2 comments about The Harmonious Garden: Color, Form, and Texture.

1. Generally, an excellent reference. The author methodically and analytically (if you appreciate that sort of thing) takes the reader through combinations of color and form and explains why the combinations work. The author's taste in color is subtle, however, and you will not be shown high contrast or exciting color combinations. The same restraint applies in the author's use of form. There are appendices that discuss various plants and combinations, although not in depth.



2. In addition to more than 140 attractive combinations, with color photos and drawings to illustrate exactly what makes up the plantings in each photo, this book contains a load of practical and insightful observations. It's a treasure for UK, European, and US gardeners with its careful and accurate attention to zones; it's an inspiration to gardeners everywhere because of the education it offers about what underlies this author's ideas about combining plants.

   Each planting combination has a photo and annotated drawing, as well as three to six or so paragraphs which are loaded with tremendously valuable data points. How much space might the combination be expected to occupy? What foliar changes occur as the plant occurs? What is unique about the combination's color, form, texture? Do any of the plants re-seed? What compatible plantings would extend the season of interest? When in the season was the photo taken?

   There is a separate section with details about specific plants included in the combinations. Three appendices (bloom options by exposure, season, and color [which increases the value of this book far beyond the combinations it suggests]); foliar options; an extensive cross-reference between common and botanic names) add much more value. Finally and typically for publications of Timber Press, a fine index makes the book easy to use over and over.

   There are less expensive books about planting combinations, but no book that I know of that offers broader and deeper information to help gardeners find their own beautiful planting harmonies. One good thing about this book's price point is that you can be virtually assured that few novice gardeners own it; thus, it would be an excellent and much appreciated gift.

No comments about Success with Bulbs (Success with Gardening).

No comments about Growing Wildflowers: A Gardener's Guide (Growing Wildflowers Ppr).

2 comments about Perennials for American Gardens: The definitive A-to-Z reference guide to over 3,000 species, cultivars and hybrids for gardeners across the country.

1. I have owned this book for ten years and probably use it at least ten to fifteen times a year. I have given several as gifts and frequently hear positive remarks about the book years later from the recipient. A very comprehensive reference that will not disappoint.



2. This excellent book is one of my plant "bibles." Good photographs and good character and cultural information for a broad range of garden perennials. It could be even BETTER, as it is slipping out of date (more than 10 years!). Time for a good revision, not just a reprint. This superb foundation should be invested in and built upon by the publisher. I own 5 copies and also give copies as gifts. I'd renew all of them if more current varietal information were included...

1 comments about Bulbs for All Seasons.

1. Bulbs For All Seasons provides a fine guide to over 200 bulbs from crocuses and tulips to sprekelia. From the characteristics of roots and bulbs to tips on how to buy and propagate them, Bulbs For All Seasons provides an excellent reference and comes packed with color photos for added impact.

No comments about Design and Plant a Mixed Border.

4 comments about Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages.

1. Around February, I start to get the itch for flowers...and that usually means that it is time for me to read, for the first time in the new year, SUNFLOWER HOUSES. This book never fails to pacify me while I look at seed catalogs and plot out our small suburban yard for the next spring, summer and fall...with flowers and bushes and vegetables. I am always filled with whimsie and peace by the ideas and suggestions that this "not so typical" gardening book provides...and it helps me convey my love for the garden and all it brings to my 3 small children. ---And I can hardly wait until they are old enough to read it with me each February...March...April and May...



2. Let me be upfront about this. I hate to garden. I hate the dirt. Bugs. And my uncanny ability to kill plants. A friend gave me Lovejoy's "Sunflower Houses" and I found myself transformed. I couldn't wait to go out to the garden. It is truly an inspiration to the gardener...and child in all of us. The artwork is delightful, and the writing magical. It's the closest thing to finding a Spring day in prose...



3. im only 14 yrs old, and emediatly fell in love with this book when i began to read my little sisters teachers copy. i love the ideas about the playhouse made from sunflowers (which i am allowed to make next spring) and the notes about fairies and the flowers. i believe in fairies and im going to buy some of the flowers they say fairies use for hats and plates etc. for my ever growing fairies house. i love flowers and a wild garden with exotic colours and feelings. i garden is the key to happiness and tranquility. this is a marvelous book that anyone could learn to love and cherish forever and ever. thank you.



4. Someone gave me this book when it first came out in 1991. My first sunflower house failed but I tried again and was rewarded with a delightful garden retreat. I had no idea flowers could be so high -- and so sturdy. Then I tried the flower clock and that was an immense success. The rainbow garden worked, too, and by that time I was running out of space. I've never considered myself much of a gardener; certainly everything I try to grow indoors curls up its leaves in abject rejection and withers away! But the projects here worked for me.

