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American
Horticultural Society
The American Gardener
September/October2002
Recommended Garden Books
Because the AHS Horticultural Book
Service was discontinued as of June 30, 2000 no further phone or mail orders
are filled. However, AHS members are still be able to order books at a
discount by linking to Amazon.com through the Society's Web site. Through this
partnership with Amazon.com, AHS members can receive better discounts on most
titles, faster delivery, greater inventory, and improved access to
hard-to-find books. The books listed here have not been critically evaluated;
they have been chosen for description based on unusual subject matter or
substantive content.
The following
books are our current recommended garden books from the September/October 2002 issue
of The American Gardener. To
read the review just click on the book title. You can then order the book
directly from Amazon.com by clicking on "Buy this book!" that
follows each review.
BOOKS IN THE
SPOTLIGHT
GARDENER'S BOOKS
BOOKS IN THE
SPOTLIGHT
 Gardening
with Conifers.
Adrian Bloom. Photographs by Adrian and Richard Bloom. 208 pages. Firefly
Books, 2002, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $27.97,
soft cover: $17.47.
Buy This Book
There are some very good handbooks and encyclopedias featuring conifers, but
there has been a distinct need for a moderately sized, reasonably priced,
“gardener friendly” conifer reference. Gardening with Conifers has filled the
void. It is a book complete with photographs of conifers in garden settings,
as well as individual portraits of particularly ornamental conifers.
Adrian Bloom, a well-known and respected British
author, is able to speak to the American experience with authority, having spent
significant time in the United States. In preparation for this book, he and his
photographer son, Richard, visited sites throughout the United States, speaking
with many gardeners and photographing their gardens.
Bloom’s first book on conifers, Conifers for
Your Garden, published in 1972, has become the standard guide for gardening with
conifers. The new book far exceeds the scope and content of the first. Gardening
with Conifers opens with a discussion of the unique “magic” of conifers
including their function in the garden, their origins, how they grow, and how
they are named. The next chapter looks at conifer anatomy, shapes and growth
rates.
A thankfully large portion of the book discusses
growing and designing with conifers. The remaining 40 percent of the book is an
encyclopedia of some of the best conifers for gardens.
The gardens shown in the photographs make one
want to incorporate as many conifers as possible into the garden. Both gardener
and designer benefit from the discussion of seasonal effects, color variation,
and combinations with perennials and non-coniferous woody plants. Height and
width estimates are given for both 10-year-old and mature plants. Most
importantly, the cultural information provided is correct for various parts of
the United States.
I strongly recommend Adrian and Richard Bloom’s
book to anyone looking for a useful guide to planting and using conifers in
their gardens.
—Bill Thomas
Bill Thomas is co-author of Growing Conifers: Four-season Plants (Brooklyn
Botanical Garden), and is past president of the American Conifer Society.
 Native
Trees, Shrubs, & Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North
American Woody Plants.
William Cullina. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 356 pages.
Publisher’s price, hardcover: $28.
Buy This Book
I’ve spent some time with North America’s native plants; still, every time I
open one of Bill Cullina’s books I discover a wealth of new insights and
understandings. Cullina is a true American original with a knowledge and
viewpoint evolved from a lifetime of first-hand experience. This book is a
natural follow-up and perfect companion to his superb The New England Wild
Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States
and Canada (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000). National in scope, Native Trees,
Shrubs, & Vines includes information on nearly 1,000 different species,
illustrated with more than 200 color photographs.
After opening with a discussion of the book’s
layout and use, Cullina makes a persuasive pitch for ecological gardening, a
philosophy that is deftly but firmly woven throughout the book. Defining this as
“an environmentally friendly way to grow plants,” the author draws on his
extensive knowledge of cultural conditions in native habitats to suggest
planting and maintenance strategies for designed landscapes. Scientifically
sturdy but easy to read, this section’s topics include light, soil, temperature,
transplanting, pruning, and diseases.
The heart of the book is the 229-page
“Encyclopedia of Plants,” organized alphabetically by genus. Each genus entry
begins with a general discussion of common traits, continuing with individual
species entries. The consistent format organizes basic information—scientific
name, common name, USDA zones, soil preference, native range, size, and
color--under bold-faced headings, affording quick reference. The essays that
accompany each listing reveal the author’s deep familiarity and experience,
describing plants in clear language that is often as entertaining as it is
informative. Cullina’s writing is full of useful stories and gentle humor,
making this book one of those rare, truly encyclopedic works that is a joy to
read. The book’s final pages include a lengthy section on propagation.
“Must-haves” for any gardener seriously
interested in our indigenous flora, both of Bill Cullina’s books are stellar
evidence of the maturation of the American garden, and of a home-grown
literature that can point the way to a beautiful, more sustainble environment
for us all.
—Rick Darke
Rick Darke is author of The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of
the Deciduous Forest (Timber Press, 2002).
 Eden
on Their Minds; American Gardeners with Bold Visions.
Starr Ockenga. Clarkson Potter, New York, 2001. 240 pages. Publisher’s price,
hardcover: $42.
