Whitman, Rose, and Selinger (Minnesota horticulturists) have included easy-reference charts with essential information such as color, size, and hardiness. The book also features a unique five-star rating system with which the authors give their expert evaluation of each plant. More than 750 species and cultivars are covered in depth as the authors explain the basics: how to grow, where to plant, landscape uses, and care and maintenance.

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Product Description

An all-in-one guide designed for northern-tier gardens from coast to coast

Growing Shrubs and Trees in Cold Climates provides northern-tier gardeners from coast to coast with an incredible range of choices, no matter what their skill level.

Part I profiles 50 plant groups best suited to gardens in zones 1 to 5. Each plant has been tested for hardiness over a period of at least 10 years--and has proved hardy to no less than -30 degrees F. Readers will easily be able to select shrubs and trees that produce wonderful fragrant flowers and those that bloom more than once in the spring and summer seasons.

Part 2 covers the basics of growing shrubs and small trees, with special attention on solving problems that occur in cooler climates.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #523349 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Whatever one's garden's status--a new yard, a landscape under renovation or a flimsy flower bed that needs some fortification--this book offers cold-weather comfort that northern gardeners will warm to. Written by gloves-on horticulturists who live in Minnesota, the well-organized text scrimps nowhere, giving equal attention to 750 plant species and to cultivars. Easy-reference tables rate plants on a five-star system, while simplifying plant comparisons by hardiness, size at maturity and color of leaf, flower and fruit. Additional information, often missing even in comprehensive tomes, appears in consistent categories: site, light, soil type, moisture requirements and landscape uses. Along the journey from evergreen abies to deciduous wisteria, gardeners will encounter some lovely plant combinations, such as spreading cotoneaster with its bright red berries interspersed with white potentilla, all against a dark evergreen background. Although this exhaustive treatment of individual plants serves as the book's ballast, there's still plenty of expert counsel in additional chapters covering such topics as plant selection, planting and transplanting. From rots to wilts and from bagworms to leafrollers, pests and problems also get their due. "What to Prune and When"--24 concise paragraphs on the gardener's craft should be tacked on the wall of every toolshed. Photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The authors, who live, work, and garden in Minnesota, provide an authoritative, detailed guide to more than 750 species and named varieties of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and small trees that thrive when winter temperatures fall to minus 20 F or lower. Part 1 is arranged alphabetically by genus, with each entry consisting of a description of the genus; light, site, soil, and moisture requirements; spacing; landscape use; planting instructions; culture (watering, mulching, fertilizing, pruning, and winter protection); insect, disease, and animal controls, including organic remedies; propagation; and sources to purchase plants. A listing of species/varieties follows covering foliage color, flower color, height/width, and hardiness for each. The authors also rate the plants for landscape value and cold adaptability using a five-star system. Part 2 explains plant selection, site preparation, planting, transplanting, culture, problem-solving, and propagation. Color photographs complement the text. Highly recommended for beginning and experienced gardeners, especially in USDA zones 1-5.DSue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Any gardener who has ever been frustrated when trying to select the right small tree or shrub, or been thwarted by the worst of winters, can breathe a sigh of relief now that Whitman, Rose, and Selinger have addressed both these problems in their outstanding new book. From abies to wisteria, more than 750 species and cultivars are covered in depth as the authors explain the basics: how to grow, where to plant, landscape uses, and care and maintenance. Highlighted by easy-reference charts with essential information such as color, size, and hardiness, the book also features a unique five-star rating system with which the authors give their expert evaluation of each plant. This book goes beyond the norm in several areas, from the useful life expectancy for each plant to its special uses as cut or dried material. The backbone of a garden, small trees and shrubs are often the most expensive plants to buy. This book will save novice gardeners years of trial-and-error disappointment, while seasoned gardeners will wish they'd had it years ago. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

Thorough and superbly illustrated
How wonderful to have a book that provides the level of detail made available here for those of us who shiver through our winters and worry about whether the new additions to the garden are as hardy as the garden center promised.

The details? Everything from pronunciation to names of various suppliers. How to plant, feed and prune and informed odds about whether a particular plant will survive transplanting. Plants aren't merely promised to be hardy; charts give the specific temperature to which varieties will survive. The charts also show information about flower color and fruit, the plant's anticipated size, and comments about the variety's assets and liabilities for the home gardener.

Photographs are large enough to show detail and convey actual information: aspects of a particular plant or its appearance in different seasons, and variables among varieties.

This is a fine book and, in my view, unusual in that it is certainly well worth its sticker price. It is organized like an encyclopedia, notwithstanding some useful material in chapters outside the alphabetized plant list. As such, it does not have an index -- which might be useful -- and some of the text can be recursive. But these are minor flaws in an outstandingly useful and beautifully published book.

Great Resource For Cold Climates!
I have had this book for a few years now and used it extensively. I am in north central Iowa, zone 4, and this book has helped me to choose shrubs and small trees that can withstand my extremely bitter cold winters. What I love about this book is there are many photos, many nursery resources listed, and it is full of very valuable information.

If you are gardening/landscaping in a cold climate and need to know which cultivar's can survive in zone 4 or 3 or 2 then you need to have this book.

Very useful and helpful information
This book has been more helpful to us in many different areas. It explains everything from how and when to prune to how and when to fertilize. It shows both common name and scientific name in the table of contents to quickly find what you're looking for. If you are looking for a book that explains how to take care of everything available in the cold northeast, this is the book for you. Gardeners can't go wrong with this book.