Books

Perennial All-Stars: The 150 Best Perennials for Great-Looking, Trouble-Free Gardens

Average customer rating:

great for gardeners
One of the best !!
A great reference
Handy reference book to have around
Inspiring and informative

Perennial All-Stars: The 150 Best Perennials for Great-Looking, Trouble-Free Gardens
Jeff Cox
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Jeff Cox | Expert Advice | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Perennial Combinations: Stunning Combinations That Make Your Garden Look Fantastic Right from the Start
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials: 10th Anniversary Revised and Expanded Edition
Caring for Perennials: What to Do and When to Do it
Perennials for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book)
The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer

ASIN: 0875968899

Amazon.com

Jeff Cox provides the information new gardeners want in Perennial All-Stars: how to produce a garden full of healthy, attractive, low-maintenance plants. Cox, the enthusiastic host of HGTV's &Grow It!, has selected 150 perennials, both flowers and grasses, that grow well in North American climates. Each double-page plant entry tells how and where to grow the plant, how to propagate it, and a list of ideal planting partners. In addition, each entry displays a quick-glance sidebar that includes ideal hardiness zones, blooming season, size, color, light and soil requirements, and a substantial list of plant sources (detailed in the back of the book). Cox further assists the beginning garden planner with useful groupings: "Fragrant All-Stars," "Deer-Resistant All- Stars," "All-Stars for Full Shade," "All-Stars 4 Feet or Taller," and so forth. It's in no way intended to replace a complete plant encyclopedia, but novices will be happy with the excellent selection and informative, friendly format of Perennial All-Stars. --Barrie Trinkle

Book Description

No longer must you waste your time or money browsing catalogs or wandering the aisles of your local garden center. How often have you ended up with perennials that dont live up to the breathtaking photos that convinced you to buy the plants in the first place? Garden expert and HGTV host Jeff Cox takes the guesswork out of shopping for perennials by selecting 150 of the most beautiful, top-performing plants based on attributes such as bloom time, ease of care, disease resistance, and fall color. A Perennial Plant Finder helps you find the ideal plants for your garden whether you live in Palm Springs or Portland. Youll also find suggestions for hard-to-plant conditions like heavy shade with acid soil or drought-prone gardens with alkaline soil. This all-star lineup is pictured in 260 full-color photographs that show each plant plus how each looks in garden combinations with other great plants.

Customer Reviews:

great for gardeners.......2007-05-17

I am really enjoying this book. It has given me a lot of good ideas for my garden this summer. I already have some of the flowers it lists, and I agree they are winners. An excellent book for beginning and experienced gardeners looking for new flowers for their yard.

One of the best !!.......2007-02-26

My wife wore out her 1st copy and the yard looks great.

A great reference.......2007-01-11

Keep this book on your counter all spring and summer long - you'll find lots of reasons to refer to it.

Handy reference book to have around.......2006-11-04

Great for the beginner gardener, it's easy to understand and gives a lot of information on planning your perrennial gardens to look great from early spring right into the fall.

Inspiring and informative.......2006-08-19

Many of my gardening books are useful for referencing the occasional problem or plant profile, but "Perennial All-Stars" was an engrossing read from cover-to-cover. The author has a great deal of enthusiasm for his subject--so much so that I think he picked more than 10 'Top 10' perennials out of his favorite 150.

That's okay. I admire his devotion and his knowledge of the perennial flower kingdom. His 150 all-stars also purport to be easy to grow and maintain, which is what I was looking for when I decided to add to my garden this fall. Unfortunately the author was so persuasive, I'm going to have to dig a new bed to fit in all of my choices from his book.

If you have a rough idea of the plant you're searching for, the front of this book is cross-indexed by various perennial characteristics such as 'spring blooming,' 'deer-resistant,' and 'full shade.'

