Plant Books
A selection of books on various or specific plants for plant and book-aholics.
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Black Magic and Purple Passion
Book Description: All you need to know about black plants. Magic and passion in the garden are created with over 2,750 dark plants. Dramatic foliage and dusky flowers create mystery and add sex appeal to the garden. Detailed cultural care and Platt’s enticing descriptions and photographs enable the garden to plant black creatively. Over 425 color photographs. Platt is the founder of the International Black Plant Society and the first woman to have had a nursery specializing in black plants. She has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic for her black garden designs.
North America: An Encyclopedia of Mountain Flowers from the Rockies to Alaska
This comprehensive pictorial encyclopedia discusses 650 species in 54 genera, with many subspecies, varieties, and hybrids also described. Intended to be as useful for the gardener as the traveler, each entry concludes with a discussion of propagation and cultivation information, as well as warnings about pertinent pests and diseases.
Armitage's Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials
Annuals are experiencing a resurgence, as today’s gardeners demand a wider variety of options in plant selection. No longer confined to monotone bedding plants, dozens of "unusual" annuals are now available at garden centers in colors and forms far removed from the classic annual bed of pink petunias or red geraniums.
Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada
In this greatly expanded and revised edition of his classic treatment, Donald Schnell examines in detail the 45 species and numerous hybrids of carnivorous plants that grow in the U.S. and Canada. Information on each species includes an identifying description, the preferred habitat, the range in which it can be found, and the season for flowering and trapping, making this book a useful field guide as well as a fascinating source of leisure reading. With a full array of maps, drawings, and 200 color photos, this volume promises to enrich every enthusiast’s library with a wealth of information. Hobbyists will find cultivation tips as well. Schnell gives detailed instructions for growing these plants.
Elegant Silvers
Book Description Silver plants bring a luminous beauty to the landscape. Their distinctive colors, textures, and silhouettes enrich garden design; their ability to withstand extremes of heat, cold, drought, wind, and, for variegated silvers, shade makes them indispensable for gardeners. The geographic range of silver plants is broader than many assume. Silver conifers evoke snowy, colder regions and thrive in the most frigid sites. Even in four-season climates where they are frost tender, stunning agaves, yuccas, and echeverias can be grown outdoors in containers, then wintered over indoors, while other silvers, including tropicals like the downy-leaved Plectranthus argentatus, can be treated as annuals. In this comprehensive and inspirational compendium, silver aficionados Jo Ann Gardner and Karen Bussolini have selected and vividly illustrated the best candidates for a broad range of growing and design needs. Whether you decide to add a dash of quicksilver or the soothing perfume of an ancient herb, this in-depth guide to plants of uncommon beauty and versatility is certain to change the way you see and plant your garden.
The Explorer's Garden: Rare and Unusual Perennials
Dan Hinkley has opened up a new world of plant lusts here in the Pacific Northwest. Dan brings his adventures to us in the form of plant life. If you like the rare and unusual this books is for you.
Gardening With Clematis: Design and Cultivation
Book Description Clematis are among the more versatile and diverse plants for any garden; few flowers can fill so many garden niches, from specimen plants to dwarf perennials, or container selections to multistory vines. Wherever they are found, their blooms never fail to induce rapture and awe. The carefully chosen clematis can't be equaled when planted in the right situation and pruned in the right way, but horticultural horrors can ensue when beginners (or experts) overreach and force plants where they do not belong. Linda Beutler provides instructions for newcomers and master gardeners alike on plant selection, cultivation, and design, and debunks a few myths along the way. With a distinct nod to the wonderful traditions for growing clematis in the British Isles and Europe, she may be the first author to provide a distinctly American perspective on the subject. In sparkling and delightful prose, Beutler treats a multitude of subjects, including growing clematis as companion plants, combining different clematis in the garden, clematis in containers, manipulating bloom time with pruning, and much, much more. Filled with 115 beautiful photographs and the incalculable wisdom of hard-won experience, Gardening with Clematis will be required reading for all adventurous gardeners.
Gardening With Carnivores: Sarracenia Pitcher Plants in Cultivation & in the Wild
Native to the swamplands of the southeastern United States, the North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) are among the world's most spectacular carnivorous plants, and also the easiest to grow in temperate climates. Although they have long been confused with unrelated tropical Nepenthes pitchers, gardeners are learning that many of these hardy plants will thrive in the open year-round, from parts of southern Canada to the cooler subtropics. Sarracenia grow best in the open garden and usually show their most vivid colors in full sun.
Gardening with Carnivores is the first complete guide to these ornamental plants, from natural history to hybridization, and from creating a bog garden to using the pitchers as long-lasting cut "flowers." The book combines both practical and academic information to provide new insights into the biology and evolution of this dynamically changing group. Nearly 80 photographs capture the photogenic nature of this plant group, and all species and many hybrids are showcased in their richest colors.
