No comments about Annuals for Illinois (Annuals for . . .).

2 comments about Taylor's Guide to Annuals (Taylor's Gardening Guides).

1. This book is an excellent reference for anyone who would like to identfy a flower but does not know where to start. Coupled with its companion book on perennials, it is a most useful tool for the homeowner who desires a pleasant landscape. The clear vivid pictures are one of its best features. Grouping these pictures by color allows anyone who knows nothing about a flower except how it looks to be able to identify a flower according to appearance only. Once the flower is identified by its picture, a brief concise description and name are given then the reader is referred to another page for more information. The reader then finds on this other page another well written brief description along with essential growth and propagation facts about the plant. All the information is kept to the point so the reader is not bogged down with a lot of nonrelevant material. The book is directed to both the amateur gardener who just wants the facts, like the flowers common name, and also to the horticulturalist who demands the scientific name. The illustrations, charts and color guides make the book easy to understand and follow. It includes such helpful hints as how to get a garden started, different garden designs, ways to propogate plants, plus pest and disease control. The University of Missouri in Columbia recomended this book along with its companion book for one of the horticulture classes I took. Having had my degree in horticulture several years now, I still use these two books quite frequently. I have leant them to friends and neighbors several times. In fact, I am ordering a replacement since one book has not been returned to me, and I find I rely it more than I realized. Another feature that makes it enjoyable is its actual size. The book is thick with its plethera of information yet small and easy to carry around and flip through quickly. In summary, it is well written, well designed, and well illustrated. The true-to-color vivid pictures make it easy for just about anyone to identify any common flower in the United States of North America. It is a must for any plant lovers library.



2. Yet another in the fine series of Taylor Guides. The only complaint I might have is that this format of bookbinding isn't the most durable, but maybe I am just using it too much!

2 comments about American Azaleas.

1. What a wonderful book. The author has created a book that is easy to read, practical and informative. For those who are thinking about incorporating some native flowering shrubs into their garden or for those that are interested in Azaleas in general, this book is a must have. From a technical point of view, the author gives detailed information on propagation, planting and overall care of these plants. The photography gave a wonderful view of these native azaleas in their natural habitat as well as their tasteful placement in a naturalized garden. My favorite part of the book however was the in-depth discussion on hybridization of the native azaleas. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in native azaleas.



2. This book is a good introduction to native azaleas and is particularly helpful on distinguishing between the fifteen azalea species that grow in the U.S. Each species is described with a map indicating areas of the country where the plant originates. A 40-page section of beautiful color photos show each variety growing in the wild and in gardens. Other chapters include information on growing, collecting, landscaping and propagating azaleas. Appendices include sources for purchasing azaleas, organizations, registration forms for registering a new azalea and rhodendron name, illustrations of leave and flower types and a bibliography.

2 comments about 100 Favorite Roses (100 Favorite Series).

1. I will buy virtually any book on roses so I don't regret buying this one. The book provides each rose a single page and photograph so its fun to just look at the pictures, annotated with the relevant stats and a short description of the rose. The author has a long association with Jackson-Perkins and Horticulture Magazine. For me, the book's shortcomings are fairly serious. Reviewing the descriptions of the roses made it immensely obvious that the author and I don't use similar criteria when identifying favorite roses. The term 'favorite' is a purely subjective term so one can't critique the author for a value judgement, nevertheless, I wouldn't let this list of favorites guide my selection of roses to plant. For example, one favorite rose had the following in the description: "Mildew and blackspot are often a problem", "It is not especially hardy" and has "slight fragrance." Another rose had "sparse growth and inhibited flower! ing when hot" while at the same time being "not super hardy". Those roses wouldn't go in my garden. Just as a nicety, I always look for a bibliography and this book had none. Cultivation was only very briefly touched on.



2. Beautiful illustrations, information good, great gift or coffee table book!

1 comments about A Guide to Growing Amazing Annuals.

1. This wonderful treasury of annual flowers is inspirational and gives great ideas for garden design. Although it's a small book, it's packed with great pictures and is well-organized. The sections of flower choices by color, design ideas and how-to gardening tips are all useful and nice to look at. A nice gift for novice gardeners.

