Book Description
Over 400 entries of the most practical, up-to-date gardening information ever, collected from garden experts and writers nationwide!"Gardens are places to renew yourself in mind and body, to reawaken to the truth and beauty of the natural world, and to feel the life force inside and around you. And the organic way to garden is safer, cheaper, and more satisfying. Organic gardeners have shown that it's possible to have pleasant and productive gardens in every part of this country without using toxic chemicals. They make their home grounds an island of purity."--Robert Rodale
Customer Reviews:
Very imformative.......2007-09-07
This book was recommended by a friend and it is exceptionally informative and well written. I would recommend it to anyone seeking more info on organic gardening. It has ideas that are cheap to do that work wonderfully!
Organic is not a synonym for boring.......2007-07-23
This book is so bland and boring it is nearly generic. If you are at all excited by the prospect of things organic, don't buy this book. Look for something with juices flowing in the veins or you will find yourself semi-comatose and bored with organic before you begin.
This book could have been more than just a [quite generalized] reference book. It could have been an inspiration. Fortunately it's recyclable.
It's okay, but it's not the original!.......2007-05-15
I was in a used book store recently and compared the old and new versions side-by-side. I bought the old one. The old version has so much great detailed information that the new one lacks.
Don't get me wrong, the new version is "prettier". It's still got some great stuff in it you might not find in some other sources. But, it is more of a treatise or "Cliff's Notes" version--it isn't exhaustive.
Still a great reference for those new to gardening. However, it should have been called "Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: LITE".
Encyclopedia... That's Just What It Is!.......2007-02-07
Rodale always does an excellent job of researching what we gardeners want to know about. And the ALL-NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA of ORGANIC GARDENING is no exception. I refer to it frequently and usually find the information I'm looking for.
A Great Beginner's Reference (with a small "bug" of an error).......2007-01-18
I have repeatedly returned to my copy of this book, usually when I am about to embark on a garden chore and want a refresher course in the hows and whys. The alphabetical topics include "Animal Pests", "Asparagus", "Beneficial Insects", "Cold Frames", "Edible Landscaping", Garlic, "Irrigation", "Pelargoniums", "Trees" and hundreds more, all simple to locate as though you were reading a phone book. Each entry contains an encyclopedia-style summary with an organic method slant. Beginners and intermediate gardeners will find the info provided invaluable, but if you want an in-depth explanation, seek a more expert book.
Other features include a recommended reading list, an index of common plant names paired with their botanical names, and simple line drawings illustrating many of the book's topics.
That said, I was sad to see a mistake in the "tomato" entry as I was reading it just now... the book recommends planting dill near your tomatoes to attract tomato hornworms. Unfortunately, these are not the same species and killing caterpillars found on dill will simply reduce the number of swallowtail butterflies in your garden (tomato hornworms are a type of sphinx/hawk moth.) I advocate planting the dill anyway and leaving the caterpillars alone! The rest of the 5 pages devoted to tomatoes includes an overview on choosing plants or seeds, bed preparation and planting, tomato pruning tips, recommended fertilizers, how to make long-lasting tomato cages, a disease summary, harvesting information, recommended cultivars for organic growers, and tomatoes raised in small spaces.
A nice reference for the gardener who is in a hurry to get outside and plant!
Book Description
In this book Stearn gives the meaning and origin of some 6000 botanical names, selecting those most likely to be encountered by gardeners and horticulturists. No other single source provides so much etymological information for the gardener, the result of years of scholarship and original research by the distinguished author. Also listed are 3000 of the most widely accepted vernacular names, cross-indexed to their correct scientific names, an invaluable reference for gardeners, writers, and historians. Plant classification and binomial nomenclature are explained, and there are notes on the structure and pronunciation of botanical Latin. No other single source provides so much etymological information for the gardener.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent value.......2006-12-28
Brand new condition, fast shipping, good price. Amazon partners continue to keep outstanding reputation.
Mature plant name dictionary.......2000-07-30
This is the work of the author of "Botanical Latin", the indispensable reference for those delving deeply into plant taxonomy. He is thus quite qualified to do what he did here: extensively revise "A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names" by A.W.Smith (1963, still available as a Dover reprint of 1997). Facts were checked, errors eliminated, additions made. The typography was modernised. The help in pronunciation limited to stressing syllables.
This book presents a wealth of information on plant names: it lists 6000 botanical names and 3000 vernacular names, in addition to quite a bit of background information. It is limited to plant names of importance to gardeners, but this is not so limiting as might be, since by this is meant "gardeners worldwide", including those on the Southern Hemisphere. Although I wish it were slightly longer, this book surely gives value for money.
