Book Description
In this new book noted grass expert and advocate Rick Darke addresses both the aesthetic qualities of grasses in private gardens and the opportunities and challenges of using them in wild and constructed public landscapes. All the true grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, and cattails that possess ornamental merit or that can contribute to ecological plantings are described, and practical matters of propagation, growth, and maintenance are also covered. More than 1000 stunning photographs show details of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part. This worthy successor to The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses is a new type of design reference that sets a standard for inspired, sustainable use of grasses.
Customer Reviews:
The best ornamental grass book ever.......2007-08-23
This book is the bible of all ornamental grasses, great pictures for referance and identifacation of grass plants !!!!!!!!!!
Interesting and encyclopedic.......2007-07-05
In depth, beautifully photographed and written by someone who obviously cares a great deal about the subject. Great for reference -- also great just to peruse.
Beautiful book.......2007-06-10
Beautifully illustrated book and so specific. I had a hard time getting used to the detail because most books give you just a paragraph on the grass and very little on care, etc.
It's everything you want to know about Ornamental Grasses and more. Very, very complete reference source. Maybe be a bit too much for a average gardener, but if you love grasses and gardening -- this is an excellent book.
Book Description
Paula Pryke is one of the world's leading floral designers and an inspiration to novices and experts alike. Her flower school in London, which attracts students worldwide, provides one of the most sought-after credentials for anyone serious about mastering the art of floral design. Now with Flower School, Pryke offers the essentials of her London program in gorgeously illustrated text, allowing readers to feel as if they have enrolled in her school. Simple step-by-step instructions and clearly defined photographs make even the most ambitious design achievable. Drawing on her signature designs, she discusses design rules, color concepts, equipment, and flower preparation, and then offers a series of formal lessons on hand-tied bouquets, the use of water in containers, wirework, and designing for special events. This impressive collection is rounded out with a flower directory detailing those flowers and plants best suited to Pryke's dramatic approach to floral artistry. Packed with original ideas and invaluable techniques, this comprehensive volume is an inspirational sourcebook for flower arrangers of any level.
Customer Reviews:
Truly a master class in floral design.......2007-06-19
This book is amazing! Detailed, gorgeous photos and instructions to create the best floral arrangements of your life. New ideas on every page, lots of suggestions for supplies and techniques.
Gave me Inspiration.......2007-06-04
I chose this book to help me get ready for a State Flower show. I found the photos and designs inspirational to me. Paula Pryke's material selection is outstanding and she's thinking outside the box. The content is not too textbook, technical or preachy, but simply laid out. There is limited information about the mechanics of creating a design which is why I give it a 4.
I'm happy to say my design won a blue ribbon.
Just Ok!.......2007-04-17
Great pictures and ideas, but not for the beginning florist. If your just starting out, have no experience and trying to learn the art of floral design, this is not the book for you to learn.
Paula Pryke's Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design .......2007-03-30
Excellent....just as advertised.
Paula Pryke's Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design.......2006-11-10
As a budding floral arranger I thought this book was a bit limited from
an educational standpoint. The pictures are beautiful but there weren't
many creative designs. I was hoping for an instructional book on how
to do designs and was dissapointed.
Book Description
"Fill[s] a significant void in the literature on ornamental plant usage.... [The book] is a valuable text and reference work for advanced students, professional plantsmen, and landscape architects and is a welcome addition to the literature." âAmerican Society of Horticultural Science
"This is not only a textbook but a valuable reference work for anyone involved with landscape plants." âAmerican Horticulturalist
Here is the definitive one-stop survey of more than 1500 woody ornamental plants and 2500 cultivars of eastern North America for students and professionals in landscape architecture and design, horticulture, and urban forestry. Written by an esteemed authority in the field, this book includes:
- Greatly expanded coverage of plant species, including significantly increased attention to commercial cultivars
- Sensible cross-referencing for plant selection based on more than two dozen design criteria, with lists arranged according to such vital factors as size, hardiness, and environmental requirements
- Hundreds of crisp textural diagrams portraying each primary species at 15 and 40 years in relation to average human height
- More than 400 photographs depicting plants of exceptional visual interest
- Maps and graphs, including a full-color map of hardiness zones, offering invaluable visual summaries of major design considerations
- Succinct explorations of problems and maintenance issues for each species, diminishing the complications of choosing among high- and low-maintenance plants
- An index listing plants by their scientific and common names
Now in its second edition, this book remains the core reference on landscape design in eastern North Americaâintelligently organized for maximum planning efficiency. Enhanced with up-to-date coverage of additional shrubs, trees, and their cultivars, as well as expanded listings of plants classified by characteristics, Landscape Plants for Eastern North America continues to provide all the information necessary for landscape designing in the region.