Garden Plants of Japan
Book Description Japanese plants have had an unmistakable influence on the gardens of the world. Who can imagine gardens without flowering cherries, hostas, Japanese maples, or magnolias? For all the popularity of these plants in international gardens, however, few gardeners know the full story of Japanese plants --- their history and uses in gardens in Japan, their horticultural merits for gardens of all kinds, even the meaning and symbolism of their native names. Now for the first time, a color encyclopedia provides an authoritative overview of the Japanese garden flora. Garden Plants of Japan serves as a manual for horticultural advice, a source of inspiration for armchair gardeners, even a guidebook for travelers to Japan. Sumptuously illustrated, it explores the entire palette of plants cultivated in Japan, carefully noting which plants are authentically Japanese and which are transplants. The selection of plants and the amount of detail and insight are unprecedented.
Green Roof Plants
Book Description: Green roofs have gone from horticultural curiosity to booming growth industry in urban and suburban settings alike—primarily because their environmental benefits are now beyond dispute. Concise, accurate, and easy to use, this is the first reference devoted to the drought-tolerant plants most likely to succeed in this environment. The text covers moisture needs, heat tolerance, hardiness, bloom color, foliage characteristics, and height of 350 species and cultivars. Green Roof Plants is destined to become an indispensable practical reference guide for architects, landscape designers, engineers, and environmentally conscious home gardeners.
Ornamental Bamboos
Book Description Bamboos are among the most fascinating of plants. Their unusual life cycle, tremendous power of growth, and extraordinary diversity of size and form give them a special significance in gardens. And gardens of all sizes can accommodate these elegant plants, which are cold-resistant and surprisingly easy to grow. Yet even today, with bamboos enjoying a well-deserved return to popularity, their horticultural potential remains largely untapped. Some bamboos make impressive specimens for the border, others form a fast-growing hedge or screen, and short forms provide a leafy groundcover. David Crompton explains the characteristics that set bamboos apart, and everything that is needed to grow them successfully. The core of the book is a gardener's guide to nearly two hundred ornamental bamboos to grow and enjoy, supplemented by lists of bamboos for specific purposes.
The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer
Book Description: Every gardener loves perennials. Buy them and plant them, and most will flourish and even expand year after year. But in addition to reliability, perennials offer gardeners a wonderful opportunity to make a stunning visual statement in their home landscapes--if you know how to combine and arrange them. In The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer, Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra, two top garden writers and teachers, offer fun, organized, and--most important--attainable advice on how to create gorgeous gardens using these beloved plants.
Cohen and Ondra walk the gardener step-by-step through the process of creating new gardens, as well as of bringing new life to gardens that have lost their luster. They explain how to pick perennials that suit the site by making the most of plant color, shape, size, and texture and how to create eye-catching plant combinations. Beautiful illustrations accompany the new garden plans, and stunning photographs capture how Cohen and Ondra have redesigned their own gardens. Throughout the book a lively dialogue between Cohen and Ondra encourages readers to experiment and to create their own satisfying designs.
The authors also offer down-to-earth design solutions for 20 specific types of gardens, including everything from a minimum maintenance garden to a more complex container garden, from planting a formal border to indulging in the controlled chaos of a cottage garden.
Whether you are breaking ground for a new garden, or revitalizing an existing bed, The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer can help every gardener achieve great results--year after year.
The Plant Hunter's Garden The New Explorers and Their Discoveries
Book Description Many gardeners are vaguely aware of the "greats" of plant exploration, such as E. H. Wilson, George Forrest, or John Tradescant. Fewer may know the names of today's plant explorers or recognize the makings of a new golden age of plant discovery. Nonetheless, a quick visit to almost any nursery will reveal the bounty of these intrepid plant collectors, whose handiwork enriches gardens everywhere. The Plant Hunter's Garden profiles 32 of today's more prolific plant hunters. From the Czech Republic to the Rocky Mountains, Bobby Ward has sought out those explorers in the private sphere who are collecting plants specifically for horticultural introduction. While providing interesting details on the lives and careers of these new explorers, the real focus of the book is on the plants themselves. Ward asked each of the hunters to choose the very best treasures from their years of collecting, and has sumptuously illustrated these jewels in stunning photos. Many plants in these pages became bestsellers quickly after introduction from the wild, but hundreds more underappreciated gems are sure to entice and surprise any reader of this book. From the comfort of the armchair or the potting-shed table, readers of The Plant Hunter's Garden can embark on their own voyages of discovery in these delightful pages.
Plant Life: Growing a Garden in the Pacific Northwest
You won’t find potted petunias or rigid rows of hot-pink impatiens in this gorgeous new book. Instead, Plant Life features 80 luscious photographs of author Valerie Easton’s own garden (also seen in Better Homes and Gardens magazine). Drawn from her popular column of the same name in the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine, Plant Life invites the world into Easton’s garden, offering readers a personal perspective from a master gardener. Organized around the twelve months, Plant Life covers a wide array of topics including climbing plants, leaves that aren’t green, containers, garden paths, pests, and much more. Each chapter contains several essays -- some instructive, others philosophical -- relevant to that time of year, and features a “Now in Bloom” section focusing on plants at their prime and illustrated with full-color photographs.
