2 comments about 500 Cacti: Species and Varieties in Cultivation.

1. This is quite an impressive little book. As the title tells us, it addresses 500 cacti. Now no book can cover them all. There are thousands of cacti genus out there. This work though goes along way in giving good information to the amature collector, grower, or in my case, photographer of these wonderful plants. The book is set up alphabetically by genus, but the wonderful photographs are just as valuable indentification. The book is filled with good growing and collecting tips. It is set up more like a field guide than a gardening book, something I find quite useful. The photographs are of good quality and when ever possible, show the plant in bloom. This is certainly one you will want to add to your collection.



2. This book has many photos and objective description.
   
   Good option to cati's student.

3 comments about Smithsonian Handbooks: Herbs (Smithsonian Handbooks).

1. this book along with "edible wild plants:a north american field guide" by thomas elias and "a field guide to medicinal plants and herbs: of eastern and central north america" by james a. duke will provide all the information necessary for positive identification. cross referencing the various photos and other information leaves no doubt.



2. I'm an avid reader oh herbal lore and gardening.This is the most informative book I've yet seen. This book has color photos and detailed descriptions for over 700 herbs. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in herbs.



3. This is a wonderfully compact but complete, easy to use reference book. I bought one for my bookshelf and one to carry in the car for roadside identification of herbs. The color pictures are clear with all the pertinent details to make an accurate identification. Well worth the investment!

2 comments about Sprinklers & Drip Systems.

1. I have recently decided to equip my front and back gardens with drip irrigation, and was seeking some high-quality advice on the use of different types of emitters and sprinklers, as well as some saavy tips on setting up a system. What I got was a minimal discussion of the most basic aspects of drip irrigation. More space was spent on sprinkler systems (I should have guessed from the title). There was really nothing in here that I could not easily figure out myself.
   
   It could be useful to someone who is absolutely clueless about drip irrigation.
   
   I have said it before, and I find myself saying it again: Sunset Books have gone downhill. The new editions of their books are redone with scads of garden photographs. Gone are the highly instructional illustrations that used to characterize their books. If I can get previous editions of their books, I will do that. Unfortunately, drip technology is so recent that there really is no previous book by Sunset that covers it.
   
   I doubt if I will ever order a Sunset book online again, but only from a store where I can look through it beforehand.



2. I'm currently in a college class about landscape irrigation and have no prior experience with any type of sprinkler system. At 7 weeks into an 11 week term I've finally decided the instructor knows absolutely nothing about irrigation either as all we do in class is draw circles on graph paper with no explanations given as to the rhyme or reason of installation and use. In an act of desperation I ran to the library and picked up every irrigation book I could find and fortunately for me this was one of them. I realize the previous reviewer claimed that this book only provides basic information but for me that's exactly what I needed and it's been a huge help. Finally, I understand the various components that make up a sprinkler system, the termonology I wasn't quite sure about (from reading other inferior books) and the benefits/drawbacks of both sprinkler and drip systems. I wish I could have gotten away with just buying and reading this book instead of spending hundreds of dollars and enduring four hours a week for eleven weeks in a worthless class.

5 comments about The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids.

1. This book is truly my orchid Bible. There is some information about almost everything you want to know orchids. I find this book useful when trying to find the general characteristics of a genus or even to identify a plant by its flower. Many, many pictures, and they are all beautiful. They lack in the growing tips category, but make up with the fairly detailed species descriptions for the species they cover in the book. Hope this is helpful!



2. This is one of the Orchidbooks that anyone who loves orchids should have. Its filled with a lot off information of botanical orchids.
   
   It's one of my favorites.



3. I never received the book from Amazon. My order was cancelled after I had paid for it. I was refunded. I bought it from someone else and its great. Really good pictures and informative.



4. Good illustrations and tips on how to take care of the orchids.



5. This encyclopedia is quite fascinating!
   
   It shares a good amount of information about a plethora of orchids.
   Further, the book is nicely organized & easily comprehendable.
   
   Although it is regarded for it's "beautiful photography", I would disagree. Majority of the photos are nice, but not wonderful.
   Many of the photos may appear beautiful because orchids are absolutely gorgeous not exactly the photography skills & technique used to take the photos.
   Also, I wish it had more photos.
   
   Overall, I would recommend it for it's information & facts.

5 comments about The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History.

