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American
Horticultural Society
The American Gardener
January/February 2009
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 2008 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
BOOK REVIEWS
Recommendations for Your Gardening Library
 Flowers
and Herbs of Early America
Lawrence D. Griffith. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in association
with Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 2008. 304 pages.
Publisher’s price, hardcover: $50.
Buy This Book
This sumptuous book gives rare insight into the garden activities of our
colonial past and how modern gardeners might use those time-honored
plants and practices. Griffith approached the project as both a research
historian and as a professional gardener for Colonial Williamsburg in
Virginia. Photographs by Barbara Temple Lombardi make the book an
elegant, artistic contribution to modern florilegia.
The book describes 58 flowers and herbs with thorough, engaging, and
well-illustrated essays. Griffith chose his subjects from among the more
than 180 plants he grew at Colonial Williamsburg, deemed to be an
accurate selection of plants for the American colonial period. In
addition to relating the history of each plant from the perspective of
old-time writers and gardeners, Griffith shares cultivation information
gleaned from his own experiences.
Griffith praises the plants he discusses for their ability to form
painterly combinations serendipitously. He captured my imagination with
his “complicated and content bundle of interwoven flowering stems” of
bishop’s weed (Ammi majus), small-flowered zinnia (Zinnia pauciflora),
mixed four o’clocks (Mirabilis jalapa), and striped French marigold (Tagetes
patula ‘Striped’), among many other delightful-sounding groupings.
The plant history purist might quibble with the inclusion
of a number of modern cultivars. However, in most cases. Griffith
explains each selection, noting new names for old plant types and the
interesting effects of genetic drift in several species. Still, the
20th-century Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ seems out of
place in this context.
After reading this book, I could not decide whether to place it on the
coffee table for more leisurely perusal of the gorgeous flower
photographs, woodcuts, and engravings, or to keep it among my gardening
references for its practical cultivation descriptions and
recommendations. In any event, it will be close at hand as I plan my
next garden to include ragged robin, strawberry blite, and the
large-flowered all-heal.
Denise Wiles Adams
Denise Wiles Adams is a plant historian in Stony
Point, New York. She is the author of Restoring American Gardens: An
Encyclopedia of Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940 (Timber Press, 2004).
.
 Lilacs:
A Gardener’s Encyclopedia
John L. Fiala. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2008. 410 pages.
Publisher’s price, hardcover: $49.95.
Buy This Book
If considered carefully, the title of a book will often reveal exactly
what to expect from its contents. Such is the case with Lilacs: A
Gardener’s Encyclopedia—it is absolutely encyclopedic in scope.
Reverently revised by Freek Vrugtman, the International Lilac Registrar,
the book is an updated version of Lilacs: The Genus Syringa, written two
decades ago by the late John Fiala, a priest and college professor who
founded the International Lilac Society.
For those who have not read Fiala’s original work, do not
let the encyclopedic nature of the book intimidate you - this is no dry
read. Like the original, this updated version is replete with accounts
of 19th- and 20th-century plant exploration adventures, the fascinating
history of lilac breeding, and the hybridizers themselves. The book
contains vivid descriptions of the 30-odd lilac species and natural
hybrids as well as hundreds of cultivars.
Those who are familiar with Fiala’s original version will
notice that this revision is no simple-minded rehash. While organized in
the original chapter format and including original text, every chapter
has been revised and many are considerably expanded. For example, the
first chapter contains important revisions to the taxonomy of the genus,
including recent changes based on DNA evidence. Chapter 10, dealing with
lilac hybridizers, features new information on lilac breeding efforts in
Russia, the former Soviet Republics, and China, including descriptions
of cultivars yet to be seen in North American gardens. In addition, the
list of notable world lilac collections and gardens (Appendix C) has
been considerably expanded.
This book is also a visual feast, containing 580 beautiful color
photographs, including many of the original version’s photos of flowers,
whole plants, and lilacs in the landscape. In this edition, the photos
are spread throughout the book as opposed to being clustered as they
were in the original text.
For the cultivar descriptions, the accompanying photos, the updated
taxonomic treatment, and the history and tales, this is a book that
belongs on every lilac lover’s bookshelf.
Stan C. Hokanson
Stan C. Hokanson is an associate professor of horticulture and director
of the woody landscape plant breeding and genetics program at the
University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
.
 Plant-Driven
Design
Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon,
2008. 284 pages. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $34.95.
Buy This Book
landscape architects and landscape designers have long argued about
whether plants or hardscape elements are the most important part of a
garden. The case for hardscape elements’ primacy could be summed up by
landscape architect Steve Martino’s statement that when he starts a new
design, rather than plants, “I think about developing space using
hardscape elements. I think plants are incidental to the garden and that
it needs to be successful without plants.”
In their new book, Plant-Driven Design, Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott
Ogden take a radically different view—that the “architecture first”
school of garden design often fails “to include plants in a way that
celebrates their inherent character and natural power.” They advocate
giving plants equal billing and then some. In my opinion, Plant-Driven
Design champions the “plant-it-instead-of-pave-it” point of view better
than any book to date. It should be required reading for landscape
architecture and design students, if for no other reason than it offers
a thoughtful counterpoint to the prevailing wisdom.