Plant Personalities
Choosing and Growing Plants by Character
Book Description Plants can be flamboyant and voluptuous, funny and frivolous, even shy and retiring, but do they really have personalities? In this book, Klein demonstrates how understanding plants' needs and providing the appropriate conditions enables them to develop their true characters---the qualities that make them what they are. Personality traits can be as valuable as height, habit, and flower color when choosing your plants. Some plants are good natured, contributing to the overall landscape for months, while others are fleeting, grabbing the spotlight for a brief but breathtaking display. Still others lend a sense of frivolity or sensuality to the garden. Illustrated with superb photographs, Plant Personalities will inspire any gardener to see the unique character in every plant.
Plant Solutions
for Every Garden
Book Description If you're looking for the right plant for a particular place or purpose, Plant Solutions is an invaluable resource. Whether you have a shady spot, alkaline soil, or a boggy area; you're looking for fall color, cut flowers, or ground cover; or need to consider pollution tolerance or allergies, the extensive plant suggestions in this thorough directory will help you make the right choices. Each entry has a photograph, a clear description including desirable varieties, a summary of cultivation requirements, planting ideas, and suggestions for companion plants. Cross references to other plants in the book enable gardeners to build up a palette of plants to suit their needs. Fully annotated illustrations of planting schemes and color-coded tabs for quick reference make for an inspirational and practical companion for gardeners and designers.
Rock Garden Plants: A Color Encyclopedia
Rock Garden Plants: A Color Encyclopedia is a unique resource, invaluable for beginning and expert rock gardeners alike. From Abies balsamea to Zinnia grandiflora, Mineo mentions more than 1300 plants, none of which grow to more than 24 inches (60 centimeters). He describes plants that have extremely diverse characteristicsperennial, herbaceous, succulent, shrubby, woody, and more. They have very different requirements for sun, soil, and temperature; included are true alpines, plants for dry or desert areas, woodland plants, Mediterranean plants, and plants for other climates. A thorough appendix lists rock garden plants for specific purposes and locations.
Baldassare Mineo has been the managing owner of Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery in Medford, Oregon, since 1978. He has helped to solidify Siskiyous reputation as the premier alpine and rock gardening nursery in the United States, and he is a member of the North American Rock Garden Society and the Alpine Garden Society, as well as other plant-related organizations.
The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants
You are about to enter the carnivorous plant zone. Beautiful and exotic plants that are an insects worse nightmare. Quite an extensive book on these unusual plants.
Subtropical and Dry Climate Plants
The Definitive Practical Guide
Book Description Climate change, the need to conserve water, the desire for more exotic and dramatic plants — all of these are prompting gardeners to seek out interesting new plants that thrive in subtropical or dry climates and microclimates. This book offers expert guidance and sensible advice on a wide range of plants — native to California, Florida, Australasia, South America, South Africa, Turkey, and the Mediterranean region — that can be successfully cultivated in many regions of North America and Europe. A general introduction offers advice on choosing and designing with these plants, with particular emphasis on hardiness and overwintering in cooler climates. An A–Z plant directory profiles over 1000 plants, and there are useful lists of plants for different situations.
Succession Planting for Year-round Pleasure
Book Description Most gardeners want their borders to be interesting and colorful over a long season, even year-round if winters are not too severe. With this book, Christopher Lloyd shows how he chooses and orchestrates plants so that the borders always look their best. Once having covered the principles of succession planting, Lloyd explores the ingredients necessary to ensure continuously lively borders---from anchor plants and permanent perennials to drop-in plants and self-sowers. Packed with fresh ideas and practical advice for every season, Succession Planting contains all the information you need to create brilliantly successful year-round planting schemes.
Waterlilies and Lotuses
Species, Cultivars, and New Hybrids
Book Description In this fully updated work, Perry Slocum describes nearly 500 species and cultivars of the crowning jewels of water gardens, the waterlilies and lotuses. This book includes more than 130 of the best new hybrids introduced since the landmark Water Gardening: Water Lilies and Lotuses by Perry Slocum and Peter Robinson was published. All species and the major cultivars, including day- and night-blooming tropical and hardy waterlilies and lotuses, are described along with the author's and hybridizers' comments on the best landscape uses for each plant. Although the genera Nymphaea and Nelumbo receive special emphasis, a chapter is also devoted to the other genera in the waterlily family, Nuphar, Victoria, Euryale, Barclaya, and Ondinea. In addition to his achievements as a hybridizer, Slocum is an award-winning nature photographer. Waterlilies and Lotuses is illustrated with 350 stunning color photographs of these exotic beauties, with more than 100 photos published here for the first time. With information on hardiness, including maps for Europe and the United States, and an extensive list of suppliers of water gardening plants and equipment in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, Waterlilies and Lotuses is a truly definitive resource for water gardeners the world over.
Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques
Amazingly, this is the first book that covers this essential topic in detail, although books on pruning woody plants abound. Deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing are among the techniques in the gardener’s arsenal that are thoroughly explained and illustrated. An extensive encyclopedia of important perennial species and cultivars explains the pruning and maintenance needs of each plant. Wonderfully useful appendices offer a month-by-month planting and maintenance schedule for the typical perennial garden.
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