1. Written by the one of the few people in the world qualified to produce a monograph on bamboo, it is as comprehensive as it gets. David Farrelly has spent more than a decade planting, harvesting, and building with bamboo in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States. If you are only interested in the growing of bamboo as an ornamental, then this book may not be exactly what you expect, but it still serves up more information on bamboo growing, propagation and care, and bamboo species and description then any other currently available books on bamboo. Don't expect grossy pictures either, but line drawings and old black and white photographs somehow seems to fit well in this book. Grossy pictures would have been out of place here. What really makes this book a must read is the other non-botanical, non-horticultural information on bamboo that the book includes - it's history, it's multiple of uses, it's interaction with mankind through the ages.

   If you are into bamboo beyond it's aesthietics, this is a "must read". If you are only into ornamental bamboos, this is still a good reference, and reading it will change your respect for what must be truly the most useful of all plants on planet earth.




2. I bought this book awhile ago. . . .and unfortunately, have enough going on that I can't just sit down and read it beginning to end, but already I know a LOT more about a plant I've always been fascinated with. Lots of definitions, and pictures, and illustrations. If there's anything that could be considered a detraction, there's maybe TOO much information on the plant and its uses.
   
   a thoroughly great book to add to a collection for anyone into herbal knowledge or lore, interested in plants, or wants to just know more about bamboo.
   
   Recommended reading :)



3. In a World in which only three countries have doubled their forest resources while the rest of the nations are working on depleting theirs; a global crisis waiting to happen because of our irresponsible handling of our natural resources, bamboo offers a solution that could definately take us back to a healthy equilibrium. This book gives a glance of its many uses and benefits. Anybody interested in life has got to take a dive into this amazing research. This book is literally, "the top of the iceberg."



4. I bought this for information on growing, fertilizing, diseases and such about the bamboo I already have, but quickly found that there is so much more, almost an extended poem on bamboo, history, legends, uses, etc. A marvelous reference for all lovers of bamboo.



5. This is a comprehensive treatise written with passion, and reminds me of "The Whole Earth Catalog" of the '60's, Mother Earth News, and various underground comics. Done in the best tradition of the good ole days. If you find info that is not in this book, you can write it on a sticky note and attach it to an inside cover.

5 comments about The Truth About Garden Remedies: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why.

1. I read this book after reading several others by a so-called master gardener who recommends mixing up various potions in the kitchen. I'm glad I haven't used any of the old-time remedies, because I could have destroyed my garden in numerous ways. Beer, alcohol, ammonia used for house cleaning, and vinegar can all harm plants, although they are recommended for liberal use in the other books.
   
   This book explains what helps and hurts your plants, and why. This will save you lots of trouble, time, and money. Ditch the old superstitions and go with what works!



2. I throughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a lot of fun reading how the author has gone about dismantling most of the long held garden remedies. However I cannot say I learned a lot since I was already convinced (but now I have the proof!!!) that most of them do not work



3. In an era where anti-intellectualism is on the march, where many people on both the conservative and liberal wings equate education to elitism and oppression, it's become increasingly difficult to stand for rationalist and scientific thinking. Keeping up on the latest in ecological science is almost pointless for a lay person, since the entire public face of the subject is an echo chamber of accusations of conspiracy and cover-up. In the face of all that, organic growing has grown mightily as agricultural science is tarred by association with the corrupt giants of agribusiness such as Monsanto. After all, natural is better than synthetic, right? So all-natural must be better... right?
   
   I was wary when I first saw this book. Sad as it is, "truth" has become a loaded word in the modern press -- too often a book that purports to tell you the "truth" is little more than a fringe polemic, more political than evidence-based in nature, raving about cover-ups and frauds and gushing with prejudice and paranoia. This is not that sort of book. Jeff Gillman, a University of Minnesota professor of horticulture (and therefore a card-carrying member of The Conspiracy) puts forth a simple, well-researched book on gardening techniques in the tradition of skeptical writers such as James Randi, Carl Sagan, and Martin Gardner, with critical examinations of many gardening tips and nostrums both commercial and homemade. They're graded individually (from one to five flowers) based on how they conform to the body of scientific knowledge; extensive journal references are provided to allow the persistent reader to judge the facts for themselves. Among the findings: hydrogels do nothing useful as far as supplying water to plants; soaps, used as pesticides, can actually be dangerous to plants; organic and synthetic fertilizers are about equally useful and suffer from the same problems as synthetics; tobacco insecticides work but are expensive and rather toxic; and praying mantises are a terribly inefficient method for natural insect control, as they don't like to congregate.
   
