Dream Plants for the Natural Garden


Henk Gerritsen - 2000
    This new collaboration with fellow Dutch plantsman Henk Gerritsen deals with a selection of some 1200 plants most suitable for Oudolf's New Wave naturalism, which emphasizes the importance of plant structures in providing all-season interest. The gardener can prune back plants after flowering to create a perpetual spring — at least until the onset of winter — but the authors prefer to follow nature's example and let plants finish flowering, not only to please the birds and butterflies, but for the beauty that well-chosen plant groupings offer as they reach the end of their life cycle. Many illustrations in this book demonstrate the striking effects of Oudolf's favorite plants in fall and winter.

Beekeeping for Beginners: How To Raise Your First Bee Colonies


Amber Bradshaw - 2019
    You (and your bees) will be buzzing with delight.From picking the right hive and bringing your bees home to surviving winter and collecting honey, experienced beekeeper Amber Bradshaw takes you on an easy-to-follow journey through your first year of beekeeping and beyond.Beekeeping for Beginners includes: Just the essentials—Learn everything you need to know to begin your first colony—written with brand new beekeepers in mind. Modern beekeeping—Start your colony off right with guides that feature the newest practices and current, natural approaches. Learn to speak bee—Clearly defined terms and a complete glossary will have you talking like a pro beekeeper in no time. Begin your beekeeping the right way—and avoid getting stung by mistakes—with Beekeeping for Beginners.

Cool Flowers: How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques


Lisa Mason Ziegler - 2014
    But few grow them successfully in their own gardens because they haven’t learned the simple techniques that make it possible. Expert flower grower Lisa Mason Zeigler introduces us to the long-blooming stars of the spring garden, the hardy annuals – those flowers that thrive when they are planted during cool conditions (instead of waiting until the warmth of spring).  Forget Some-Like-It-Hot, she advises, and give them a cool start. Plant them in the right spot at the right time, nestle their roots deep into rich organic soil, and stand back. In no time at all, you’ll have a low-maintenance, vibrant spring flower garden that keeps on blooming when other annuals are dead and gone.

Good Bug Bad Bug: Who's Who, What They Do, and How to Manage Them Organically


Jessica Walliser - 2008
    Garden expert Jessica Walliser also offers strategies for dealing with the new bugs in town, those worrisome strangers that are starting to show up as a result of climate change. Thirty-six bugs, presented in full color on laminated stock, with concealed wire binding. Sturdy enough to take into the garden for easy reference.

Terrariums - Gardens Under Glass: Designing, Creating, and Planting Modern Indoor Gardens


Maria Colletti - 2015
    Growing collections of adorable miniature plants in glass vessels is a great way to bring the indoors out and get back in touch with nature—no matter where you live and what time of year it is. Whether you reside in a tiny apartment, spend the bulk of your hours at an office desk, or just want to be better connected to green, living things, terrariums are the ticket. A wondrous combination of nature, gardening, and home decor, terrarium building and tending is both therapeutic and inspirational. Terrarium expert and teacher Maria Colletti makes designing your very own interior gardens easy with step-by-step photos of over twenty of her own terrarium designs. Plus, you'll get all the information you need about popular terrarium plants, such as tillandsias (air plants), orchids, mosses, cacti, succulents, and ferns. Transform basic glass containers, including vases, jars, vertical planters, hanging globes, tabletop greenhouses, and more, into miniature worlds of green. Once you know the basics (the plants, the vessels, and a basic understanding of soil, water, and humidity), you can mix and match for an endless exploration of your own creativity!

The Grumpy Gardener: An A to Z Guide From the Galaxy's Most Irritable Green Thumb


Steve Bender - 2017
    Finally, the collected wit and wisdom of the magazine's most irreverent and beloved columnist can be found in a single A - Z volume, providing gardeners from coast-to-coast with his valuable tips for planting, troubleshooting, and growing flowers, vegetables, shrubs, trees and more, all delivered in his signature cantankerous style.Sidebars throughout the book - "Ask Grumpy" - help readers tackle common garden problems ("How do I get ride of little house ants?"), and readers from the past 35 years take part in the book when Grumpy shares his favorite reader's responses to some of his advice, his favorite rules for gardening, and Q & A's covering your favorite plants and flowers are all inside. Additionally, beautiful line-drawings and illustrations throughout make the book as beautiful to look at as well as entertaining to read.The Grumpy Gardener is sure to become the most trusted tool in your gardening shed!

Grow Fruit


Alan Buckingham - 2010
    And few things taste more delicious than fruit picked straight from the tree or bush and eaten when perfectly ripe, perhaps still warm from the sun. This is fruit the way nature intended, not fruit that has been flown in from hundreds or thousands of miles away or stored in climate-controlled warehouses before being sealed in plastic for supermarket shelves. What could be fresher, tastier, more local, and more seasonal than fruit you've grown yourself, in your own garden or allotment, picked at just the moment when it's at its most perfect?This book shows just how easy it is to grow your own fruit. You don't need a huge garden or a dedicated orchard. It's possible to get a perfectly good harvest from plants grown in containers on balconies or patios and from even the smallest of town gardens. Pick the right varieties for the conditions you've got, invest in a bit of planning and preparation, follow the instructions contained in these pages, and you can be harvesting and eating your own strawberries, plums, pears, apricots, blackberries, redcurrants, melons, and figs.

