Best Bookstore for Used Gardening Books

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.