   Despite the mildly unfortunate title, this is a great book to have for any gardener who needs a guidebook to the body of gardening advice out there. There's a lot of advice out there, good and bad, and this book (and its sequel) are absolutely essential to anyone who needs to figure out whether that Jerry Baker recipe they're reading is any good. (Baker is never mentioned by name, but the ingredients in his concoctions seldom get better than mezza-mezza ratings.) Some investigation of things like biodynamics (basically a mixture of organic gardening and dime-store witchcraft) would be helpful, but he's got another book out too, and I've got that on order.



4. I loved this book - I don't like to buy something I can make myself and I like to tinker in the garden. This book explains lots of agricultural science building blocks in a very informal, accessible manner - information that would usually only be available through heavy textbooks or a degreed horticulturist. I have a better understanding of soil, pH, nutrient availability, how fertilizers work, and more. It has the feeling of a friendly professor who really wants a beginner to understand spending a weekend sharing as much as you can digest.



5. This garden remedies book was very helpful in determining which products to use in my garden and which were just a waste of my time and money. The author really took the time to experiment with different remedies to see whether or not they worked. It's a great resource.

3 comments about A Natural History of Conifers.

1. I'm not sure how to review this book without resorting to tired clichés like "a masterpiece" or "the bible of conifer natural histories." This book just happens to be the prefect example of everything popular science writing should be.
   
   Farjon doesn't dumb down the science and doesn't apologize for it (excepting a brief mea culpa in the preface, which also includes Farjon's philosophy on the craft of writing popular science, so don't skip the preface!) Any botanist will enjoy this book just as much as an amateur ecologist, weekend hiker, or little old lady in suburbia with pine trees in her yard. The scientists will find many morsels to whet the appetite for further study while the amateur will walk through a door to the wonders of conifer natural history, perhaps referring back to the book after every new hike through the woods.
   
   There are 34 chapters - some of them as short as just a couple pages. This brevity makes the text an easy, casual read. Each chapter is headed with an anecdote from the author's life or human history. The first 20 or so chapters deal with the typical science common to any natural history - evolution, physiology, systematic, ecology. There follows a section on geography (often lacking in popular works), then several chapters about human interaction with conifers which segues nicely into the final section about conservation. A glossary and a reference section close the book. As I desperately try to find something negative to say here, I guess I wished only that the references would have been more numerous, but that is truly a nit-picky complaint.
   
   Timber Press did their usual bang-up job of production with gr eat binding and paper, beautiful jacket, and stunning photos. The two-page spreads introducing the main sections are the stuff of a coffee table book. The rest of the book is not cluttered, yet hardly a page goes by without a color photo or some sort of eye candy. It really does seem like a coffee table book, but with meat instead of the usual fluff in the text.
   
   Enough gushing! Buy the book and see for yourself!



2. As we have become accustomed to from Timber Press, this is a very well-printed book, on glossy paper, with an immaculate layout. Illustrations are excellent and are of three kinds: mainly 1) color photographs and 2) line-drawings but with the occasional 3) SEM B&W photograph. Most of the illustrations were made by the author, but some have been contributed by other experts (for instance, some of the line-drawings have been borrowed from van Pelt's book).
   
   Obviously, the author is THE acknowledged expert on conifers and the text well reflects that, taking the grand view.
   
   Two points that bothered me are the writing style, which, although accessible enough, strikes me as peculiar (at least in some spots); also the chapter on wood is clearly written by the conifer expert making notes, without a real understanding of this rather different topic or a feel for it.
   
   Nevertheless, this is book is great value for money.



