You know the stakes are high when a garden contest sparks such competition among green thumbs that they stoop not just to weed and fertilize their own landscapes but also to sabotage their neighbors' plots. That's the case in Norman Draper's laugh-out-loud novel, "Backyard," and not only because the generous prize amount keeps growing. Here pride and even property ownership are on the line for some.
The gardeners of suburban Livia are as quirky and colorful as their landscapes. They include the fiercely self-important Dr. Phyllis Sproot, who showcases her horticultural expertise — certified by mail-order degree — in her hallmark coreopsis-salvia-hollyhock mix. This woman of "viral pride, intolerance, and pettiness" browbeats the mousy Marta Poppendauber, whose gardens bloom profusely with spontaneous plantings that Sproot disdains as "horticultural hodgepodgery."
As the competition heats up, the green thumbs to watch are Nan and George Freemont, who spend their time and too much money on a fabulous back yard that turns others green with envy. Their plantings include one stunner — a highly impressive and poisonous angel's trumpet — that becomes a source of suspense as events unfold. But the Freemonts have more to worry about than whether anyone tastes their lethal plant. Because they have neglected their mortgage in favor of pouring money into their passions for gardening and for drinking merlot, they have the most to gain — or lose — in the competition.
While the Freemonts play fair readying their landscape for judging, Sproot shows no scruples as her hubris and paranoia grow. Threatening a lawsuit over a trumped-up injury, she forces the gullible Poppendauber to engage in cloak-and-snippers surveillance in the Freemonts' back yard. Poppendauber's activities make for some of the most madcap moments in this farce.
Draper, a former longtime reporter at the Star Tribune, demonstrates an eye for detail and gardening tips as his narrative speeds forward. He also delivers — in the form of reflections on the glories of the garden and the vicissitudes of the weather — some well-placed pauses in the novel's headlong progress. However, given his news experience and likely appreciation for topping a story with a telling headline, Draper's title disappoints. The single word "Backyard" doesn't say enough to signal the genre, tone and delights of his novel.
Rosemary Herbert is a longtime literary critic, garden writer and author of "Front Page Teaser: A Liz Higgins Mystery."
