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American
Horticultural Society
The American Gardener
November/December 2004
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 November/December 2004 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.
BOOK REVIEWS
Recommendations for Your Gardening
Library
GARDENER’S BOOKS
Books for Young Gardeners
BOOK REVIEWS
Recommendations for Your Gardening Library
Gardening the Mediterranean Way:
How to Create a Waterwise, Drought-Tolerant Garden.
Heidi Gildemeister. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, New York, 2004. 222
pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $35.
Buy This Book
Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates.
Nora Harlow, editor. East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, California,
2004. 336 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $49.95.
Buy This Book
 Mediterranean
gardening looks easy but is not. Those of us who live in these challenging
zones need all the help we can get to make our gardens interesting, practical,
and beautiful while at the same time conserving water. The two books reviewed
here offer gardeners ample help towards achieving these goals, but they differ
in approach.
Heidi Gildemeister, a founder and
past president of the Mediterranean Garden Society, preaches
restraint in Gardening the
Mediterranean Way. It is easy to understand why she states it is not
necessary to “splash contrasting colors around,” to use plants with
contrasting shapes, or to strive for “constant display” and
“excitement.” Where she lives, nature alone provides the excitement.
 A few
years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Gildemeister’s garden, nestled
in a dramatic setting on the island of Majorca. The narrow road to the
house plunged steeply past a romantic sheep field studded with immense
limestone rocks and cliffs, sculpted by wind and rain. These rocks are
shown in some of the author’s stunning, 200-plus photographs, which will
appeal to artists and gardeners alike. As I followed a gently curving
path edged with well-groomed shrubs and enjoyed vistas of the azure
Mediterranean framed by ancient trees, I realized her techniques had
resulted in a uniquely beautiful landscape using far less irrigation
than most Californians would apply to a garden of similar size.
There are some familiar themes in
this book, such as using trees to frame views, planting bulbs that can
survive on rainfall alone, and using borrowed scenery. But, instead of
planting for shock and surprise as advised in some garden books,
Gildemeister suggests creating peacefulness by pruning shrubs into low,
rounded shapes, and using repetition in place of variety. Rather than
amassing “vast numbers of species,” she counsels gardeners to stay with
the few tried and true.
Overall, the book tells Mediterranean gardeners how to cooperate with
their environment and the long summer drought. The goal is an artistic,
harmonious, and peaceful garden that extends the beauty of surrounding
nature.
For those of us who live in the
coastal zones of California, Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry
Climates, edited by Nora Harlow, provides instant practical help. It is
one of the best books on Mediterranean gardening I have yet encountered
because it’s well organized, highly informative, and gallops along in an
entertaining manner. Though this book is aimed at Bay Area gardeners and
incorporates the views of a number of distinguished northern California
experts, most of the plants illustrated in the 547 color photographs
grow equally well in southern California.
Almost without exception, the plants discussed in this book are
colorful. They bring contrast and, yes—willy-nilly—excitement to any
garden. The photographs in the opening chapters show drought-resistant
plants in various landscape situations. The illustrated plant catalog
identifies 650 trees, shrubs, perennials, and climbers adapted to our
dry summers. A section called “Plants for Special Places” helps
gardeners choose plants for specific needs.
These two books offer readers a
stimulating choice of gardening styles. Gildemeister’s garden philosophy
brings about a distinctive Mediterranean look of mounded shrubs and
simple planting, while the book edited by Harlow definitely leans more
to the wild side of summer-dry gardening.
Pat Welsh
Pat Welsh is the author of Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening:
A Month-by-Month Guide (Chronicle Books, 1999) and The AHS Southwest
SmartGarden™ Regional Guide (DK Publishing, 2004). She lives and gardens
in Del Mar, California.
 Planting
Green Roofs And Living Walls.
Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2004.
256 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $34.95.
Buy This Book
This book could not have come at a better time. With the emerging green
roof market gathering steam but lacking written resources, Nigel Dunnett,
senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield, England, and Noël
Kingsbury, a well-known British garden writer, have given this growing
landscape sector its first reference with broad appeal.
Combining an attractive,
well-organized format with a formidable wealth of information, Dunnett
and Kingsbury start off with the history and evolution of green roofs
and mention many fascinating examples of contemporary green roofs from
around the world. They explore in depth the economic, aesthetic,
environmental, and other benefits behind their popularity today. Better
still, they explain in layman’s terms how these landscapes can exist in
less than six inches of medium and why, because of this, all green roof
components have to be carefully considered and planned.
The authors also delve into the
related concept and practice of creating living walls—technically known
as “façade greening.” Plentiful photographs illustrate the geographic
and design range of these innovative ways to green up the sides of
buildings. For both façades and roofs, the book’s photographs, tables,
and schematics are helpful for novice and professional gardeners alike.
