food Garden: Growing Vegetables and Fruits Chemical-Free, Prima Publishing (Rocklin, CA), 1992, published as The Organic Home Garden: How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables Naturally, photographs by John Scanlan, Firefly (Buffalo, NY), 2004.

(Author of text) Portraits of Flowers: Wood Engravings, engravings by Gerard Brender a Brandis, Porcupine's Quill (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Herbs: The Complete Gardener's Guide, photographs and illustrations by Turid Forsyth, Firefly (Willowdale, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Canadian author Patrick Lima has spent years learning and writing about gardening. His one-acre organic garden, Larkwhistle, located on Ontario's Bruce Peninsula, is open seasonally to visitors. Lima has penned many articles and books on perennial gardens, herbs, and organic gardening. One book of note on which he collaborated is the 1995 volume Portraits of Flowers: Wood Engravings. Lima wrote seventy-two essays that correspond to seventy-two wood engravings by Gerard Brender a Brandis, a former botanic art teacher at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario. Lima's essays cover a broad range of flowers and gardens, and they also provide design schemes, soil formulas, and growing tips. Throughout the book, the author weaves together memoir, folklore, and practical advice as well as references ranging from Greek and Roman myths to experiences hiking in the Himalayan foothills.

Portraits of Flowers was met with enthusiasm and praise from book reviewers and gardeners. "Lima delights a broad range of gardeners—from those who prefer to sit and smell the flowers to those dedicated diggers who converse only in Latin," wrote BostonGlobe contributor Marilyn Myers Slade. Cindy Barrett, writing for Maclean's, also found Lima's book to be a worthwhile read. "Portraits of Flowers is… a small treasure," she commented.

Another popular title from Lima's collection of works is The Organic Home Garden: How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables Naturally,. With this book Lima collaborates with his partner, photographer John Scanlan, to share experiences and recommendations on many aspects of organic gardening. The book covers topics such as crop types, intensive gardening, soil nourishment, and pest prevention. The chapters are organized according to the food grower's year. Again, critics lauded Lima's work in The Organic Home Garden. "The author's passion for natural gardening is infectious, and his language often borders on poetic. His knowledge provides an invaluable source," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Similarly, Bonnie Poquette, writing for the Library Journal, enjoyed the book's tone. "The authors' real strengths lie in their encouraging tone and their humor, which they use to relate their trials and errors," she commented.