Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart

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Penguin, Mar 4, 2014 - Biography & Autobiography - 304 pages
"In this profoundly moving memoir, Owita teaches Wall how to find grace amid heartbreak and to accept that beauty exists because it is fleeting—as in her garden, as in life." —People, 4 stars

"A perfect spring awakening." —Good Housekeeping

A true story of a unique friendship between two people who had nothing—and ultimately everything—in common.


Carol Wall, a white woman living in a lily-white neighborhood in Middle America, was at a crossroads in her life. Her children were grown; she had successfully overcome illness; her beloved parents were getting older. One day she notices a dark-skinned African man tending her neighbor’s yard. His name is Giles Owita. He bags groceries at the supermarket. He comes from Kenya. And he’s very good at gardening.
 

Before long Giles is transforming not only Carol’s yard, but her life. Though they are seemingly quite different, a caring bond grows between them. But they both hold long-buried secrets that, when revealed, will cement their friendship forever.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Title Page Copyright Dedication Prologue
Garden Angel
Of Particular Beauty Are the Azaleas
A Rose Between Two Thorns
A Promising Blade of Grass
Anticipated Blooms
Approaching Systems
The Canopy of the Yukon Gold Potato
Lemon
A Pretty
Potted Plants and Fresh Flowers
Green Plants Only
Impatiens
Tomato Plants
An Awkward Path
The Lilies of the Field

Every Yard Must Have Its Flowers
Shades of White
The Perfect Christmas Tree
Frail Magnolia
All the Things He Loved
Authors Note
Copyright

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About the author (2014)

Carol Wall is a writer whose essays and articles have appeared over many years in Southern Living magazine and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She lives on a tree-lined street in the heart of Middle America. 

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