No comments about Southern Living Garden Guide Annuals (Southern Living Garden Guides) (Southern Living Garden Guides).

3 comments about Easy Flowers.

1. This book offers ideas for selecting flowers and containers that can look beautiful in your home. Starting with basic design principles and ending with notes on flower care and conditioning, most of the book is divided into chapters by colour. With any book of this type the illustrations are the focus, and there are page after page of truly beautiful colour photographs. They make you want to rush out to the florist and spend all the grocery money on tulips or alliums.

   I spent a delightful half hour going through this book, but I wouldn't buy it - pretty pictures aside, there's just not enough substance to it.




2. This book offers ideas for selecting flowers and containers that can look beautiful in your home. Starting with basic design principles and ending with notes on flower care and conditioning, most of the book is divided into chapters by colour. With any book of this type the illustrations are the focus, and there are page after page of truly beautiful colour photographs. They make you want to rush out to the florist and spend all the grocery money on tulips or alliums.

   I spent a delightful half hour going through this book, but I wouldn't buy it - pretty pictures aside, there's just not enough substance to it.




3. This book contains great decorating ideas for every room in your home. There are numerous combinations of vases and flowers to beautify even the plainest decor. This book will help you freshen up any boring or dated rooms.

1 comments about Annuals for Minnesota & Wisconsin.

1. This book has a photo of each flower. It gives the height, amount of sunlight, problems of the plant such as disease resistant or insects, spacing, when to plant, when the plant blossoms, etc. A real keeper for a novice gardener like myself.

3 comments about Annuals & Perennials (Gardening & Landscaping).

1. What a fabulous resource! I've been taking Southern Living magazine for 20 years, and am continually inspired by the displays of floral color in each issue. The book begins with a lengthy section on how to use flowers in landscaping for year round effectiveness. The bulk of the book is taken up with its greatest feature: highlights of over 75 of the most popular annuals and perennials to glorify your lawn or garden. Included in each summary are beautiful, full-color photographs (you will find yourself thinking 'so that's what that is called'), planting and care, different selections to choose from, how to start from seed, and troubleshooting. Also included is a helpful "At a Glance" box listing features, colors, height, light, soil, water, pests and remarks. Finally, a detailed plant hardiness zone map will take all the final guessing out of whether or not a certain flower will thrive in your area (a real money saver). It gave me the knowledge and confidence to dig new beds and buy bulbs and seeds, knowing that what I selected more than likely will not only thrive, but be beautiful and accomplish the "look" I'm seeking for my lawn and garden. A great suppliment to this is The Southern Living Garden Book which details over 5,000 southern plants. Now that's some homework!



2. This is one of my 'bibles'. I look at it every day. It has great information. It gives specifics about each plant, like what light, moisture, soil, temperature it likes as well as if it is prone to a certain disease or insect problem. I love the pictures, both close ups and distance.



3. I'm a first time homeowner, and therefore, I am just beginning to really learn to take care of my yard/garden. I have had no prior experience really in flower gardening (just vegetable gardening), and I wanted to add some easy-to-care for color in my yard. . . I purchased the big Southern Living "encyclopedia" about gardening (which I love), but I have found this particular book _Annuals & Perennials_ to be more friendly for the "amateur" gardener in me. I highly recommend this book to Southern gardeners. I have had great success with my flower/plant selection since using this book as a guide. It's very easy to use!

2 comments about Annuals and Biennials.

1. Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix's Annuals & Biennials provides over a thousand color photos and insights on the many types of annuals and biennials. The close-up color photos provides clear pictures of the plants both in domestic and wild settings and are accompanied by clear, concise paragraphs of description.



2. One of the best annual plants books I have ever seen. A no-nonsense approach to annuals and perennials. Plus loads of beautiful pictures and discriptions. This book should be on the shelf of every professional landscaper, gardener, and weekend gardender. It is worth the original publisher's price, but the discounted price makes it all the more attractive!