Each of the perennials that was chosen for this book, is described in the following sections: an overall description and photograph of the plant; how to grow it; propagating the plant (useful especially for the more expensive or hard-to-find perennials); the right site for growing the plant; and other plants that go well with it. A 'spotlight' section summarizes the USDA plant hardiness zones, season of bloom, height x width, color, light requirements, soil requirements, place of origin, and where the perennial and/or its seed can be purchased.

The author tried to choose perennials that would flourish in all of the U.S. hardiness zones, but there are some exceptions that can't take the heat and humidity of the Deep South, e.g. peonies, or won't live through a very cold winter, e.g. Broadleaved Bear's-Breech.

"All-Star Perennials" is very useful and interesting. Just plan on doing some digging when you do read it.

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Shade: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)

Average customer rating:

Great garden book
Info Too Sparse
Great book for shade gardeners
Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Shade:Essy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best
it is what it says .... and a bit more

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Shade: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Shade | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Making the Most of Shade: How to Plan, Plant, and Grow a Fabulous Garden that Lightens up the Shadows
The Complete Shade Gardener
Taylor's Guide to Shade Gardening: More Than 350 Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers That Thrive Under Difficult Conditions, Illustrated with Color Photographs and Detailed Drawings (Taylor's Gardening Guides)
Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Sun: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)
Perennial All-Stars: The 150 Best Perennials for Great-Looking, Trouble-Free Gardens

ASIN: 0395873312

Book Description

Both the Taylor's Guides to individual plant groups and the Taylor's Weekend Guides on basic techniques and popular gardening styles are highly acclaimed and well established. We now enthusiastically add a quick-reference series for readers who don't have the time or the experience to do their own research. Taylor's 50 Best books highlight the most attractive foolproof plants and include detailed information that every gardener needs in order to grow them. Color photos, full-color drawings, and growing tips make each plant entry useful and complete. Six books introduce the series and cover the most popular plants for backyard gardeners: perennials for sun, perennials for shade, herbs and edible flowers, roses, shrubs, and trees.

Customer Reviews:

Great garden book.......2007-06-27

Since much of my yard is shaded, and we still love flowers, this book is just what the Dr. ordered. Have planted several plants described in this book and they are healthy and doing well.

Info Too Sparse.......2006-02-28

I was disappointed in the too-brief description of the plants. Not enough info. Perhaps typically Taylor's but I expected more.

Great book for shade gardeners.......2005-09-02

I bought this book to help a friend who built her dream house on a wooded lot find plants and flowers that would bloom and grow. We were thrilled to find that all the plants listed would grow in our climate area (Pennsylvania). The book provides a good selection of plants without overwhelming a novice with too many choices and hard-to-find or tricky plants. We were very pleased to be able to find plants that would fit some of her problem areas (under trees, wet spots, etc.) and fit her requirements of providing her with real bloom without having to plant annuals every year.

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Shade:Essy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best.......2005-08-15

Excellent book for the price!

it is what it says .... and a bit more.......2002-05-03

Subtitled 'Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens', this book is a pithy reference for gardeners in urban and suburban areas who are trying to fill shady spots with attractive blooms and foliage. I've had the book for a year and got good results this year using plants I chose, based on this author's advice, last year.

The book starts with a short chapter on the basics: soil, hardiness zones, mulching, planting, watering and pests -- one paragraph each. Each of fifty plants then gets one-and-a-half pages (and the print is big) -- a photo, a paragraph of introduction to the plant followed by how and where to grow instructions, a mention of varieties, and a chart that gives zone hardiness, bloom time, light, height and interest. Also of value are sidebars on a wide variety of topics, e.g. planting under trees, winter protection, wildflowers from seeds, propagating by division, woodland planting, coordinating strong color, controlling slugs. These sidebars are made more valuable by their inclusion in the index. There is also a glossary and a hardiness zone map.

This is an enjoyable and informative book, but if you are a neophyte you might also want to get a companion book that covers basics more thoroughly, and if you are a truly devoted gardener you might want to get a book that devotes more time to each species and/or discusses more plants.

