Herb Gardening Books
Here is a list of my favorite herb books.
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Ancient Herbs
Book Description: The 40 ancient herbs presented here were all important for culinary, medicinal and cult purposes in classical antiquity. They include olive and pomegranate, myrtle and rose, coriander and marjoram, garlic and thyme. In the introduction, the author draws on her extensive knowledge of ancient practices to paint an intriguing image of the many and varied uses of and myths about plants from Greek and particularly Roman kitchen gardens. Quotes from classical authors testify to ancient practices, some curious, some still standard today.
The delightful illustrations reproduce drawings from early 19th-century botanical publications, which often show the plants at various stages of growth, from seeds through to ripe fruits.
Artistically Cultivated Herbs: How to Train Herbs As Decorative Art
Book Description: A master gardener shows how to grow your favorite herbs in many striking decorative formats. Imagine flavorful herbs as bonsai, or espalier. You can even create an herbal standard or design attractive window boxes or an artistic herbal topiary, and more.
Basil: An Herb Lover's Guide
Book Description: Thomas DeBaggio and Susan Belsinger, popular authors from Interweave's Herb Companion magazine, present a growing/cooking double feature in this comprehensive book. Thomas gives instructions on growing basil from seed and from cuttings, in the garden, on the terrace, in indoor light gardens; he also traces the herb's history and lore and profiles 45 popular varieties in depth. Susan provides 36 basil recipes created especially for the book, including basil bloody marys, fool-proof pesto, and white bean and pasta salad.
The Complete Book of Herbs
Ingram With more than 340,000 copies sold in hardcover, this essential, full-color resource is now available in paperback. Revealing the enormous potential of herbs, this sourcebook includes information on planting, growing, and harvesting herbs, as well as the main uses of herbs. It also offers an exhaustive identification guide, recipes, ideas for gifts, and much more.
Complete Herb Book
Book Description: A comprehensive guide, The Complete Herb Encyclopedia provides detailed information on over 600 varieties of herbs. You will find an array of ideas for using herbs for cooking, healing, aromatics, cosmetics and dyeing. Also included are tips on the cultivation and propagation of herbs for your own garden. Illustrated with hundreds of beautiful color photographs, this volume also includes symbols to help you get the information at a glance, and both Latin and common English names for each herb. This lovely book is an invaluable resource for both novice and veteran in the world of herbs.
Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses
Book Description: Here is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging book devoted entirely to herbs. More than 1500 herb photographs, taken in herb collections all over the world, are combined with descriptions of well over 1000 species, varieties, hybrids and cultivars.
Herbal Harvest
Commercial Organic Production of Quality Dried Herbs
Book Description: Greg Whitten Herbal Harvest is the most comprehensive book on organic herb production in print. In over 550 pages Greg Whitten covers all facets of commercial organic herb-growing: the state of the herb industry, site selection, climate, irrigation, weed management, propagation, trial plots, composting, pests and diseases, harvesting, drying, processing and marketing, innovative tool design, personal health, and more.
Individual crops are organized by growth type (such as spreading herbs, perennial crown herbs, trees and shrubs, annuals, biennials, and short-lived perennials), plus the author includes chapters on wildcrafting herbs. Each plant section has detailed photographs and illustrations depicting foliage, flowers, and roots for easy identification as well as harvesting techniques and tools. Information charts for growing, harvesting, drying, and marketing each of the species can be found at the back for a quick reference guide.
The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias
Book Description: The genus Salvia includes more than 700 species and hundreds of garden-worthy cultivars; given their extreme diversity of color and habit, salvias may truly be the ultimate collector's plant. Our publication of Betsy Clebsch's A Book of Salvias in 1997 prompted even greater interest in many handsome and newly available plants; Sutton's new book documenting more than 90 species provides a useful perspective from England and Europe.
The Genus Lavandula
Book Description: Long prized by the fragrance industry for its essential oils, the genus Lavandula is steadily increasing in popularity among gardeners and horticulturists worldwide. This is the first full treatment of this important genus to be undertaken since 1937. It treats 40 species and their cultivars and hybrids, presenting their taxonomy, distribution, and the history of their cultivation. With several useful appendices, as well as chapters on cultivation, propagation, and pests and diseases, The Genus Lavandula is a comprehensive and authoritative account of this important genus. Exquisite paintings from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, complement the text.
Growing Herbs: For the Maritime Northwest Gardener
Book Description: This comprehensive guide is all you need to successfully cultivate, harvest, and preserve culinary herbs in the maritime Northwest. Plan your own herb garden or choose one of seven designs, from a coloful basket of edible flowers to a fragrant landscape of twenty-four kitchen herbs.
Growing Your Herb Business
Book Description: Practical advice on budgets, locations, business plans, bookkeeping, staffing, inventory, and pricing. Case histories of 50 thriving herb businesses. Additional topics include developing products, packaging, special events, and methods for expanding.