3. This book has a lot going for it. The author has been most recently head of the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and has had a front-row seat as a conifer taxonomist during the development of three key disciplines of the last few decades: molecular genetics, cladistic analysis, and earth history. Unlike many taxonomists he glories in making extensive field trips throughout the conifer world, for business and pleasure. His writing style is generally clear and engaging, and occasionally hits some very high notes. And he is a good photographer and a talented botanical artist. Thus he has created a modern treatment of the conifers that would have been impossible just a few years ago, and he has imbued it with deep concern for the biodiversity of the order Coniferales and the preservation of rare and endangered species. He interprets "natural history" broadly and is free to inquire into any aspect of conifer lore, from evolution to forest products. Surely this book will accomplish the author's goal of bringing more respect to these tribes of trees that are major parts of the silva in both hemispheres.
   There is a wealth of fascinating information here, and the author is an affable guide taking us along on numerous exciting quests. The stories of discovery of new-to-science conifers like Wollemia and Xanthocyparis add spice to the overall conifer story, as do travels to New Caledonia and other venues of remarkable trees. But not everything is equally well done. Some chapters are densely academic, heavy going for amateurs lacking technical credentials. A preoccupation with numerical measures of diversity, and an emphasis on extinct groups may not appeal to many.
   Mistakes or faux pas are fairly common, and range from the trivial to the profound. A few examples: use of the term "appendices" where American English would use "appendages" (with neither term in the too-skimpy glossary)adds puzzlement to an already dense anatomical discussion of cone structure; reference to a 3600+ year-old Utah juniper known since 1956 to be less than half that age; numerous fine botanical drawings whose plant parts are unlabeled and lack scales (i.e. "X 2"); a dismissal of the possible evolutionary importance of hybridization in conifers despite its commonness in pines and firs; an equally abrupt dismissal of the idea of reticulate evolution, an area of active research; a weak treatment of mycorrhizae which does not mention the profoundly different types found in Pinaceae vs. Cupressaceae -- surprising for a taxonomist; a description of the mutualism of nutcrackers and white pines with several material factual errors; a statement that bark beetles invade the cambium, while they actually invade the phloem; omitting windborne soil particles from the ingredients of "canopy soil", which accumulates in branch crotches and sustains epiphytes; attributing clones of Pinus pumila to shoots sprouting from the roots whereas it is due to rooting of branches in contact with the ground. The author is often on shaky ground writing about wood. For example, he errs in stating that Great Basin bristlecone pine "has some of the densest and hardest of all woods", or that sugar pine and western white pines are "nonresinous", or that wood of Cupressaceae is "more fibrous" than that of Pinaceae (he must mean finer-grained), or that hollow trees grow new wood on the inside as well as the outside of the trunk. The fleshy fruits of Torreya are labeled as "seeds" in a photograph. Though geography seems one of his strong suits, the author writes incorrectly that Port-Orford-Cedar "is restricted to mountains on the border between California and Oregon". He states twice that California's only Taxaceae species is Torreya californica, overlooking Taxus brevifolia. In cataloging that state's biodiversity he claims 22 pines. In my book Conifers of CaliforniaConifers of California, I list 18 pines (including P. washoensis, around which there is some controversy)plus one pinyon pine hybrid. I cannot quite see where 4 more species have immigrated to this state.
   The book's index is not as lengthy and inclusive as a book of this scope deserves. You will not find cambium, seeds, rust diseases, roots, or many other terms to take you to useful information.
   Even more grievous, however, is the very skimpy bibliography. The purpose of this book is to make available much of what has been learned about conifers in recent decades, and a reader should be able to follow up some of the many leads provided here.Yet the bibliography lists a mere 52 items. Ten of these are the author's own previous works and 16 are on paleobotanical topics. Nine are general biological works or are about other plants than conifers. Why does this matter?
   Well, take for example the author's statement that drooping pine needles may be an adaptation to protect them from dwarfmistletoe infection. He gives no indication whether this is his idea, or the result of someone's research. If you want more on this, you cannot get help from the literature list. This is true of many speculations, possible matters-of-fact, and arguments made throughout the text. The feeble bibliography not only leaves much of the text unsupported, but impedes readers from further pursuit. Besides, it would have been a simple matter to list the most useful 100 conifer books as a special feature, tying this new volume to the historical development of conifer science.

5 comments about The Impatient Gardener.

1. I started using this book in mid summer and so far I have been amazed. I purchased a house that had nothing but weeds in the back yard. I hired someone to get rid of the weeds and all they did was kill what little grass there was. A friend gave me The Impatient Gardener and I started doing what it recommended and now I have a yard full of grass. My next door neighbor came over to find out what I had done to make the grass grow. I plan on giving her the book for Christmas.



2. Even if you don't garden much, you'll love reading all the little stories and tidbits in this book. If you do garden, consider them a huge bonus!



3. I really enjoyed the book. It was laid out in a straight forward manner, and I can see why do many have purchased this book over the years.
   
   Baker's book trades on simplicity and practicality and in that respect reminded me of Haley's Hints. Haley's Hints
   
   I recommend this book to anyone with a love of gardening or think they may have it within themselves to develop a love of gardening.