This complete guide provides a concise description of each plant species' function, adaptability, seasonal interest, growth rate, common problems, maintenance, cultivars, and related species, along with more than 1000 high-quality scale drawings and hundreds of photographs. And Dr. Flint's book goes beyond many works on landscape plants because of its unique focus on the landscape design process: with cross-referencing in more than two dozen categories based on such design criteria as size, site requirements, and soil prerequisites, readers will easily be able to determine which plants are appropriate to their needs.
Throughout the book, a variety of illustrations provide quick reference on a range of important considerations. A full-color map represents the hardiness zones of the eastern region, and bar graphs indicate such adaptability considerations as light, wind, soil moisture, and pH requirements. For each primary species, a seasonal clock furnishes a straightforward visual delineation of the duration and intensity of color throughout the year.
Encompassing plant life from herbaceous ground covers to large trees, this is a most comprehensive, easy-to-use resource for anyone involved in landscaping in eastern North America.
Customer Reviews:
Eastern North America landscape plants.......2007-04-07
Excellent resource for gardeners referencing plants in Eastern North America. I love it.
Invaluable reference for the landscape professional.......2000-08-26
As a landscape designer, I use this book almost daily as a complement to Michael Dirr's texts. The line drawings of each plant in youth and maturity provide a better idea of its habit than most pictures ever could. The "Problems and Maintenance" section has helped me avoid many potentially inferior plants, and the "Adaptability" information gives a nuanced understanding of wind tolerance, pH, light and water requirements. Finally, the "Seasonal Interest" symbol provides a finely tuned assessment of the plant's attractiveness throughout the year: I use it to find plants with year-around interest. This is a book for professionals who have to live, and die, by their plant recommendations.
Book Description
Since its first appearance, The Art of Floral Design has become the definitive standard in teaching design techniques. In-depth and illustrated in full color, it offers comprehensive information on the principles and mechanics of flower arranging, basic flower anatomy, and arrangement styles for all occasions. This well-written text combines theory and practice to familiarize readers with the basics and guide them through more advanced floral techniques. This book is sure to remain on your reference shelf throughout your career in floral design.
Customer Reviews:
class room help.......2007-07-03
I teach floral design and use this book in my classroom. It's great. The students like it and it is very helpful for them
The Art of Floral Design.......2007-03-09
Used this book for a college class I was taking. I found this book to very easy to understand and helpful in making floral designs. The illustrations pictured, captured exactly what was being taught. A great book for beginners.
Good learning tool.......2007-01-04
this was a required book for a class I took in floral design. The book covers most aspects of floral design from arranging to marketing. If you are looking to learn how to design arrange flowers this is a good reference book.
You can learn a lot if you don't fall asleep first........2006-09-17
I am currently enrolled in a floral design program using this book as text. Yes, it is a very imformative book, but Ms. Hunter goes into far to much detail and uses far to many words to get her point across. Maybe it's just me and I am a far more visually oriented person, but trying to learn floral design through the use of a text book so far is not my cup of tea...I think it's a good reference book but that's about it.
Excellent Textbook.......2006-08-29
I have referred to this textbook throughout the five years since I took my first floral design class. I am now a seasoned designer and sometimes refresh my memory by re-reading chapters. Well-written and illustrated.