Buy This Book
I confess that most gardeners’ profile books make me a tad queasy—stringing
together what often appear to be glorified magazine articles with more
name-dropping of owners than plants. But not Starr Ockenga’s book. In this, her
second impressive publication in this format, we are again treated to carefully
researched portraits of passionate gardeners, as well as a generous helping of
the kind of truly useful information that will enable us to follow in their
paths.
With a zippy writing style and her inimitable
exquisite photographs, Ockenga introduces us to a tremendous range of
horticultural settings. Sonny Garcia and Tom Valva in their minute San Francisco
backyard provide us with “twelve tips for making a small garden seem big,” while
Dino Anagnost, who seemingly tends endless fields of sunflowers in Germantown,
New York, offers a generous list of favorite varieties with details on flower
size, color, and height.
Then there is Richard Reames of Williams,
Oregon, an “arborsmith”—a sculptor whose medium is living trees. We meet him
perched on one of his creations—a planting of 20 red alders, shaped and grafted
together to create a living bench. From him we gather tips for successful
grafting.
Among these 21 zealots in gardens from Alabama
to Washington is Mary A. Homans, who we find among her northeast natives near
the sea in Islesboro, Maine. Her botanical treasures include a collection of
meticulously carved trough gardens filled with dwarf species; her hard-won
secrets include a detailed sampling of some of the wondrous woodland perennials
that are willing to shrug off a sometimes hostile seaside climate.
It is fascinating indeed to make the
acquaintance of these serious tillers of garden soil surrounded by their
favorite things, and be privy to their personal advice. In this beautiful and
highly readable book, Starr Ockenga has managed to give us the next best thing
to actually being there.
—Linda Yang
Former garden columnist for The New York Times, Linda Yang is author of The
City Gardener’s Handbook, recently republished by Storey Publications.
GARDENER'S BOOKS
There are many more new books on the market than
we have time or space to review, but here are a few that recently caught our
eye. Through a partnership with amazon.com, AHS members can order these and
other books at a discount by linking to amazon.com through the Society’s Web
site.
 AHS
Plants for Places.
Simon Maughn, editor. DK Press, New York, 2002. 576 pages. Publisher’s price,
softcover: $12.57.
Buy This Book
This handy, pocket-sized reference suggests plants that are suited to a wide
range of garden conditions and uses. Plants are arranged according to the
appropriate site, from soil type (clay, sandy, alkaline, acidic) through
exposure, light conditions, and moisture levels. Coverage of plants for specific
uses, such as ground covers, hedges, walls and pavings, water gardens, and
containers is also provided.
More than 1,000 plants are listed, each with a photograph, description, and
basic cultural information. This compact, informative volume is perfect for
carrying to the garden center or nursery to guide your selection of plants for
your specific garden conditions and needs.
Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada, second
edition.
 Donald E. Schnell.
Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2002. 468 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover:
$27.97.
Buy This Book
This expanded and revised edition of a classic reference originally published in
1976 offers easily accessible information on 45 species and numerous hybrids of
these unusual and fascinating plants. Vivid descriptions and 200 full-color
photographs of pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, sundews, butterworts, and
bladderworts bring the subject to life and provide details of their bizarre
beauty, their unique digestive processes, and background on how they have
adapted to their environment.
Experienced carnivorous plant enthusiasts and interested beginners alike will
find all the information they need for selecting and growing carnivorous plants
successfully. Also covered are conservation issues surrounding the endangered
habitats that support carnivorous plants as well as efforts to protect them.
 The
Pesto Manifesto: Recipes for Basil and Beyond.
Lorel Nazzaro. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont,
2002. 182 pages. Publisher’s price, softcover: $10.47.
Buy This Book
From a self-confessed “over-the-top basil aficionado” comes a book that assures
your bumper crop of basil will be put to good use. Nazzaro covers basil in
detail, from its history and folklore, through a profile of basil types, to
growing and harvesting techniques.
The bulk of the book, however, is a compendium
of recipes using basil as a critical ingredient. Included are recipes for
appetizers, soups, egg dishes, pastas, salads, meat and fish, breads—even
desserts. Of particular interest to successful basil growers is information on
drying and freezing basil and suggestions on how to best use your preserved
basil in cooking. So if pesto ranks high on your list of culinary treats, you
may want to invest in this in-depth reference.
 Water
Works: Creating a Splash in the Garden.
Maureen Gilmer with Michael Glassman, photographs by Mick Hales. Contemporary
Books, New York, 2002. 198 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $34.95.
Buy This Book
This book examines the use of water in the landscape, from an historic
perspective of its role in daily life to its place in contemporary gardens.
Beginning with a look at water use in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Japan, the
authors—bothlandscape designers—illustrate how the design elements reflected by
traditional roles of water in a landscape can be incorporated into contemporary
gardens.
The abundant, detailed photographs of gardens,
from small urban yards to large country estates, illustrate how a well-planned
water feature can set the tone for an entire garden. All aspects of design are
covered, from mechanical safety and functionality, to space and budget concerns,
building codes, and more. Written with gardeners, designers, and homeowners in
mind, the designs and photographs of ponds, pools, fountains, man-made streams,
dry rock beds, and other features will inspire you and have you dreaming of ways
to add the element of water to your landscape.
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