Product Description

Regarded as a classic among practical gardening guides, Peter Thompson’s book has been thoroughly revised and updated, with almost twice as much text and nearly three times as many plants as are found in the celebrated first edition. Though vastly expanded in scope and content for an international readership, Thompson’s book still offers the same key philosophy of basing techniques on "observing how plants reproduce naturally."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #319085 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Review
"Before you as a beginner or expert even think of propagating plants this is the book to have for use and in your library for reference."— Joanne S. Carpender, National Gardener, April 2005 (Joanne S. Carpender National Gardener )

"Classic ... Thompson details the fundamentals of how plants work."—Jan Hale Barbo, Santa Fe New Mexican, April 3, 2005 (Jan Hale Barbo Santa Fe New Mexican )

"Without a doubt this book will assist all gardeners who find the propagation of plants a mystery."—John E. Bryan, Gardening Newsletter, March 2005 (John E. Bryan Gardening Newsletter )

Before you as a beginner or expert even think of propagating plants this is the book to have for use and in your library for reference. Joanne S. Carpender, National Gardener, April 2005 (National Gardener )

Classic ... Thompson details the fundamentals of how plants work.Jan Hale Barbo, Santa Fe New Mexican, April 3, 2005 (Santa Fe New Mexican )

Without a doubt this book will assist all gardeners who find the propagation of plants a mystery.John E. Bryan, Gardening Newsletter, March 2005 (Gardening Newsletter )

From the Author
Peter Thompson was Head of the Physiology Department at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for many years before becoming a nurseryman and establishing The Garden School.

About the Author
Peter Thompson graduated in Horticulture and holds an M.Sc and Ph.D from London University. He was Head of the Physiology Department at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for many years before becoming a nurseryman and establishing The Garden School.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book, don't leave this one out of your collection.
Easy to read and complete. Good size to take in to the feild. This book was suggested to me by the Masters at Mt. SI Bonzai, now Eden Gardens (Barton, Ore.) and has proved to be the the only book needed by us as we began to propagate more and more variety at our Puget Sound area nursery.

Creative Propagation
I am a gardener of many years who has tried propagating plants with some luck. This book is wonderful. On my first try last August (1999) I took about 30 azalea cuttings and every one of them "took". My problem now is what do I do with all of them. :) The propagation table at the end of the book (that lists plants alphabetically)is one of the best I've ever seen. It tells if a plant can be started by seed, cutting or divisions and what time of the year is best. I also did some hydrangeas (100% success) and some crepe myrtle (75%). I have already recommended this book to all my gardening friends and I recommend it to anyone who likes to be surrounded with lots of "plant babies". :)

All the info you need to start propagating plants
I rated this book as four-star for this two reasons:

First, because I cannot understand why this book is printed in special glossy paper, if 80% of it is mostly text. And we know how special paper adds to price and that must be the reason why this book is quite expensive for my taste.

The second reason is that for a book with this price tag, I'd expect a lot more illustrations and maybe some real pictures, instead of drawings.

Now into the the good aspects! This book is solidly written and covers all aspects of plant propagation. From trees to flowers and bulbs, etc...

There is a good section on propagation from cuttings and all the info you need to start growing plants from seeds, which were my main objectives when I bought this book.

The stratification process of seeds in the refrigerator is also covered, as well as there are some very useful instructions about how should we properly long-term store our own seeds.

As someone said before, there is a very handy chart by the end of the book, with plenty of useful information on the propagation of most of the plants you'd ever think of propagating.

As I said before, I think this book is a bit expensive and not as illustrated as I wish it was, but overall I think it is a good investment for people interested in propagating plants.

It is the kind of complete book that you will keep in your shelf and go search for answers when more doubts arise, as you get more experienced in this loving art.

If you just want to propagate some plants or maybe grow some seeds, I'd also suggest Alan Toogood's book on growing, which is more simple than this one, but on the other hand has plenty of pictures and may be easier for a beginner to follow.