Book Description
Tasha Tudor's poignant art has fascinated adults and children for decades. Her nineteenth-century New England lifestyle is legendary. Gardeners are especially intrigued by the profusion of antique flowers -- spectacular poppies, six-foot foxgloves, and intoxicating peonies -- in the cottage gardens surrounding her hand-hewn house. Until now we've only caught glimpses of Tasha Tudor's landscape. In this gorgeous book, two of her friends, the garden writer Tovah Martin and the photographer Richard Brown, take us into the magical garden and then behind the scenes. As we revel in the bedlam of Johnny-jump-ups and cinnamon pinks, the intricacy of the formal peony garden, and the volumptuousness of her heirloom roses, we also learn Tasha's gardening secrets. How does she coax forth her finicky camellia blossoms in the dead of a Vermont winter? How does she train that fantastic topiary to model for her artwork? How can she keep her crown imperials from tumbling in the winds? Tasha's garden reflects a wealth of family lore, perfected through the years and years of working the soil. We may be dazzled by the beauty of the garden, but we come away from this book with practical ideas about improving our own plots of land. "Paradise on earth" is how Tasha describes her garden, and along with the flowers and the vegetables that provide her food, her paradise is filled with an enchanting menagerie -- corgies, Nubian goats, cats, chickens, fantail doves, and forty or more exotic finches, cockatiels, canaries, nightingales, and parrots, which inhabit her collection of antique cages. Tasha's beautiful watercolors and her enchanting anecdotes color this sublimely beautiful book.
Customer Reviews:
Tasha Tudor's Garden - Beautiful book!.......2007-07-24
I received this book several years ago as a birthday gift. It has beautiful pictures of Tasha Tudor's garden and flowers. I bought it this year for my friends 60th birthday gift. She loves it!
Inspiration for Gardeners.......2007-01-04
This is a wonderful book featuring the garden of children's book author and illustrator Tasha Tudor. Not a gardening how-to book but rather a photographic tour of the garden. It does show that a garden can be at its most charming when not rigidly landscaped but grown in a more naturalistic way. A must for all Tasha Tudor fans bookshelves.
a beautiful woman.......2006-07-24
I have loved Tasha Tudor's illustrations in books like "The Tasha Tudor Book of Fairy Tales", "The Secret Garden" and "A Little Princess" since childhood. I didn't know anything about Tasha Tudor as a person, and then one Christmas my mother gave me this book. Wow! Mrs. Tudor has lived a remarkable life and she is an amazing person. She has chosen to create a home for herself that seems to exist in a century past. Her son built a rustic house for her, and she has surrounded it with extensive farm buildings, cottage gardens, fruits, berries, chickens, goats and dogs. She dresses in layers of vintage clothing and eats off of china that has been in her family for generations. I just love this woman, and her lifestyle. This is a beautiful book.
Surprise.......2005-02-08
I purchased this book years ago... at a bookstore and paid the full price. Had I known about Amazon.com....I could have saved money. Then I could have more books! I strongly recommend this book for all gardeners to add to their home library. Enjoy!
a journey to the past.......2003-01-19
Looking at Tasha Tudor's Garden is like taking a journey to another century, surrounded by beauty and peace. Tasha herself wears 19th century clothes, including petticoats, shawls, and head kerchiefs and lives in an antique-appearing house, going about her life with what seems to be a minimal of technology. The photographs that capture her seeing to the goats in the barn in winter, carrying a basket of hand-pulled weeds in summer, arranging lillies, tulips, peonies and old roses in her lovely old house, and seeing the cottage gardens in bloom are absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes gardeners just need inspiration, and this book is perfect for this. Enjoy.
Book Description
The wedding bouquet, like the center jewel in the engagement ring, is a focal point for the celebration. The bouquet’s colors, arrangement, and even fragrance, can express the mood and style of the ceremony, from the bridal gown and attendants’ attire to the décor of the reception room. How to decide? Each of the 300 bouquets displayed here comes with lavish close-up photos and careful descriptions of each detail, with recommendations for the kinds of dresses and ceremonies they best complement. Every color theme receives special treatment (with price range indicators), from whites, ivories and creams to yellows and oranges, reds and pinks, blues and purples, as well as variegated and original color schemes.
