|
American
Horticultural Society
The American Gardener
September/October 2006
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 2006 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
From the Garden to the Table
BOOK REVIEWS
Recommendations for Your Gardening Library
 Hellebores:
A Comprehensive Guide
C. Colston Burrell and Judith Knott Tyler. Timber Press, Portland,
Oregon, 2006. 296 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $34.95.
Buy This Book
After the first encounter with the delightful winter blooms of
hellebores, it is easy to become addicted. The allure of the Christmas
rose and the remarkable availability of the Lenten rose have heightened
the rising popularity of these treasured perennials. Co-authors Colston
Burrell and Judith Knott Tyler capture all of this and bring to light
many of the new seed strains and hybrids in this monograph on the
Helleborus genus.
Organized in a clear and readable manner, this volume
opens with the basic morphology of hellebores followed by an interesting
account of hellebores throughout the history of Europe and the United
States. The authors thoroughly researched information on species,
incorporating the latest opinions from world experts on nomenclature and
the habitats of these plants in the wild. Listed species are described
in detail and are represented in color photographs by Richard Tyler and
Colston Burrell. The interspecies hybrids also are covered in detail,
and many of the known cultivars and seed strains are noted with the
characteristics that make them different from each other.
The authors discuss the who’s who of hellebore
hybridizers, describing their breeding programs and giving the most
notable attributes of these labors of love. A section dedicated to the
budding hybridizer gives tips on desirable traits and creating a
breeding line. For the true hellebore nut, there are even a few pages on
how to bring in hellebores from overseas. The cultural information
covers everything from purchasing a quality plant to proper planting and
maintenance.
One of the points I enjoyed most about this book is the authors’
excitement about what is yet to be done with hellebores. They write
about the development of new hybrids and color lines, the potential of
recent tissue culture work, and the continued fieldwork on hellebores in
the wild.
Richie Steffen
Richie Steffen, coordinator of horticulture at the Elisabeth C. Miller
Botanical Garden in Seattle, Washington, maintains and builds the
garden’s rare and unusual plant collections.
 Bird-by-Bird
Gardening: The Ultimate Guide to Bringing in Your Favorite Birds - Year
after Year
Sally Roth. Rodale Books, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, 2006. 392 pages.
Publisher’s price, hardcover: $29.95.
Buy This Book
The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds
Stephen W. Kress. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2006. 466
pages. Publisher’s price, softcover: $24.95.
Buy This Book
 With birdwatching
second only to gardening in surveys of popular American hobbies, books
combining the pastimes are inevitable. This year, two top nature writers
offer outstanding contributions to this growing subgenre. Although the
volumes differ in style and audience, both Bird-by-Bird Gardening and
The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds present general
principles, practical advice, and ecological inspiration for enticing
wild birds into landscapes large and small.
In Bird-By-Bird Gardening, Sally Roth focuses on crafting
gardens to attract particular species of birds. Option-packed plant
lists, vivid color photographs, budget-minded tips, and personal
anecdotes contribute to the book’s engaging style.
The key to attracting birds, says Roth, is knowing the
behavior and food preferences of 19 familiar bird groups. Bluebirds, for
example, like their thrush family relatives, thrive near woodland edges,
and the key to attracting them is planting berry-producing shrubs. Each
bird group’s chapter features a modest garden of favorite plants,
designed to be installed in one afternoon. If you plant Roth’s 20-by-10
vision of dogwoods, blueberries, winterberries, and spicebushes, that
flash of blue in your yard is “practically guaranteed,” she says.
Stephen Kress’s Audubon Society Guide to Attracting
Birds, which focuses on wildlife habitats, is more formal, with
comprehensive plant recommendations, organized by region,
black-and-white line drawings, and science-based arguments. Kress, who
directs National Audubon’s bird conservation programs, also seeks a
broader audience than Roth, including commercial and public property
managers as well as home gardeners. He offers detailed instructions for
some do-it-yourself projects, such as converting a trash can lid into a
drip birdbath. But other ideas, such as wetland construction, are beyond
the scope of homeowners.
Whether your site is an apartment balcony, suburban backyard, or
corporate park, Kress offers plenty of techniques for enhancing its
value for forest, prairie, or shrubland birds. Like Roth, Kress both
urges and empowers all to begin the “urgent and satisfying work” of
creating natural havens that wildlife increasingly needs to survive.
Julie Dunlap
Julie Dunlap writes about wildlife and conservation for children and
adults, and coordinates schoolyard garden projects for the Audubon
Society of Central Maryland.
 Sunset
Western Landscaping Book
Edited by Kathleen Norris Brenzel. Sunset Publishing Corporation,
Menlo Park, California, 2006. 416 pages. Publisher’s price, softcover:
$29.95.
Buy This Book
This newly revised edition of the Sunset Western Landscaping Book
complements the publisher’s bible, the Sunset Western Garden Book. The
latter has pages on garden design and great encyclopedic listing of
plants for western gardens; the Sunset Western Landscaping Book is a
companion that helps gardeners truly create beauty.
The book is lushly illustrated with beautiful western gardens, most of
which are professionally designed, allowing the rest of us to adapt
those designers’ ideas in our own gardens. The book is divided into
logical sections to guide the reader through the design process or just
to dip into for inspiration or specific instructions. There is a nod to
the contemporary idea of garden “décor.” I wonder, however, how the beds
pictured in the garden “retreats” would survive the four inches of rain
we got one California winter day. On a more practical side, the book is
encouraging me to expand my usual design palette. Cobalt blue accents,
succulents, and mosaic patterns of any material just make me swoon.