The Informed Gardener


Linda Chalker-Scott - 2008
    Chalker-Scott offers invaluable advice to gardeners gardeners who have wondered:Are native plants the best choice for sustainable landscaping?Should you avoid disturbing the root ball when planting?Are organic products better or safer than synthetic ones?What is the best way to control weeds-fabric or mulch?Does giving vitamins to plants stimulate growth?Are compost teas effective in controlling diseases?When is the best time to water in hot weather?If you pay more, do you get a higher-quality plant?How can you differentiate good advice from bad advice?The answers may surprise you. In her more than twenty years as a university researcher and educator in the field of plant physiology, Linda Chalker-Scott has discovered a number of so-called truths that originated in traditional agriculture and that have been applied to urban horticulture, in many cases damaging both plant and environmental health. The Informed Gardener is based on basic and applied research from university faculty and landscape professionals, originally published in peer-reviewed journals.After reading this book, you will:Understand your landscape or garden plants as components of a living systemSave time (by not overdoing soil preparation, weeding, pruning, staking, or replacing plants that have died before their time)Save money (by avoiding worthless or harmful garden products, and producing healthier, longer-lived plants)Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticidesAssess marketing claims objectivelyThis book will be of interest to landscape architects, nursery and landscape professionals, urban foresters, arborists, certified professional horticulturists, and home gardeners.For more information go to: http: //www.theinformedgardener.com

The Bonsai Bible: The definitive guide to choosing and growing bonsai


Peter Chan - 2014
    This compact and stylish guide will provide everything you need to know to grow bonsai successfully, including shaping with wires, watering, seasonal maintenance, tackling common ailments, choosing the right container, feeding and repotting. A directory of over 90 of the most popular species, illustrated with beautiful photographs, will enable you to find the tree that is right for you.

DIY Succulents: From Placecards to Wreaths, 35+ Ideas for Creative Projects with Succulents


Tawni Daigle - 2015
    DIY Succulents shows you how to use beautiful and resilient plants like echeveria, sedum, and graptopetalum to craft nature-inspired home decor like rustic tabletop centerpieces and breathtaking wall art. Each page offers details on selecting the right plants and containers for the project, assembling a gorgeous arrangement, and maintaining the garden as it grows. With step-by-step instructions, gardening tips, and dozens of ideas to choose from, anyone can create imaginative succulent crafts like:Living WreathBirch Log PlanterTerrarium NecklaceTopiary BallComplete with photos and plenty of inspiration, DIY Succulents will help you add creativity, color, and personality to every room in your home.

Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers


Amy Stewart - 2007
    She tracks down the hybridizers, geneticists, farmers, and florists working to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature can provide. There's a scientist intent on developing the first genetically modified blue rose; an eccentric horitcultural legend who created the most popular lily; a breeder of gerberas of every color imaginable; and an Ecuadorean farmer growing exquisite roses, the floral equivalent of a Tiffany diamond. And, at every turn she discovers the startling intersection of nature and technology, of sentiment and commerce.

Allotment Month by Month


Buckingham, Alan - 2009
    Here’s how to ensure your plot provides fresh, healthy food all year round. Follow month-by-month, easy-to-follow advice on what to do on your allotment and how to do it. Pick up time saving tips and techniques on everything from pruning to dealing with pests. There’s clear guidance on when to sow, plant, and harvest for excellent resultsGet more from your allotment with this indispensable companion.

McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: A Container Garden of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and Edible Flowers


Rose Marie Nichols McGee - 2002
    And with only one exception-watering-container gardening is a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation, The Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide.Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, The Bountiful Container covers Vegetables-not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas. Herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus. Edible Flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, Fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook's garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.

The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty from Brandywine Cottage


David L. Culp - 2012
    The result is a nonstop parade of color that begins with a tapestry of heirloom daffodils and hellebores in spring and ends with a jewel-like blend of Asian wildflowers at the onset of winter.The Layered Garden shows you how to recreate Culp's majestic display. It starts with a basic lesson in layering; how to choose the correct plants by understanding how they grow and change throughout the seasons, how to design a layered garden, and how to maintain it. To illustrate how layering works, Culp takes you on a personal tour through each part of his celebrated garden: the woodland garden, the perennial border, the kitchen garden, the shrubbery, and the walled garden. The book culminates with a chapter dedicated to signature plants for all four seasons.As practical as it is inspiring, The Layered Garden will provide you with expert information gleaned from decades of hard work and close observation. If you thought that a four-season garden was beyond your reach, this book will show you how to achieve that elusive, tantalizing goal.

The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook: Over 100 Delicious, Gluten-Free, Farm-to-Table Recipes, and a Complete Guide to Growing Your Own Healthy Food


Diana Rodgers, NTP - 2015
     Anyone can have the same healthy, balanced lifestyle and a closer connection to their food—whether you live in a house in the suburbs, a farmhouse in the countryside, or an apartment in the city. The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook shows you how. With over 100 seasonal Paleo recipes, guides to growing your own food and raising animals, and inspiring how-tos for crafts and entertaining,The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook is a guide not just for better eating, but for better living—and a better world.