Customer Reviews:
Which one to Choose?.......2007-08-17
With the 300 beautiful bouquets in this beautiful little book that are so beautifully photographed it will be hard for the bride to decide which one to choose. The photography is exquisite and shows the bouquets off to perfection giving you a brief description of how it's made and which type of dress it would be appropriate with and the scents they carry. What more could you ask for?
I would recommend this book for all brides in waiting, to help them decide what type of bouquet to choose, for their special occasion.
Deborah Loisel
Tonasket, Wa.
Good for color ideas.......2007-07-12
This is a great little book to help you get ideas on colors and different types of flowers for your wedding. It's current and gives you just enough information.
Pretty but not exciting.......2007-05-15
I bought this book when I was trying to plan my wedding, reading all the reviews I felt that it could be an excellent resource. On the good side, the pictures are really beautiful with close ups of each arrangement. It is also very well organized with each section focusing on the main colors in the bouquet. Unfortunately, I found the bouquets themselves to be completely unexciting, I got more ideas flipping through wedding magazines. There was not a single arrangment that I ended up showing my florist as an example.
Just what I needed.......2007-01-18
HI! This book had just what I needed to determine what kind of boquet I wanted. It was all PICTURES of RELAVENT stuff and not just a bunch of words. Also it lists out what kind of flowers are in each boquet and what they mean. That is awesome!
A great place to get ideas for your bouquet.......2007-01-10
This book has so many lovely, colorful photos of wedding flowers you will be spoiled for choice. I found it an excellent armchair guide to the many options out there for the bridal bouquet. Even if you have no idea where to start, this book will give you plenty of ideas for picking a stunning modern wedding bouquet.
Book Description
Perennial combinations are the building blocks of beautiful, successful gardens. Choosing perennials that look great and grow well together is a skill that can take years to develop, but with this book, you're guaranteed to make perfect plant choices right from the start. In Perennial Combinations, expert plantsman, C. Colston Burrell hand-selects 120 of the best perennial combinations for homeowners, then offers his expert advice on how to grow and use the combinations to create great gardens.Each combination is featured in a stunning color photograph accompanied by a numbered photo key and plant list, so it's easy to find and buy exactly the right plants to re-create the combination in your own garden. Each combination features just two to six plants, so they're perfect for even the smallest garden space. You can plant each combination just as it appears in the book, or for a bigger color splash, just repeat the combination or mix it with others that are suited to the same conditions. You'll find combinations for stunning bloom from spring through fall; combinations especially suited to challenging sites like heavy clay soil or seaside gardens; and combinations just for fun, like fragrant combinations and combinations that attract butterflies.C. Colston Burrell has lived and gardened in different climates across America, so he's made sure this book is useful to gardeners from California to Maine. He's also a professional garden designer, and he's applied his talents to create 22 original garden designs that feature the book's individual combinations. Plus every page includes his personal gardening wisdom, so you'll not only know which perennials to plant together, you'll know how to maintain those perennials so your garden will look beautiful year after year.
Customer Reviews:
a huge help for one new to gardening.......2007-09-21
Being pretty new to perennials but having read many books I was having sort of a writers block when it came to WHAT to put in my new garden.
I knew all about HOW but with so many choices I was overwhelmed!
This book has a good number of templates to give you a jump start and many outstanding photos of combinations of flowers that work together. In fact this has some of the best photos I have ever seen in a garden book.
It also covers difficult situations like what works in Heavy Clay and wet sites an so forth.
My plan was a butterfly garden and they had the perfect template for a 12x8 garden.
Excellent book for beginners or people that are looking for new combinations!! My fav book so far. (out of the 30 I have looked at).
Decent book, lousy photos.......2007-04-25
One of the drawbacks of buying gardening books online is that you can't see the photos. If I had thumbed through this book I don't think I would have purchased it. Not that it doesn't have a lot of good information and ideas. It's just that the photos are, for the most part, awful. The color is garish and over-saturated and the images actually look blurry. Also, many of the plant combo photos are very close up, which doesn't help when you are trying to figure out how to place your perennials when planting. For me, a good gardening book has to not only give useful information and how-tos (which this book does for the most part), but it has to inspire with lovely photos! And that is where this book fails.
