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Martha Stewart’s name is virtually synonymous with the pursuit of perfection at home and in the garden. She’s taught multiple generations of readers, followers and viewers how to elevate

their everyday living, be it through a meal, a room or a landscape. She’s faced setbacks, belittling one-liners and criticism only to emerge all the more confident; a larger-than-life

personality who seems to be perpetually in on the joke.  Stewart, 83, hasn’t just bloomed where she’s been planted. She’s thrived — and then quite literally written the book (or more than a

hundred of them) on how we can do the same. This month, she releases _Martha Stewart’s Gardening Handbook_, a more than 300-page tome that will surely become an essential reference for

gardeners of all levels — and demonstrates the vast expertise Stewart has cultivated over the years.   “The more you know, the better you are,” Stewart tells AARP. “That’s really the first

rule of gardening: Learn, learn, learn before you start to plant.” And Stewart, as always, is a willing teacher. The book contains all the material you might associate with her —

big-picture planning tips, thoughtful design guides, vivid photographs touting beautiful possibilities. But it also does the crucial work of connecting dots between big garden dreams and the

work it takes to achieve them. “A thriving garden cannot be rushed,” she writes, and the encyclopedic material that follows only further reinforces that mantra. “Martha Stewart's

Gardening Handbook: The Essential Guide to Designing, Planting, and Growing” is the domestic doyenne's 101st book. Courtesy HarperCollins Consider rose gardens, which make up just a

fraction of the book’s larger segment on specialty gardens. In addition to practical tending tips — think pruning or deadheading — Stewart shares how to pick color palettes or plant

varieties with different bloom times. Readers can also learn how to choose healthy plants from a store, understand which location might be best for their rosy retreat, and even peruse a

visual guide to cutting roses. “A garden can be anything you want it to be,” she writes. “But having a blueprint upon which to cast your desired design will help you achieve that.” Of

course, it wouldn’t be a Martha Stewart book without some guidance on how to use the fruits of your labor — such as a yearly calendar for planning, planting and harvesting. “I’m especially

proud of what I do with the things that I grow,” Stewart tells AARP over the phone from her home in Bedford, New York. Amid extensive chapters on trees and shrubs, specialty gardens, edible

crops and cutting flowers, readers can expect how-to guides on flower arranging or pickling their fresh harvests for long-term preservation. AARP caught up with Stewart about the book, her

biggest garden inspirations and the lifelong lessons she’s learned in the dirt. Plus, hopeful summer plans with Snoop. "It is very labor-intensive work to make a garden," says

Martha Stewart, shown here toiling in her Turkey Hill vegetable garden in 1988. Elizabeth Zeschin _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ WHAT GARDENING ACCOMPLISHMENT ARE

YOU MOST PROUD OF?  I’m especially proud of what I do with the things that I grow — like make my beautiful flowers book [_Martha’s Flowers: A Practical Guide to Growing, Gathering, and

Enjoying_]. That is an extraordinarily beautiful book with fantastic flower gardens, and cut flowers, and arrangements and information about how to grow all the flowers. Just that one book

would be the work of almost a lifetime for a gardener. I’ve done several.