The writing is conversational and full of reminisces. It's as though the author is afraid the reader's head will explode if the reader gets all the information she's after at once. There are helpful charts---unfortunately not conveniently gathered in a single appendix, but sprinkled throughout the book. To get at the information that supplements those charts, the reader has to wade through vaguely related prose. That said, the information is very useful so I'd recommend it to anyone interested in gardening in places where it freezes. ( )