If you garden or contemplate gardening in hardiness zones 5 or 6 of the Lower Midwest, this engaging book will save you time, money, and frustration. Diane Heilenman tells how to cope in our difficult and trying climate, create gardens appropriate for our region, and select plants - trees, shrubs (including roses and rhododendrons), vines, ground covers, perennials, annuals - that will be happy and in turn will make us happy. She also reveals how to recognize and encourage the good insects of the Lower Midwest and eliminate the bad ones; why plant origins are important; basics like pruning, soil preparation, composting, choosing and using tools; problems we are likely to encounter; and much more. A gardener's calendar tailored for our zones tells what to do when. More than an experienced gardener and gifted writer, Diane Heilenman is a thinker, grappling with what it means to garden in the late twentieth century, "a role that has expanded from cutting the grass and growing a few tomatoes and dahlias to an entire lifestyle sometimes fraught with moral responsibility, social mobility, and political correctness."