The Bloomin' Desert by Karen Wright, alias Juniper Rose.
By Michael Stillman
Just released is a new book for desert (and other) gardeners, The Bloomin' Desert, by Juniper Rose. "Juniper Rose" is actually Karen Wright, who could accurately be described as a Renaissance Gardener. Not only has she managed her own gardens for decades, she is head gardener for the historic Gold Hill Hotel in Virginia City, Nevada (Bonanza's Cartwrights might have stayed there if they were real people), columnist for that city's Comstock Chronicle, bookseller and owner of The Wright Book, and writer for AE Monthly.
The Bloomin' Desert is written for gardeners in the high deserts, but the advice will apply to those who till the soil just about anywhere in the world. To paraphrase New York, New York, if you can garden here, you can garden anywhere. Gardening in the high desert is nothing like gardening in the tropical soil of Florida, the rich dirt of the Midwest, or even the crisp air of New England. No, gardening in the desert is like gardening on the moon. The most common "nutrients" in the soil are salt and various alkaline substances, water does not exist, temperatures range from so hot as to kill any rational forms of life to so cold as to freeze dry them, often all within the same day, and the winds will bowl over any plant that attempts to stand upright. Indeed, if you can grow things here, you can grow them anywhere.
The high desert, as the name implies, is like other deserts but at a higher altitude, generally a mile or more. Weather here is as dry and windy as one would expect, and summers desert hot, but the high desert also features very cold weather in the winter, including snow on those occasions when moisture manages to stop by for a rare visit.
Karen Wright's book is filled with advice for gardening under these extreme conditions, advice which is generally equally useful in more friendly climes. While not specifically an organic gardener, her tips and remedies are usually based on nature, rather than harsh chemicals and poisons. It is the type of advice you will particularly appreciate if you plan to eat anything which comes from your garden. However, this is not just a book for vegetable or fruit farmers, but for those who grow flowers and trees and bushes as well.
The Bloomin' Desert is not a textbook type of gardening book. It isn't filled with instructions such as plant tomatoes on May 15 if you live in zone 5, but consists of countless practical tips that come from someone who has had a "green thumb" virtually all of her life. It is filled with the advice you don't find in a seed catalogue.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