Most of the information and examples
used in the book are derived from Europe, which leads the way in green
roofs and living walls, so specific choices relative to plant selections
will have to be tempered against regional requirements in North America.
Having noted that, Dunnett and Kingsbury offer plant suggestions
throughout the book, as well as convenient plant directories at the end
of the book. These plants are excellent starting points for anyone
interested in installing a green roof or wall in the United States or
Canada.
I highly recommend this book and
look forward to many more on this subject as the industry grows. I say
to the authors, in my best British accent, “Well done, indeed.”
Ed Snodgrass
Ed Snodgrass is the owner and president of Emory Knoll Farms and Green
Roof Plants in Street, Maryland. He lectures widely on green roofs at
regional, national, and international conferences.
Mini-review:
Fragrance in Bloom
 Gardens
are not just for the eyes. They can be for the nose, too, as Anne
Lovejoy points out in her book, Fragrance in Bloom: The Scented
Garden Throughout the Year (Sasquatch Books, 2004, 212 pages,
softcover, $19.95).
As Lovejoy explains, “This book will help to
guide you through the selection process so that you end up with plants
that are regionally appropriate and beautiful as well as marvelously
scented.” She emphasizes using plants in concert and orchestrating the
garden to provide a symphony of scents throughout the year. Lovejoy’s
writing is so vivid, the reader can almost smell what she’s describing.
Beautiful photographs by Lynne Harrison further enhance this feast for
the senses.
Buy This Book
Viveka Neveln, Editorial Intern
GARDENER’S
BOOKS
Books for Young Gardeners
My nephews, eight-year-old Thomas and five-year-old Jack, love books and
also love growing things and being outdoors, so I often try to find
books for them that will encourage their penchant for gardening.
However, with scads of children’s literature on the market, selecting
just the right book becomes a real challenge. Of the garden-related
books for children published this year, here are some our editorial
staff particularly enjoyed.
 One
of the sweetest joys of gardening is, quite literally, enjoying the
fruits of your labor. Lois Ehlert weaves this theme into her new book,
Pie in the Sky (Harcourt, Inc., 2004, hardcover, $16)
for ages three to seven. Told from the point
of view of a child, the story centers around a tree that the father
calls a pie tree. The skeptical child watches the tree through the
seasons but sees no pie. At last, the tree yields cherries, which they
make into a tasty pie (recipe included). Colorful collage illustrations
enhance the book’s appeal.
Buy This Book
 A
variety of creatures appear in Whose Garden Is It? by Mary Ann
Hoberman and illustrated by Jane Dyer (Harcourt, 2004, hardcover,
$16).
Rhyming verses and whimsical illustrations introduce kids from three to
seven to all the characters that might “own” a garden. In addition to
the gardener himself, rabbits, worms, insects, plants, and other
denizens all stake a claim. Even the soil, sun, and rain explain their
important role in the garden.
Buy This Book
For a look at the sweet and often humorous memories a
family can create in their garden, there’s In Our Backyard Garden
by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Marcy Ramsey (Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing, 2004, hardcover, $15.95). Recommended for ages
four to eight, this book features easy-to-read poems and lively pictures
about one family’s backyard adventures through the seasons.
Buy This Book
 Children
from four to eight will find inspiration as well as instructions for
starting their own gardens in Eddie’s Garden and How to Make Things
Grow by Sarah Garland (Frances Lincoln, 2004, hardcover, $15.95).
Young readers follow Eddie, his little sister Lily, and his mother as
they buy supplies, dig the earth, plant and water the seeds, and watch
everything grow. The colorful, botanically accurate illustrations bring
the story to life. There’s a handy how-to section at the end for growing
plants mentioned in the story.
Buy This Book
Dig, Plant, Grow by Felder Rushing (Cool Springs
Press, 2004, softcover, $16.99) is packed with fun projects that
encourage kids aged six to 10 to get creative, experiment, and learn
about plants and the outdoors. The book also includes a list of easy
plants for kids to get to know and grow from “Awesome Annuals” to “Super
Shrubs.” Adults can check out the special section for teachers and
parents. It has ideas for how they can help kids learn even more from
the projects and plants.
Buy This Book
 Kids
age eight and up will enjoy the picture book biography, The Flower
Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan
Ray (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 2004, hardcover, $17). Starting as
an eight-year-old, Bartram tells the story through journal entries as he
grows up in the 1700s. As a boy, he accompanies his botanist father,
John, on collecting expeditions. Then, as an adult, he explores wild
parts of America on his own and describes his adventures while
discovering new plants and peoples. Beautiful paintings and maps by the
author accompany the story.
Buy This Book
Viveka Neveln, Editorial Intern
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