NCW Libraries

Centuries ago before chemical fertilizers and engineered inputs, the most productive vegetable gardens shared one common attribute: the vegetables were paired up. Not with other vegetables, but with beds of beautiful flowers. Even then, gardeners knew that vegetables love flowers. Or to be more precise, vegetables love pollinators, and pollinators love flowers. Drawn by colorful, fragrant blossoms, they visit in swarms, performing their good...

"Wheatfield, Minnesota: a metropolis of six hundred souls and change, for which the word "moribund" might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there and nothing ever would--until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and his precocious teenage buddy come up with a scheme to put Wheatfield on the map. Should something dramatic occur--say, that the apparition of the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared at the local Catholic Church--the...

"Heirloom flowers have stood the test of time. Prized for their beauty, scent, hardiness, or other star qualities, these vintage varieties continue to capture our imaginations and decorate our gardens long after they first came to be. In Growing Heirloom Flowers, author Christine McLaughlin takes you on a tour of these alluring blooms, covering the benefits, challenges, growing requirements, and everything else you need to know about more than forty...

When protests about a superstore chain's plans to build a location in a Minnesota river town escalate into bombing attacks at the construction site and the company's headquarters, Virgil Flowers races against time to find and stop the bomber.

"In Southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to an end. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues. "Issues" is correct. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter. The vote is four to one in favor. Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is helping out a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to...

When spring arrives, flowers of all kinds sprout and grow buds and bloom. Sometimes, they bloom a few at a time. But other times, many will bloom at once in a colorful flower boom! This photographic exploration of flowers goes from the desert to the woodlands and beyond, celebrating their beautiful variety and the science behind these colorful displays.--Amazon.

When a murder suspect commits suicide after his arrest for killing a soybean farmer, Virgil Flowers uncovers a multi-generation, multi-family conspiracy involving a series of monstrous crimes.

Rhyming text explores the wonders of natural cooperation between flowers and the animals and insects of the forest.

Design experts Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell walk you through the basics of transforming inexpensive tissue and crepe papers and other simple materials into handmade blooms suitable for every occasion.