Product Description

Bold and dramatic, annuals have been experiencing a resurgence, and garden centers and catalogs offer them in bewildering variety, from traditional bedding plants to new, specialty introductions. In Armitage's Garden Annuals, author Allan M. Armitage selects proven specimens from nearly 200 genera of plants and evaluates their gardenworthiness and sheer beauty. With humor, authority, and a wealth of practical experience, Armitage offers invaluable insights into those plants that truly earn their keep --- and a few that do not! He has illustrated them with more than 1300 stunning color photos, making this the definitive photographic reference to annuals, biennials, and tender perennials.

Horticulturists, students, and dedicated home gardeners will be familiar with Armitage's authority on this topic from his more technical Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials. That volume was singled out as a winner of the Choice Academic Book Award, American Horticultural Society Book Award, and the Garden Writers of America Golden Globe Award. While this new offering is a perfect pictorial companion to the Manual, it also stands alone with its personal commentary and inspiring advice on the most interesting, important, or overlooked plants.

Attractive and easy to use, Armitage's Garden Annuals follows the example of the author's celebrated Garden Perennials and dispenses with the formalities, delving right into the details gardeners most desire. The book is like a private tutorial with a master teacher. Sharpen your pencils and take notes when Dr. Armitage advises, "I expect tweedia to become a bestseller," asks "How many daisies do you know that climb up trellises?" or even concludes "The flowers are boring at best..."

The encyclopedia is rounded out by more than two dozen helpful lists of plants suitable for particular situations or uses, including plants for cool-summer areas, plants for dry situations, edible plants, container plants, shade plants, vines, and flowers for cutting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212893 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Booklist
In dedicating his latest book to plant breeders, Armitage conveys his enthusiasm for the breathtaking range of ornamental plants now available to avid gardeners. Many green thumbs specifically count on annuals to bring vibrant color to beds and borders during the traditional growing season, and this encyclopedic reference provides a wealth of photographs to help delineate the ever-increasing arrays of annuals that can be found at nurseries and garden centers. Armitage's lively text is both informative and entertaining, and instead of emphasizing cultivation requirements, he provides savvy, up-to-date recommendations for the most desirable species and cultivars to enliven one's garden, from stunning forms of ornamental okra to fuchsias and tropicals such as ginger lily and the unusual twining vine Basella alba. A terrific resource for gardeners and an essential book for anyone who gardens in warmer regions, where many of these plants are among the choicest of year-round specimens. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A comprehensive and boldly colorful resource for anyone looking for just the right annual for their garden ... beautiful photos and to-the-point text are perfectly balanced."— San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles, July 2004 (San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles )

"A perfect edition to round out your horticulture library..down-to-earth..the latest in garden annuals along with those long considered the best for the annual garden."— Joanne S. Carpender, National Gardener, August 2004 (Joanne S. Carpender National Gardener )

"Nobody knows annuals better than Allan Armitage."—George Weigel, People Places Plants, Summer 2004 (George Weigel People Places Plants )

A comprehensive and boldly colorful resource for anyone looking for just the right annual for their garden ... beautiful photos and to-the-point text are perfectly balanced. San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles, July 2004 (San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles )

A perfect edition to round out your horticulture library..down-to-earth..the latest in garden annuals along with those long considered the best for the annual garden. Joanne S. Carpender, National Gardener, August 2004 (National Gardener )

Nobody knows annuals better than Allan Armitage.George Weigel, People Places Plants, Summer 2004 (People Places Plants )