Average customer rating:

Perennials (Best of Fine Gardening)

Manufacturer: Taunton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Ornamental Plants | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Shrubs & Trees (Best of Fine Gardening)
Garden Design Ideas (Best of Fine Gardening)
Accent Your Garden: Creative Ideas from America's Best Gardeners (Fine Gardening Design Guides)
Creating Beds and Borders: Creative Ideas from America's Best Gardeners (Fine Gardening Design Guides)
Landscaping Your Home: Creative Ideas from America's Best Gardeners (Fine Gardening Design Guides)

ASIN: 1561580546
Release Date: 1993-07-30

Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountains and High Plains

Average customer rating:

Gardening

Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountains and High Plains
Celia Tannehill , and James E. Klett
Manufacturer: Colorado State University Publications & Prin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Cookbooks | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Colorado Month-to-Month Gardening (2nd Edition)
Rocky Mountain Gardener's Guide
Xeriscape Colorado: The Complete Guide
The Xeriscape Flower Gardener: A Waterwise Guide for the Rocky Mountain Region
The Undaunted Garden: Planting for Weather-Resilient Beauty

ASIN: 188914309X

Book Description

Planning a successful perennial garden in Colorado, the Rocky Mountains and High Plains comes with its share of soil and climate challenges. "Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountain High Plains" is a comprehensive guide to the best performing perennials based on performance results from Colorado State University's W.D. Holley Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC).

The 322 plants described in this publication were rated according to landscape use, height, width, foliage color and fall effect, winter injury, ornamental fruit, disease and insect problems. These top-performing perennials are ideal for xeriscapes, rock gardens, wildflower gardens, and the traditional perennial border. Plants that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are also featured.

This book is a necessary tool for the horticulture industry, landscape architects and designers, park personnel, the home gardener, and horticulturists in the Rocky Mountain-High Plains region.

Customer Reviews:

Gardening.......2007-06-14

This is a most excellant gardening book for those of us on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is a very good source of information a good complement to Xeriscape Gardening.

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Sun: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Book for Novice Perennial Gardner
A Great Book for Beginning Gardeners

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Sun: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Taylor's 50 Best Perennials for Shade: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)
Perennial All-Stars: The 150 Best Perennials for Great-Looking, Trouble-Free Gardens
Taylor's 50 Best Shrubs: Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens (Taylor's 50 Best)
Perennial Combinations: Stunning Combinations That Make Your Garden Look Fantastic Right from the Start
Caring for Perennials: What to Do and When to Do it

ASIN: 0395873304

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book for Novice Perennial Gardner.......2000-05-13

Provides the novice perennial gardener the appropriate choice for sunny areas. Pertinent information is well structured and user friendly. Beautiful illustrations.

A Great Book for Beginning Gardeners.......2000-04-12

This book tells the novice gardener all they need to know about selecting and planting Perennsials for Sun. Look for the "Top Choices" section that educates the new gardener as to other varieties per species.

Average customer rating:

Plant Care (Best of Fine Gardening)

Manufacturer: Taunton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Proven Garden Tips (Best of Fine Gardening)

ASIN: 1561580864
Release Date: 1994-07-15

Botanica's 100 Best Perennials for Your Garden

Average customer rating:

Botanica's 100 Best Perennials for Your Garden

Manufacturer: Laurel Glen Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Botanica's Annuals & Perennials: Over 1000 Pages & over 2000 Plants Listed (Botanica)
Botanica's Gardening Encyclopedia
Botanica's 100 Best Bulbs for Your Garden
Botanica's 100 Best Flowering Shrubs for Your Garden
Botanica's Trees & Shrubs: Over 1000 Pages & over 2000 Plants Listed (Botanica)

ASIN: 157145473X

Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs & Roses: An illustrated guide to the very best bed and border flowers with 000 photographs

Average customer rating:

Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs & Roses: An illustrated guide to the very best bed and border flowers with 000 photographs
Andrew Milolajski
Manufacturer: Southwater
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Science | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

50 Fabulous Ways to Decorate Your Garden: Transform your outside space with easy step-by-step projects and creative ideas
Gardener's Problem Solver
30-Minute Meals 2
The Mini Hummingbird Feeder (Miniature Editions)
Hot Drinks for Cold Nights: Great Hot Chocolates, Tasty Teas & Cozy Coffee Drinks

ASIN: 1844761959

Book Description

A complete guide to chooosing and growing the very best bed and border annuals, perennials and bulbs and roses.