This book is packed with photographic evidence that the Ogdens practice
what they preach. The photos are framed with the eye of a designer who
sees plants as the true heart of a garden. For example, the images
feature wrought-iron gates draped with vines, stepping stones encroached
on by thyme and veronica, gravel pathways punctuated with alliums, and
yards in which dormant buffalo grass is enlivened by tulips. In these
gardens, there is no way to avoid the plants - their designs blend
“plant space” and “people space” in a way that promotes and celebrates
close encounters with plants.
Seeing routine maintenance - or just plain gardening - as part of the
design process is a recurring thread throughout the book. In one image,
Lauren is pictured out in the garden filling two large black trashcans
with weeds and grass seed heads. The caption for the photograph reads,
“Not simply chores, weeding and editing sustain and renew a garden’s
design and at the same time nurture a fascination and connection for the
gardener.” As the Ogdens suggest, perhaps our desire to connect with the
nature in our backyards isn’t fulfilled by a spa or outdoor kitchen, but
rather in the form of a weed, or some other garden plant that
desperately needs the attention of a designer.
Scott Calhoun
Scott Calhoun writes books and designs gardens in Tucson, Arizona. His
latest title, The Hot Garden, will be released this March (visit
http://www.zonagardens.com for details).
GARDENER’S BOOKS
All in the Family
Ask a gardener which are his or her favorite plants, and
chances are the answer will be “Whatever is in bloom!” However, almost
every gardener I know has a few true favorites above all others. Often
these are the ones that are reliably rewarding - daylilies, ferns,
roses, or viburnums, for example. Others treasure rare and unusual
specimens. And then there are the challenge-seekers, those who most
enjoy the plants that require a little coddling to thrive, such as
dahlias. Whatever plants you’re passionate about, books about a single
genus or family are a perfect way to increase your knowledge and gain
insight about them. Here are some recently published examples.
 The
New Encyclopedia of Daylilies (Timber Press, 2008, $49.95)
Buy This Book
combines and expands upon two previous books by daylily
experts Ted L. Petit and John P. Peat. In addition to the cultivars in
their Color Encyclopedia of Daylilies published in 2000, this new book
includes hundreds more plants and color photographs. It also
incorporates portions of The Daylily: A Guide for Gardeners, released in
2004, because, as the authors point out, information on topics such as
daylily species and history hasn’t changed much in the intervening
years. The result is a 408-page tome filled with 1,700 daylilies that
Petit and Peat deem “the most worthy and worthwhile cultivars available”
based on their personal experiences, American Hemerocallis Society
popularity polls and awards, and how widely they are grown and sold.
Along with chapters on daylily cultivation, hybridization techniques,
and physiology, a section on the latest, yet-to-be-named cultivars
rounds out the book.
 Saxifrages
by Malcolm McGregor (Timber Press, 2008, $49.95)
Buy This Book
provides a thorough overview of the diverse genus
Saxifraga and closely related Micranthes. This volume describes each of
the 17 main botanical sections under which these genera are currently
classified. McGregor includes details about their history, cultivation,
and propagation, as well as personal observations from his extensive
plant explorations and many years of growing them. The final part of the
book contains general cultural information and a list of 100 of the
author’s favorite saxifrages that are relatively easy to obtain and
grow. More than 300 color photographs amply depict the myriad forms of
this plant group, prized by rock gardeners.
 Members
of the bleeding heart family have become increasingly popular in gardens
over the last decade, yet no reference book on them existed to guide
enthusiasts. To remedy this, Mark Tebbitt, Magnus Liden, and Henrik
Zetterlund pooled their botanical and horticultural knowledge to write
Bleeding Hearts, Corydalis, and Their Relatives (Timber Press,
2008, $34.95).
Buy This Book
Published in association with Brooklyn Botanic Garden in
New York, this book attempts to corral most of the cultivated taxa of
this plant group, though their classification has been undergoing a good
deal of re-organization and new species continue to be introduced. In
addition to descriptions of these plants, the book includes a section of
color plates illustrating many of them, and there are chapters on their
cultivation and natural history..
 Plants
recognized as “true” heathers and heaths star in Gardening with Hardy
Heathers (Timber Press, 2008, $19.95)
Buy This Book
by David Small and Ella May T. Wulff. These are the
closely related European species of Calluna, Erica, and Daboecia, which
have similar characteristics and cultural requirements. While heathers
may be “grown in many temperate climate regions if their few specific
cultural needs are met,” the authors caution that a number of other
factors in addition to cold tolerance can affect survival. The book
discusses these factors in detail and offers advice on site selection
and preparation to achieve best results. Of the 1,100 or so available
heather cultivars, Small and Wulff describe a “representative selection
that includes old favorites and recent introductions.” The book includes
garden design ideas and information on propagation and breeding.
 In
Calochortus (Timber Press, 2007, $29.95)
Buy This Book,
Ron Parsons’s color photographs alone make a compelling case for how
captivating Calochortus members can be. But the passion he and co-author
Mary E. Gerritsen have for these bulbous wildflowers shines through in
their writing as well. The book gives a brief explanation of Calochortus
classification and a well researched account of the genus’s history,
then describes in detail each of the three recognized botanical sections
with the caveat that “this organization is quite likely to change in the
not-too-distant future.” Many species are rare or endangered in their
native range across the American West, but gardeners who are interested
in growing them will find all they need to know in the final chapter..
Viveka Neveln, Associate Editor
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