With humor and wisdom, [Armitage] offers insights on the plants that earn their keep and a few that do not. -- Suzanne Hively Cleveland Plain Dealer 20040801 The latest in a stable of marvelous gardening books by Allan M. Armitage...with [this] new book, you can...be among the first to appreciate...newly introduced plants, as well as new forms and colors of old favorites. -- Lee Anne White St. Louis Post-Dispatch 20040508 The plant information is informative and up-to-date. Armitage, a horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, includes the newest varieties and gives basic details on planting. -- Nancy Brachey Charlotte Observer 20040515 [Armitage's book] makes a fine basis from which to create knock-out containers and border plantings this year and for many years to come. -- Pauline Poparad Chesterton Tribune 20040416 The perfect book to go along with the perfect annual is Allan Armitage's new book Armitage's Garden Annuals. This will become a great reference guide to get you through any garden season. It is an impressive book... and worth every penny to a gardener. -- Linda Cobb "In the Garden", WSPA-TV 20040416 You will take this 367 page encyclopedia off the shelf in March and keep it on your desk or workbench until at least the end of May; it's a must-have in the reference section of your books on flowers. -- Joel M. Lerner Washington Post 20040424 A beautifully photographed, nicely written and well organized encyclopedia. -- Marianne Binetti Seattle Post-Intelligencer 20040422 This is a worthy companion to his Armitage's Garden Perennials. Floral and Nursery Times 20040323 A comprehensive and boldly colorful resource for anyone looking for just the right annual for their garden...beautiful photos and to-the-point text are perfectly balanced. San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles 20040701 Nobody knows annuals better than Allan Armitage. -- George Weigel People Places Plants 20040701 After borrowing a friend's, I was quick to get a copy of my own to add to my library. It's full of photographs and is very easy to work with. -- Petra McLean Armchair Gardening 20040701 Easy to use and full of practical advice. -- Bobbie Schwartz Buckeye 20040711 Its contents will save you time and effort in caring for annuals, as well as introduce you to new, ususual varieties suitable for your garden. -- Patricia A. Taylor Trenton Times 20040704 Allan Armitage takes annuals seriously...Armitage offers a wealth of information on individual plants, plus helpful lists of annuals for special situations. -- Liz Ball Springfield Press 20040707 Eyecatching. -- Jean S. Wexler Vineyard Gazette 20040813 A perfect edition to round out your horticulture library..down-to-earth..the latest in garden annuals along with those long considered the best for the annual garden. -- Joanne S. Carpender National Gardener 20040801 A conversational narrative as down-to-earth as he is himself. -- Liz Ball Yardening 20040707 Entries in this book will whet your appetite for all kinds of beautiful new flowers. Audobon Naturalist News 20040716 Informative and entertaining. -- Ethel Fried Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer 20040626 Very readable and interesting. -- Marge Howard-Jones California Garden 20040916 This book is like a private tutorial with a master teacher. Michigan Gardener 20040916 A browse through these inspiring pages is sure to stimulate the appetite for expanding next summer's collection of annual flowers. -- Helen Chesnut Victoria Times Colonist 20041127 The author's humor and extensive experience in the field make this an excellent addition to any gardener's library. -- Barbara Miller Gardens North 20050304 A glib tone is the endearing imprimatur of the author. -- Diane M. Calabrese American Reference Books Annual 20050511

About the Author
Allan M. Armitage is professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, Athens, where he teaches, conducts research, and runs the University of Georgia Horticulture Gardens. His publications include nine other books and more than 350 articles and papers. He travels widely as a lecturer and consultant and has received numerous awards from nursery trade groups and horticultural organizations, including the Medal of Honor from the Garden Club of America and the American Horticultural Society Teaching Award.

Customer Reviews

Another excellent book by Allan Armitage and Timber Press
Mr. Armitage is following the format utilized by his earlier book "Armitage's Garden Perennials" and Michael Dirr's "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs", providing frank information of common and obscure annuals. Comments such as "Bananas...If you are reading this and are not thinking, 'this guy is nuts!', then you are an open-minded gardener, and we can drink beer together." are what makes this a good book. But the pictures are outstanding. If this book had no words other than the description below the picture, it would be an outstanding book. I now have all the reference I need along with "Armitage's Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials". I just need a bigger bookshelf....

Like reading a letter from an old friend
Allan Armitage writes as if he were talking to a group of fellow gardeners. He is not pretentious, and writes not with arrogance, but with genuine down to earth knowledge. I love his books, and consider him the 'Michael Dirr' of herbaceous plants.