   This little book is great reading, too. I didn't want to try the Giant's Garden but it sure was fun reading about it. Imagine the largest tomato -- a 6 lbs 8 oz "Delicious" -- or a pumpkin big enough to ride in. The "Cinderella" pumpkin has reached 500 lbs. "Some people pick off all but one ear of corn or one pumpkin," Lovejoy writes, "in order to allow all the growth to go to one, special vegetable."

   She has a good word for bugs,"Hosting a healthy population of these friendly critters can make your garden a thriving, pest-free environment."

   Plant a kinder-garden, she suggests, and lists plants whose names match each letter: A for aster, B for bachelor's buttons, C for cockscomb, D for daisy......all the way to Z for zinnia.

   There's a garden of greens and a butterfly garden and there are faeries and sand castles and even secret notes to be found. In all I'd say this is a book for anyone who's willing to let go a little and enjoy the outdoors in new and luscious ways.

4 comments about Designing With Roses: Tony Lord.

1. I received an advance copy of Tony Lord's new book, "Designing with Roses". Besides being a wonderful rose feast for the eyes this 185 page book has some great ideas for various types of gardens and gardening techniques. This versatile offering has chapters lovingly decorated with lush photography of 'Roses for Structure', 'Roses as Punctuation', 'Roses in Mixed Borders' and 'Roses for Wild Gardens'. At the very end of the book is a wonderful listing of roses for special purposes that Mr. Lord describes as Pick of the Bunch. Here is a marvelous grouping of roses for ground covers, bush roses (short & tall), shrub roses, climbing, roses for arcades, pergolas, and catenaries, roses for autumn color, roses for bedding,roses for colored foliage, roses for conservatories, roses for cutting, roses for fences, roses for fragrance, roses for hedges, roses for pillars, roses for shade, roses for standards, and more. Thirteen pages of detailed information listing color, hardiness zone and class. Roses that have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as plants of excellence and easy culture are also indicated. In 185 pages I counted only about 10 pages that didn't have at least one picture on them. There are many double pages of photography that makes you feel as if your face was pressed against a window looking out into a wonderland of roses. Breathtaking close-up photography makes you think you can actually smell these beauties. The Pick of the Bunch alone makes this book a worthy addition to any roseaholic's library. If you are a Consulting Rosarian, these lists make it a lot easier to suggest roses for special purposes when you are asked by other rose growers.



2. This is a wonderful book with gorgeous color photographs of rose gardens that will make you drool. Although most of the gardens are in England, any gardener can gets ideas from this book. It is basically a "coffee table" type book and is one that you can get lost in on a rainy day. I would highly recommend it!



3. This book has a lot of gorgeous 'rose porn' photographs, but the text is also very informative and gives good, specific suggestions for maximizing the beauty of roses in the landscape. I was able to get ideas on how to incorporate roses in beds of mixed perennials in a sophisticated way. I found the section on the history of the use of roses also very interesting.



4. Lord is a consummate garden photographer, and here we will find many of his best rose photos. For roses one would use in the landscape, this may be the best source of photos.
   
   In this book he takes us through a kind of history of the way roses have been used in gardens. The nice thing about a history such as this is that we get introduced to a number of old design ideas which today may be out of favor. In some cases they are out of favor for very good reasons - as Lord explains: After WW1 the cost of labor went up significantly. One could no longer afford to have a gardener spend half a day training a long-caned rose onto an onion shaped frame. Yet even the oddest of the old ideas will frequently suggest some interesting or useful contemporary practice.
   
   Of the gardening books I own - about 15 shelf feet of them - this may be the one I have spent most time with just reading through. This is high praise, indeed.
   
   Any person who wishes to integrate roses into the design of a garden would do well to read this book. It has a lot to say on garden structure and how various roses occupy the diverse structural niches in a garden.
   It even explains why Christopher Lloyd eschews the rose at his world famous gardens at Great Dixter. Now that is something that every person planning a rose garden must read and understand.
   
   The garden: it's not just a bed or roses. Lord helps us understand this.

No comments about Rosas: Manual de cultivo y conservacion (Expert series).

3 comments about Orchid Growing Basics.

1. Received a few good tips on care of orchids A good book to have handy.



2. After reading Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" I became absolutely intrigued by orchids and their culture. Of course I wanted to run right out and buy one but I no clue as to what I would do with the darn thing once I got it home! Then, while browsing the shelves of the NY Botanical Garden's giftshop, I came across this book. I was immediately attracted to the simple cover, and the way the info was presented within: clear, easy, non-intimidating language and photos. I bought the book and a week later bought my first orchid... and my 2nd the following week... and my 3rd & 4th two weeks after that! This book put me completely at ease with orchids - obviously! And, though all 4 were cheap Home Depot purchases that I later discovered to have pretty bad root rot, I'm proud to say that 4 years later 1 of those "starter" plants is still with me and thriving.



3. This book gives decent advice on growing orchids, but unless you want to get into the genealogy of orchids, it may be a bit overwhelming. However, I can imagine that someone who wants to start and orchid farm or have a section of their house devoted to orchids will find this book very helpful. Not really for casual orchid growers.