No Juice.......2007-03-29
This book was (is) a big disappointment, containing as it does nothing new regarding perennnial combining that isn't covered in at least a dozen or more recent and more interesting books, not to mention the classics. This is perennial combining 202 with no spark of imagination in the pairings that can make a garden jump for joy. The photography is so ordinary and the color is extremly garish. Is that due to the Digital Imaging Specialists Dale Mack and Jane Ramsey or what? I can find no photographic credits (except for the cover) which is probably just as well. Obviously in a book this size (351 pages), from someone who is as accomplished as Mr. Burrell, there is useful information to be gleaned but I already have books that serve that purpose. If I had seen this in a book store, having thumbed through it for a few moments, I would never have bought it. However, if you are just beginning your library of perennial books this one may be useful to you.
Love This Book.......2007-03-22
Although I have a plethora of gardening books, this one stands out as one of my favorites. It shows a picture example on every page. It has planting diagrams (garden plans) so you can duplicate what you see and it gives a lot of information about the plants. It's the best of both worlds - you can use the information and get creative, or follow the plans and duplicate what you see. Either way, you'll have a great garden!
Although I've been gardening for a good many years, it's nice to have a reference as to how things will look together, instead of my usual "plant it here and hope for the best" approach! I'm tired of moving my plants every year.
I bought my book over the winter and it's a great "dream" book. Now I can't wait till I can get out there and put it all to good use!
perennial combos.......2007-02-16
This is a wonderful guide to planning and developing a perennial garden. The author gives examples for numerous planting condition,such as shade, sand, clay. I can't wait for spring!
Book Description
Paula Pryke is one of the leading floral designers in the world today and is an inspiration not only to do-it-yourselfers but to professionals in the floral and interior design. This book profiles more than 80 projects, which are divided into two distinctive styles-classic and contemporary. The first chapter features arrangements that have stood the test of time and have become classics in their own rights; the next section features those that are on the cutting edge. For each arrangement, Paula takes the readers on a very personal journey through her color and design choices that make each project one-of-a-kind.
This career-spanning catalogue of Paula's unique approach to flower arranging illustrates how her style has evolved, and shows how flowers are the finishing touch to any room or table setting. Combined with comprehensive information on techniques, step-by-step instructions and photographs, this is a practical guide to floral arrangements for the novice as well as an inspiration to the more accomplished florist. With this book, anyone can create memorable floral compositions that add color and style to any room.
Customer Reviews:
Another good reason to visit your local florist..........2007-08-30
Paula, what a wonderful book! I have it on hand in my store for customers to peruse though. I would recommend this book to all who appreciate flowers, and the art of floristry.
Magnolia Village Florist, Inc.
Seattle, WA
This book is a huge hit !! .......2007-05-06
I sent this to a florist friend as a gift !! It is a huge hit. They love the photos and are recreating many of the arrangements. I highly recommend this book for flower lovers and florists alike.
A good book for the lover of flower arrangement.......2007-01-10
This book is a good tool for anyone interested in learning how to arrange flowers. It has beautiful pictures and good explanations on mechanics and how to do most of the arrangements, however, the most difficult and therefore prettier do not have much instructions, so you also need to use a little imagination.
The Complete Book of Floral Design.......2006-02-22
This is a great book for visual pictures of different arrangements and ideas you may want to put together!! Lots of pretty pictures!
beautiful book.......2005-09-30
I love the book, and there is some great advice in it but I was looking for abit more of a "how-to" type of book. The book is mostly photos of her work with a black and white section of some instructional aspects of making bouquets, etc. There is also a small encyclopedia-like section of flowers which explains some aspects to the flowers but does not include general price range. I was hoping it would be the only book I needed to buy to do my wedding flowers, but I don't think it will be.