400 Best Garden Plants: A Practical Encyclopedia of Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Trees and Shrubs

Average customer rating:

Great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia.
On the money
An all around great plant refernce book!!!

400 Best Garden Plants: A Practical Encyclopedia of Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Trees and Shrubs
Elvin Mcdonald
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Ornamental Plants | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Gardening | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Amazon.com

This fully comprehensive guide to the outstanding garden plants of every season should be on the book shelves of both novice gardeners and green-fingered experts. More than 425 full-color photographs illustrate detailed listings for specific varieties of annuals, perennials, bulbs, and trees. Each category features troubleshooting advice, instruction on cultivation and maintenance, tips on garden design, and schedules for garden care in every season. There is also detailed information on bringing outdoor plants into the home so that beautiful plants can be part of life the year round in every climate. Elvin McDonald is a respected expert on horticulture, the author of more than 50 gardening books, and a former editor of House Beautiful magazine. --Nancy Starr

Customer Reviews:

Great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia........2002-07-19

Book contains about 425 pages divided into 4 major sections: Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Trees & Shrubs. Each section describes 100 plants (hence the title, "400 Best Garden Plants").

Each plant is described by habit, leaves, flowers, light, soil, fertilizer, pruning, propagation, uses, etc. The information is fairly meager, about one sentence per item. Many of the sentences are repetitive and extremely general. For example, "fertilize with 5-10-5", is listed as advice for 97 out of 100 annuals. I'm not saying the advice is wrong, I just wonder why it must be repeated 97 times. At the beginning of the annual section, couldn't they say "fertilize most annual with 5-10-5", then go into details about the three plants that get treated differently. (By the way, the 3 special case plants are Amaranthus, Basil, and Flowering Maple).

The photography is a high point. Images are crisp and clear, most pictures are large (6 inches height). Unfortunately, the species or variety in the photograph is never identified.

The information is very general. For example, one of the 100 Best Perennials is listed as Anemone (Windflower, European Pasqueflower, Japanese Anemone). Egads! There is an extreme difference between two inch tall Windflower and three feet tall Japanese Anemone. Then they list uses as "cut flowers". Yeah, right! I can just see them now, on their hands and knees, harvesting the tiny flowers from the two inch tall plant. Listing characteristics of Windflower, European Pasqueflower, and Japanese Anemone in the same discussion is not useful gardening advice.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia. Expert gardeners will find little of value in the book. For beginners, it's a 5 star book. For garden experts, it's only a 3 star.

On the money.......2000-04-15

This book is very good for it's price. Some of the photos are a little close, so it's hard to picture how the plant will look mixed into your garden. There are also some plants that I've looked up and this book doesn't cover. Also, there aren't a lot of ideas for shadey areas. However, I would honestly recommend this book. There are hundreds (400 to be exact) great plants in it. It also gives detailed information on how to care for the plants both before and after planting. This book is great for beginning and seasoned gardners alike!

An all around great plant refernce book!!!.......1999-08-13

This is a great book for the novice as well as the expert. Itis divided into 4 categories and contains many excellent pictures ofthe plants listed. For each plant, there is a description including height/habit, leaves, and flower; detailed instructions on how and when to plant and propagate; light, soil and fertilizer needs; and pruning requirements. The plants are listed with their scientific and common names and indexed accordingly. Overall, it is one of the best reference books I've seen.

Average customer rating:

The 400 Best Garden Plants

Manufacturer: Quantum Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Gardening | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 068129602X

Product Description

A practical encyclopedia of annuals, perennials, bulbs, trees, and shrubs

Books:

Books