Product Description

Gardening is now the favorite outdoor leisure activity in America. Homeowners realize the health benefits available from gardening and the potential increase in their home's property value.

Regional gardening titles offer the most useful advice because they provide credible information on the plants that perform best in specific states. Gardeners want information they can trust and use successfully in their own gardens.

The Arizona Gardener's Guide is a full-color plant selection resource guide written especially for Arizona gardeners. It includes the top 175 landscape plants as recommended by one of Arizona's most respected horticultural experts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98954 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-13
• Released on: 2001-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Mary Irish is the former director of public horticulture at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. She has written extensively on dry-climate gardening, and is the coauthor (with her husband, Gary Irish) of "Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants." A Texas native residing in Arizona, Mary received her master's degree in geography from Texas A&M University. She is a regular contributor to several magazines, including "Sunset, " and teaches classes on the care and culture of agaves, cacti, and other desert shrubs and perennials as well as introductory classes for beginning gardeners. She once hosted a weekly Phoenix-based radio show called "The Arizona Gardener, " and has also helped produce several television programs about gardening.

Customer Reviews

Sonoran Desert Gardening
This book is one of the best introductions I've found on gardening in the Sonoran desert. It is well-designed, with graphical cues that tell readers if the plant is drought-tolerant, fragrant, wildlife-friendly, Sonoran, etc.

Information is presented in convenient and easily digested sections, e.g., shrubs, trees, vines, etc. Common names are featured prominently, with botanical names underneath. (I eventually learned the botanical names so that I could read and understand books that offered more in-depth information, e.g., on particular agaves, yuccas and nolinas.) It also includes brief information on care, companion planting, bloom period, size (you'd be surprised how big some of these plants get), etc.

If you seek books with greater depth, check out "Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants: A Gardener's Guide" by Gary and Mary Irish, or "Landscape Plants for Dry Regions: More Than 600 Species From Around the World" by Warren Jones and Charles Sacamano. Another good resource for Sonoran gardeners is the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix (they offer a hotline and many other resources).

Good quick-reference guide for Arizona gardeners
We moved to Arizona two years ago, and my wife wanted a good quick reference guide to use in planting and tending our desert garden. This book fills the bill nicely, providing descriptions and clear photos of approximately 200 plants, along with tips on how to best use them in a garden. Ms. Irish's writing style is straightfoward, even a bit plodding, but readable. A good companion to "Plants for Dry Climates" by Duffield and Jones.

The Best Garden Book for Arizona!
This is by far the best book written for Arizona Gardeners. Mary Irish knows more about desert gardening than anyone. Thanks!