Shopping & Services
Best Bookstore for Used Gardening Books
Black Oak Books 1491 Shattuck (at Vine), Berkeley, (510)
486-0698
For a whole variety of reasons, Black Oak stands out among Berkeley's
many stellar used bookstores. It's just the right size, has a back room
whose aisles are perfect for the floor-sitters among us (count us in their
undignified number), and has probably the best selection of used gardening
books in the entire Bay Area. We once scored a virtually mint, hardcover
copy of Graham Stuart Thomas' Perennial Garden Plants or the Modern
Florilegeum that is now among our most treasured references. Of
course, some people will wonder why you'd want to buy used books about a
topic as trend-driven as gardening. Well, garden styles and plants may go
in and out of fashion, but that's actually the point: Many out-of-print
gardening books -- for example those from the 1930s -- contain information
neglected in the rush to follow current styles. Black Oak also has a fine
selection of other new and used books, and hosts many general-interest
reading events; get yourself added to its mailing list to keep up.
From SF Weekly
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