The Herbalist's Garden : A Guided Tour of 10 Exceptional Herb Gardens: The People Who Grow Them and the Plants That Inspire Them
Book Description: People travel from all over the world to visit the North American gardens of renowned herbalists Rosemary Gladstar, Adelma Simmons, Dr. James Duke, and others. Now you can explore these beautiful surroundings without ever leaving your armchair!
Shatoiya and Richard de la Tour lead you inside the garden gates of ten of North America's most enchanting herb gardens. And they invite you to share a personal "chat" with the gardeners who tend and love these remarkable healing and healthful plants. Come take a close look at the gardens through the beautiful images taken by award-winning photographer Saxon Holt. You'll hear these celebrated gardeners and herbalists describe the dreams that inspired their green thumb, the greatest joys they find in herb gardening, the challenges they've experienced in the garden, and what their most beloved plants are. The gardeners featured in this book offer their own personal recipes for healthful foods and healing remedies, tips on how to care for particular plants, and ideas for designing a garden of your own. Their deep commitment to their gardens will leave you with fresh energy and a renewed passion for gardening, whether you have a few acres, a few clay pots, or simply a penchant for dreaming.
The Herb Garden
Book Description: A practical guide to herb gardens, the varieties of herbs available and how best to grow and cultivate them. The photographs seek to illustrate the attractiveness of herbs in any situation. Practical instruction on cultivating, propagating, harvesting and using the herbs is set in the wider context of designing a pleasing and functional garden: planning a knot garden, building raised beds and banks, and establishing plants underfoot and training them overhead.
A herb index catalogues the enormous variety of herbs available, with illustrations comparing species from the more complicated herb families.
Herb Garden Design
Book Description: Useful and decorative, commonplace yet indispensable, herbs have a place in every part of the garden. They can serve as border perennials, groundcover, foundation plants or bedded-out annuals. Their garden value is as varied as their traditional culinary and medicinal virtues. This handbook discusses the myriad ways in which herbs can be used in the landscape. It features 30 very different planting plans to suit every situation, from tiny terrace to large plot. There is a reference table of over 200 herbs that offer colour, texture and shape.
Herbs in Bloom
Book Description: Now in paperback, Herbs in Bloom is a delightful A–Z selection of 80 favorite groups of flowering herbs. Full of detailed information on how to grow each herb from seed or cuttings, the book offers systematic advice on site selection, soils, transplanting, and other practical concerns. Over 700 herbs are included in all. In the author's words, "It is my aim to convince fellow gardeners that herbs also have beautiful flowers and can be used to advantage anywhere in the landscape.
Landscaping with Herbs
Book Description: Although the focus is on herbs as ornamentals in a variety of garden settings, from formal to wild, this is really an encyclopedia of herbs, including more than 600 species and cultivars. It offers a wealth of information on cultivation, folklore and history, and culinary uses.
The Lavender Garden: Beautiful Varieties to Grow and Gather
Book Description: If you consider yourself a lavender lover--that is to say, if you are mesmerized by the plant's delicious aroma, enchanted by its long, rich history, and passionate about its medicinal uses, The Lavender Garden is for you. This lovely book offers instructions on growing, maintaining, harvesting, and drying the plant. Author Robert Kourik includes a comprehensive profile of each variety including history, cultivation, bloom period, flower and foliage shapes, and landscape and culinary use--information that's most useful in determining which of the 16 varieties are right for one's garden. Each entry also contains suggestions on companion plantings that achieve the most aesthetic effect.
The sections on craft projects and culinary uses are outstanding. Kourik offers simple instructions on making oils, potpourri, perfume, and pillows, and the ins and outs of cooking with lavender. Twelve recipes and a list of display gardens and seed sources round out the back of the book. If you are looking to grow your knowledge about varieties of lavender, or would like to foster a friend's interest, The Lavender Garden is sure to delight. --Karen Karleski
Lavender: The Genus Lavandula
Book Description: Lavandula species are mainly grown for their essential oils, which are used in perfumery, cosmetics, food processing and aromatherapy products, and for their use as ornamental plants and ingredients in numerous cottage industry products. Certain types of lavender oil have also been shown to have antimicrobial and antifungal properties. The dried flowers have been used for centuries in pillows and sachets to promote sleep and relaxation, and oil of spike lavender is used as an insect repellent. Lavender: The Genus Lavandula is a comprehensive volume covering all aspects of our current knowledge of lavender, including:
* taxonomy, and history of usage and nomenclature
* lavender cultivation for essential oil production and retail purposes in different countries
* phytochemistry of the genus
* chemistry of Lavandula oils
* theory and practice of distillation and standardization of lavender essential oils
* pharmacology and therapeutic properties of lavender oil and Lavandula extracts
* use of lavender oil in aromatherapy, perfumery, cosmetics, food processing and medicine
* new research into Lavandula species and their oils.