4. This is a great book. Easy to understand and gives you enough confidence to get creative. Even the experienced gardner will find good solid facts and techniques.



5. I bought this book for my husband and 2 years later.....unbelieveable success. Our neighborhood of clinically trimmed lawns by landscapers actually have asked WHO does your lawn. My husband has given this book to friends and they are always inspired when they see ours. Our neighbor bought it a year after we started. I am happy because I have small kids and if I had a dog, I would be comfortable that all of them were not being exposed to chemicals through their nose, skin by rolling around in toxic chemicals. Simple solutions by Jerry Baker - THANKS!

3 comments about Food Plants of the World.

1. for anyone interested in the very staff of life: what we eat, why and where it came from. this book has information on every obscure fruit, herb, drink component, bark, vine, grain and spice you can think of. each species has a full page with three pictures, description, origin and history, parts used, cultivation and harvesting, uses and properties, nutritional value and notes. written by a botanist, it includes family information and the author is careful to include leaves, flowers AND fruit in almost every species account.
   
   belongs in any good kitchen or botanist's library and always bound to settle any argument about a food item. invaluable.



2. This is a reference work. It's not written with much style. The entries all have nice photos and not a lot of in-depth text. I'm glad I have it but it could have been a great book.



3. Does a skilled botanical artist better capture leaves, fruits, and flowers than a gifted photographer? Ever since the first printed herbals appeared in the Renaissance, this question remains as reframed by each era's technologies, and the publication in 2005 (by Briza in Pretoria) of van Wyk's Food Plants of the World continues the debate, now five centuries old. Often cited for it's sparklingly precise paintings, the Francesco Bianchini, et al., Complete Book of Fruits & Vegetables (Italian: I Frutti della Terra [Arnaldo Mondadori pub., 1973; English trans. pub. US 1976]), now is challenged by the refulgent clarity of the color photography in van Wyk's inclusive assembly of botany's edible varieties from Ziziphus jujuba ("Chinese date") to Abelmoschus esculentus (okra), and van Wyk is the better by far. Food Plants of the World not only identifies very carefully each species with instantly comprehended triplicate images (natural settings of growth, flower/fruit/seed/rhizome/root, and 'finished' product), but also supplies up-to-date phytochemistry, dietetics, and the essential details of the physiology and biochemistry immediately applicable to nutrition, diet, and the maintenance of a healthy "balanced" intake of food. Multilingual nomenclatures (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Portuguese, and Spanish) accompany the English and Linnaean Latin, so that vegans world-wide can immediately use this volume to key their own cultures and how the multitudinous adaptations from one continent to another characterise modern 'national' cuisines. Van Wyk also leads any reader into the best of the vast literature on the topic ("Further Reading," pp. 446-447), including publications by nutritional scientists throughout the world. A detailed index (pp. 450-480 [four columns per page]) concludes this most satisfying reference work. Food Plants of the World is one of those rare volumes that provides basic information on the great majority of botanical foodstuffs and is a reliable gateway into the enormous body of writing in several languages on this, an essential facet of human existence.

2 comments about The Flower Gardener's Bible: Time-Tested Techniques, Creative Designs, and Perfect Plants for Colorful Gardens.

1. I would highly recommend this book for the beginner through advanced. Alot of information to reference back to.
   
   The only thing I found in Rodales Perennials for Every Purpose that I like better- is the book is setup "Plants for every season". It has the contents list in order of blooming time. ie.. Early Spring, late spring early summer, etc
   
   Gardeners Bible- has alot of great pics, deals alot with bulbs, cuttings, transplanting. saving seeds, planting- more so than Rodales Perennials.
   
   Conclusion: It would be tough to decide which one I like better, I think I will have to keep them both.



2. This book was an excellent read. It is loaded with tons of information, starting out with teaching you how to identify what type of garden you have, how to get the best results out of it, and then moving on to things like planning/designing, and caring for your garden. There are also several topics that cover transplanting and starting from seeds, along with other much needed information for the gardener. The final chapter is a section that will take you through many different flowers, teaching you information about them, and how to care for them.
   
   On a final note, I want to add that this book was very easy to comprehend, and the authors took me through the book as if they were standing in the garden with me. They share the type of wisdom and knowledge that you can only gain from very experienced gardeners who have the deepest of passions for this craft of life.