The sections on “Structures,” “Plants,” “Solutions,” and “Planning”
address the basics and more, such as fire-retardant landscaping. I
quibble, however, when our wonderful western, alkaline soil is said to
be in need of “improvement.” Okay, sure, if you want to grow traditional
English-garden plants, but there are so many plants that don’t need
loam. When I evaluate a basic gardening book, I note how the author
writes about native or climate-adapted plants and about how
horticultural plants fare in the urban-wildland edge. I see room for
improvement in those categories in the next edition of the book.
All in all, the Sunset Western Landscaping Book will help both new and
experienced gardeners broaden their vision for the possibilities of a
western garden.
Susan C. Eubank
Susan C. Eubank is arboretum librarian at the Los
Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden and a passionate western
gardener.
[mini review]
 Who
among us has not raced hopefully out to the backyard to try the latest
miracle pest repellent or plant nutrition supplement? Many of these
products, procedures, and urban myths are put to the test—and often
debunked—in The Truth About Garden Remedies (Timber Press, 2006,
$19.95).
Buy This Book
Author Jeff Gillman, an associate horticulture professor
at the University of Minnesota, methodically examines the claims made
for everything from beer as a fertilizer to Brussels sprouts as an
herbicide.
The book is organized in a no-nonsense and user-friendly
manner, setting out the theory and practice of each claim as well as the
bottom line for the gardener. The results are fascinating and
occasionally disappointing. For example, it’s helpful to learn that beer
and Brussels sprouts are best left in the fridge. But after spending a
day potting up annuals in media mixed with a hydrogel, I was rather
dispirited to read that the gel is unlikely to save much water.
This is a book many of us will want to consult frequently. Still, I’m
not sure I’m ready to give up on the hydrogel just yet.
Linda McIntyre, Freelance Writer
GARDENER'S BOOKS
From the Garden to the Table
Picking a warm, luscious tomato in your backyard, or enjoying the first
spring greens from the farmer’s market, it’s hard to believe that come
peak harvest time in the fall, you might be just the tiniest bit weary
of grilled zucchini or corn on the cob. When you’re ready to try some
new tricks with your veggies, here are several books that can help.
You’ll learn some innovative produce preparations and maybe even
convince vegetable-averse family and friends to embrace kale or
rutabagas..
 If
you’re a community supported agriculture (CSA) shareholder, you’ll want
to get your hands on Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on
Vegetables (Gibbs Smith, 2006, $29.95)
Buy This Book,
and if you’re not one, this book might move you to join. Author John
Peterson is a reformed conventional farmer who now runs Angelic
Organics, a large CSA farm in Illinois. Part cookbook, part agricultural
memoir, part manifesto, this volume is helpfully organized by season. In
addition to recipes and chatty snippets from the farm’s newsletter, the
book offers storage and handling tips, basic culinary uses, “partners”
(complementary foods, spices, and seasonings), and an identification
guide to help sort the kohlrabi from the celeriac. It also paints a
convincing picture of the profound joys and daunting difficulties of
contemporary farming..
 In
Keep it Seasonal (William Morrow, 2006, $29.95)
Buy This Book,
transatlantic chef Annie Wayte offers recipes for soups, salads, and
sandwiches using fresh ingredients. These building blocks of light
meals, she says, are the perfect showcase for the best herbs,
vegetables, and fruits. Her combinations, organized by season, range
from classics such as fresh pea soup with morel mushrooms to more
unusual fare such as grape leaf rolls stuffed with warm goat cheese and
sage, and a salad enhanced with persimmons, dates, and pecorino cheese.
Perhaps best of all are Wayte’s suggested accouterments to her
dishes—walnuts spiced with cayenne pepper, rosemary, paprika, cumin, and
ginger, for example, or savory thyme muffins.
 Jerry
Traunfeld, author of The Herbal Kitchen (William Morrow, 2005,
$34.95)
Buy This Book,
is also a restaurant chef, which is apparent in his sophisticated yet
accessible recipes. The Herbal Kitchen is organized like a traditional
cookbook, with the first chapter focusing on appetizers and the last one
on desserts, but Traunfeld also includes an appealing section on
“botanical beverages” such as berry rose sangria and basil lime fizz. He
encourages readers to grow their own herbs and offers cultural
information and useful asides, for example, on distinctions among
lemon-scented herbs (lemon thyme is best with savory dishes, he says,
while lemon verbena makes delicious desserts). And those with canine
companions will enjoy the recipe for “Good Dog, Bad Dog Biscuits.”
 Garden
writer and former editor of Organic Gardening magazine Jeff Cox shows
off his epicurean side with The Organic Cook’s Bible (Wiley,
2006, $40)
Buy This Book.
This comprehensive volume explains why consumers should choose organic
vegetables, fruits, meat, and other foods as well as how to prepare them
and, in the case of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, tips on growing them.
Thoughtful organization and a conversational voice keep the vast
quantity of information in this book from overwhelming the casual cook,
who will be pleased to find information on kitchen staples such as
flour, oils, coffee, and (of course) chocolate as well as both basic
usage tips and more ambitious recipes. Any cook who cares about the
quality and sustainability of ingredients will want The Organic Cook’s
Bible on his or her bookshelf.
 Serious
cooks and those who like to experiment will also want to check out
Vegetable Love (Artisan, 2005, $35)
Buy This Book
by veteran food writer and editor Barbara Kafka. The book
gives recipes, buying and storage information, yields and equivalents,
and even tips on washing and cutting for a huge range of vegetables
including some—yautia, malokhei, and scorzonera, for example—you might
not have heard of. Its organization, by continent, is somewhat
confusing, but the long and informative (and alphabetical) cook’s guide
is a handy quick reference, and Kafka’s unique voice—for years she wrote
a column called “The Opinionated Palate” in Gourmet magazine—makes the
book a pleasure to read. And I’m willing to bet you won’t find a recipe
for parsnip ice cream in any other cookbook.
Linda McIntyre, Freelance Writer.
|