With contributions from lavender researchers worldwide, this book will be of interest both to graduate students and scientists in academia and industry who are involved with lavender, to professionals in the lavender growing and retail industry, the perfumery, food and cosmetics industries, and to those interested in lavender for alternative and conventional medical use.
Lavender: The Grower's Guide
Book Description: With their heady perfume and stunning visual appeal, lavenders have been prized by gardeners since ancient times. Lavender is a truly comprehensive study that enables the reader to research and identify more than 200 lavender species and varieties. With chapters on cultivation, propagation, pests and diseases, and botanical history, this book is as practical as it is authoritative. More than 200 photos document recent advances in color variation that have resulted from intense breeding; plants now available range from deep purple and lilac to white, cream, pink, and red-violet. With so many hardy and dependable plants to choose from, no lavender enthusiast will want to be without this indispensable book.
Living with Herbs: A Treasury of Useful Plants for the Home & Garden
From Booklist This guidebook to growing and using herbs (and a few wildflowers and shrubs) is written from a personal viewpoint. Gardner is the author of several gardening books and a contributor to gardening magazines. For 25 years, she has earned a living growing herbs on a remote farm in Nova Scotia, whose harsh climate and poor land, she relates, "forced me to examine and question accepted gardening practices and to revise them according to my needs." Readers from all regions will benefit from these simple strategies for dealing with common problems, which Gardner learned through hard experience. Part one of the book covers basic growing methods, harvesting herbs, using herbs in the home, and landscaping with herbs. Part two gives 75 detailed "herb portraits," all based on direct experience, including specific growing tips and often recipes and other uses in flavorings, teas, vinegars, oils, jellies, wreaths, swags, aromatherapy, skin fresheners, and potpourris. This "intimate, rather than encyclopedic," compendium concludes with a bibliography; sources of seeds, plants, and supplies. - Penny Spokes
The Natural History of Medicinal Plants
Book Description: Wild and cultivated plants have provided humans with cures for thousands of years. Aspirin, for example, the most widely used drug in the Western pharmacopoeia, was first isolated from willows to treat fever, pain, and inflammation. Today it is synthesized in the laboratory, and its use as an anticoagulant eventually could overshadow its use as an analgesic. Other botanical medicines that became significant to human health and well-being are pain-relievers from opium and coca, muscle relaxants from curare, blood anticoagulants from sweet clover, anticancer alkaloids from Madagascar periwinkle and Pacific yew, tranquilizers from snakeroot, and oral contraceptives from molecular precursors in tropical yams.
Although we may be tempted to think of these and other plant chemicals existing primarily for our medicinal use, in reality they are defense strategies in a natural world colonized by organisms competing for survival. In this fascinating introduction to the botanical compounds used medicinally, Dr. Sumner describes their biological and ecological importance as toxins and deterrents in protecting plants. Some of these chemicals discourage predators by rendering plant leaves unpalatable, while others disrupt the usual developmental and reproductive stages of their attackers. Still others are well known for their potent psychotropic effects that can dangerously alter the awareness and reflexes of plant-eating animals. An exciting chapter on the new field of zoopharmacognosy provides some interesting examples of birds, primates, and elephants that seemingly recognize and use plants as medicines. The author concludes with a thought-provoking analysis of the issues behind using medi! cinal plants to improve human needs without destroying the earth’s biodiversity.
Written for the lay reader, The Natural History of Medicinal Plants will inspire a greater appreciation of the vast natural pharmacy of plant medicines. Numerous black and white illustrations and 30 color plates accompany the text.
Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace: Herbs and Ornamentals from the Umbel Family
Book Description: Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace is the gardener's introduction to the characteristics, cultivation, and history of one of the most distinctive families of the plant kingdom. These plants were well known to the Greeks and Romans — it was the juice of a member of the umbel family that Socrates was forced to drink — and the family was the first to be studied as such botanically, by Robert Morison in 1672. Yet even today the many herbs and ornamentals of this family are not as well known or appreciated as they should be. Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace is for anyone interested in herbs, whether for their culinary value or as ornamentals.
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
Book Description: Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs is a virtually endless source of useful information and herbal know-how. Presented in an A-to-Z format, supplemented with easy-to-use charts and lists, beautifully illustrated with drawings and color photographs, it is the only book on herbs you ever need to buy.
Your Backyard Herb Garden : A Gardener's Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More
Book Description: Everything you need to know about growing your favorite herbs using safe, natural, all-organic methods! Practical tips and advice on all aspects of successful herb growing. A wealth of great ideas and helpful how-to on using herbs in cooking, crafts, cosmetics, health care, insect repellents, and more. Illustrated herb directory featuring all the most popular herbs-- from aloe to yarrow-- each with complete information on growing, care, harvesting, and uses.
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