Product Description

Perennials play a central role in today's gardens. Choosing specific plants, however, can be daunting. Is this plant hardy in my area? How big does it get? When does it bloom? Perennials: A Gardener's Reference answers these and many other questions for more than 2,700 species and cultivars in 250 genera, making it one of the most comprehensive guides available. The informative text is enlivened throughout by the authors' wide-ranging experience with perennials and by Lynne Harrison's sumptuous photographs. Whether you're a beginning gardener, a seasoned expert, or a green-industry professional, Perennials: A Gardener's Reference will be the book you turn to again and again for essential information about these supremely beautiful and useful plants.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103343 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 536 pages

From Booklist
The gardening world is constantly being invigorated by plant introductions, and the Pacific Northwest is arguably one of the premier horticultural landscapes. Hailing from Seattle, the expert authors are perfectly placed to guide novices, professionals, and hopeless hortoholics looking for hot new plants. This appealing compendium of nearly 3,000 plant entries offers engrossing, high-spirited commentary to help in selecting and caring for vast arrays of species and cultivated varieties. Background information accompanies cultural advice, helping to take the mystery out of cultivating herbaceous blooming beauties, semievergreen selections rising from rhizomes, vigorous ground covers, and dramatic foliage specimens. And easy-to-follow charts aid in the understanding of Anemones and other such large genera. Common names, plant sources, and recommended reading complete entries from Acaena to Zantedeschia, making this exceptional resource a must-have for library collections. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Susan Carter is a garden and landscape designer. She has been involved with many horticultural organizations including Master Gardener's, the Northwest Perennial Alliance, the Northwest Horticultural Society, and the Association for Women in Landscaping. Susan has 25 years of experience in many areas of horticulture, professional training in landscape design, and a timeless desire to know everything there is to know about plants. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Carrie Becker has gardened for more than 40 years. She has been a professional gardener, landscape designer, and consultant for over 25 years. Carrie is an instructor for the Edmonds Community College, teaching classes on perennial care, herbaceous plant identification, border maintenance, and color in landscape design.

Bob Lilly has been in the horticulture trade since his summers in college. He worked at Wells Medina Nursery in Bellingham, Washington, for seventeen years and was the nursery manager at the Herb Farm for two years. Currently, Bob sells perennials to whoesale growers, and when not lecturing, writes about perennials for various publications throughout the Northwest.

Customer Reviews

Just what I needed!
For all the information there is about plants, this book cuts to the core, and renders mini autobiographies of each plant in wondrous detail. This is no overview, but rather specific traits and needs of specific plants, and how to love them and make them happy. The photos are sensitive and detailed, and the individual plant descriptions are concise, clear and readable. This book has style and substance, and is sure to enrich the expert and instruct the rest of us.

Fills a niche
A "big" book about perennials that fills the need for a comprehensive reference. The book includes 250 genera and about 2,700 species and cultivars. And given the flood of new plant introductions, the book is still fairly up to date. The format is extremely user friendly for garden planning or showing to commercial customers/clients. Organized by genus, each entry includes at least one color photo and notes about culture, management, propagation, pests/diseases, and companions for the genus. Especially valuable are the authors' opinions based on actual experience. The text for each genus is followed by a list of species and cultivars in chart form. In this format, it's a cinch to compare, for example, the characteristics of Agastache 'Apricot Sunrise' with A. 'Pink Panther.' Not a reprinted British edition, this is a book written by American-based horticulturalists and backed by the expertise of American publisher Timber Press. As a Zone 6 gardener in New England, however, I was a little disappointed with the emphasis on the Pacific Northwest and that fact that Zone 7 plants that won't survive my climate are included in the book. Nevertheless, all the common garden favorites are included. And if you want to look up something unusual such as Peltoboykinia, it's there as well.

Learning to Garden
I love this book. I have always enjoyed gardens and have done some gardening in the past - I finally have a little space to start from scratch and this has been a great help. The book lists the perennials by botanical latin but also has a very handy cross reference by common name. While the author's are from the Northwest, most of the plants listed can be used in USDA zones 3-9. I guess I might not buy this book if I gardened in Alaska, Hawaii or the extremely cold areas of the northern states. I like that the photo's are very clear and that each plant has a paragraph plus information regarding: Origin, preferred conditions, Management, propagation, pests and diseases, companion plants and notes.

This book has over 500 pages of great information about over 2700 spiecies and cultivars and has helped me both decide for and against some of them this summer.