Book Description
Personal robots are about as advanced today as personal computers were on the eve of the first IBM PC in the early 1980s. They are still the domain of hobbyists who cobble them together from scratch or from kits, join local clubs to swap code and stage contests, and whose labor of love is setting the stage for a technological revolution. This book will deconstruct the 30 regional winning robot designs from the FIRST Robotics Competition in 2006. The FIRST Robotics Competition (held annually and co-founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers) is a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. In 2005 the competition reached close to 25,000 people on close to 1,000 teams in 30 competitions. Teams came from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events that have gained a loyal following because of the high caliber work featured. Each team is paired with a mentor from such companies as Apple, Motorola, or NASA (NASA has sponsored 200 teams in 8 years).
This book looks at 30 different robot designs all based on the same chassis, and provides in-depth information on the inspiration and the technology that went into building each of them. Each robot is featured in 6-8 pages providing readers with a solid understanding of how the robot was conceived and built. There are sketches, interim drawings, and process shots for each robot.
Customer Reviews:
Great resource for new mentors.......2007-09-19
2007 was the first year I got involved in mentoring a FIRST robotics team (Team 1781, 2nd year team). Since I am now hooked on FRC I have been trying to collect as much information possible to further help the team grow. This book has provided plenty of inspiration on design ideas, build philosophies, and prototyping techniques. I would highly recommend new teams and/or mentors read this book as well as anyone else already involved with FIRST or interested in becoming involved.
A Great Technical Source.......2007-05-13
This book has features on prize-winning robots created for the FIRST competition. Along with sharing the details needed to win the awards in 2006, the information is invaluable for those competing in years to come. In fact, just being able to see the intricate details of so many robots is well worth the money and will knock days off of build times for future FIRST competitors. I highly recommend this book if you plan to compete or already are competing in the FIRST robotics challenges.
Tom
Team 1987 LSNHS Broncobots Mentor
Awesome Look into the Next Generation of Education.......2007-04-12
My name is Ellery Wong I'm a team leader/mentor from (Team 191) The Xerox/Wilson X-CATS. The authors of this book did an excellent job translating our detailed write up to clearly convey our teams' goal for design and the strategy of the 2006 competition in our contribution as a Motorola Quality Award Recipient in this book.
Our team is one of the remaining founding teams that have been involved in FIRST since its inception in 1992. My how it has evolved but yet maintained the original focus of using technology and industry professionals as a vehicle to inspire young minds toward the rewards found in being an engineer or scientist. I sure wish I had this when I was in high school.
I highly recommend this since I've competed in other robotics competitions as well and this is more high tech and has been the most rewarding experience I've ever had in my life. I've been as inspired along with all my students.
Our team is honored to be in the first FIRST Robot Book.
You won't regret checking this book out!
The first 6 weeks of a FIRST Robotics Competition........2007-04-11
As a Metor for a FIRST Robotics Competion team (Team 1629) I was eager to see this book hit the streets. There are lots of great robots built for each FIRST competiton, but after they get their three days of fame they are packed away and never seen again.
This book picks 30 such robots and opens them up to show what's inside and how it got there. Creativity abounds, and the range of design solutions for the same game challenge is amazing. The photos are excellent and the supporting design diagrams that the teams provided are wonderfull. It's great to see the transition for hand sketches to 3D CAD renderings.
I'll be spending many hours inspecting the design process that each team used and how their robots went together. What makes it especially great is that out team competed against some of these robots. Now we can see what we were really up against.
All the budding Engineers, Programmers or Industrial Designers out there should take a good look at this book, and then join a FIRST team in your area.
Book Description
Thierry Dauwe's photographs of often intriguing and challenging floral works of art show an incredible feeling for the subject. Ivo Pauwels has written a poetic text to accompany each extraordinary picture. Expressions records the brilliant and evocative floral art of the twenty-first century for posterity.
Books:
- The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes
- The Graphic Standards Guide to Architectural Finishes: Using MASTERSPEC to Evaluate, Select, and Specify Materials
- The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
- The Human Mosaic
- The Pipe Fitter's and Pipe Welder's Handbook Revised Edition
- The Registration of Baroque Organ Music
- The Secret: Unlocking the Source of Joy and Fulfillment
- Treasure of Khan
- Turkish Delights
- Twentieth-Century Russian and East European Painting: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection
Books Index
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