A graceful and sharply observed book of inspiration that uses the garden as its central muse

A New Leaf traces a year of growing seasons at The Leaf, Merilyn Simonds' acreage in eastern Ontario. A lifelong gardener, Simonds works the soil and the soul for wide-ranging revelations about everything from flowers that keep time, to the strange gift of compost, to great gardens of the world, to things lost and found underground.

She is joined on her journey by a host of companions -- including her Beloved, who tills by her side; the Rosarian, who tends to both bud and thorn in roses and life; and the Frisarian, who weeds unwelcome visitors to make room for new growth. Intelligent and intimate, irreverent and elegant, A New Leaf offers a cornucopia of enrichment and inspiration for the fertile mind.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, MERILYN SIMONDS is the author of several books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Convict Lover, which was nominated for the Governor General's Award. She lives with writer and translator Wayne Grady on a small acreage north of Kingston, Ontario.