Average customer rating:
- Five stars are simply not enough.
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The Gardener's Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Native Plants
Valda Paddison
Manufacturer: Godwit
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ASIN: 1869620437 |
Book Description
New Zealand's unique and diverse native flora includes hundreds of outstanding garden plants—from imposing specimen trees such a kauri and rimu, through the vast array of shrubs and herbaceous plants with admirable forms, foliage and flowers, to graceful grasses and quirky, mat-forming groundcovers.
The Gardener's Encyclopedia of New Zealand Native Plants brings together for the first time over 1000 species, hybrids, and cultivars in a highly illustrated, user-friendly, encyclopedic volume. Over(Nearly?) 1000 color photographs, arranged according to the plants' attributes and uses in the garden, include examples of landscaping possibilities as well as numerous plant portaits. The accompanying A to Z gives detailed descriptions, cultivation and propagation information. There are also lists of plants with desirable features or for particular situations.
Yvonne Cave's stunning photographs and Valda Paddison's authoritative text combine to make a comprehensive and unique book that will be welcomed by gardeners, horticulture professionals, botanists and conservationists.
Customer Reviews:
Five stars are simply not enough........2003-10-10
I ordered this book and was amazed and enthralled by it from the moment I cracked the cover. What a find. I had no idea New Zealand had such wonderful plants. I wish the section on Alpine Wildflowers was more thorough but it wasn't bad. It could use information on cultivation, hardiness, and availability and the book would be perfect. I want to grow some of these plants so bad it isn't even funny. I fell in love with this book and would never part with it. It will remain a cherished part of my library as it would be with yours. Don't pass up the opportunity to get this one. It is well worth the money.
I am a botanist and work for a nursery. I have an extensive library, mostly on the area where I live but I love plants from all over the world. Especially if the plants can survive my climate. I got some good information and photographs from this book. I am not kidding when I said I was amazed. I fell in love with in in the first few pages.
Book Description
For more than a decade, gardeners have been turning to a beautiful little hardcover book called Gardener's Latin, by Bill Neal. Neal understood that as Latin terms began appearing with increasing frequency on nursery tags and gardening catalogs, gardeners would need help. So he weeded through the Latin words that describe and distinguish among plants and flowers and compiled a volume of select, brief, clear definitions.
Gardener's Latin leads us down the path from abbreviatus to zonatus, turning aside here and there along the way for little-known horticultural facts and fables and the wisdom of
gardeners from Virgil to Vita Sackville-West.
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Customer Reviews:
Botanical Pleasure.......2004-02-14
For lovers of plants, language, and beautiful books, this is a perfect book. The translation of botanical latin is helpful to anyone interested in the origin of plant names. The sketches, marginal notes and quotations, layout and size of the book make it a pleasure to use. The task of memorizing hundreds of plant names, which is my burden as a horticulture student, is enjoyable because I have this little book as my interpreter and companion. I've convinced all of my gardening friends to buy this book.
Neat companion in the garden.......2003-11-29
When I got into gardening and especially with planting with native plants I started to pay a lot of attention to the latin names - but I didn't really understand what they meant. Hanging out with an older, very wise friend and his wife, we got talking about ceratin plants and they were rattling off the latin names and their meanings. It was amazing and so poetic that I wanted to learn more so I found this book. Its really been a great asset. Its set up alphabetically by latin name, and for each word, its less of a definition, more of a translation, e.g. palliflavens = pale yellow, squamosus = full of scales. Its a neat book - not as poetic in the translations as I had hoped but interesting nonetheless.
Great for any Gardener!.......2000-08-25
I teach gardening classes with titles such as "Seed Catalogs are Seductive" and "Saving Seeds" and have recommended this book to my students. It is fun, and informative. Let's face it, you can't get far with gardening for fun, hobby or business if you don't learn some latin. Gardener's Latin makes it easy and explains all those things you've been wondering about. This is a fresh and enjoyable book and I think one that will be enjoyed by most gardeners. Add it to your wish list - the weeding season will soon be over and the reading season will begin.
For Latin lovers and wordsmiths..........2000-08-05
Well, I'm a gardener and a wordsmith, and I think you must be both to really enjoy this book--and I don't recommend it to folks who like to garden but hate to worry about details. I can't picture someone who dislikes Latin, or questions why Linnaeus (they won't even know who he is) insisted on using Latin to develop his taxonomies, finding this book useful.
I've known quite a few "garden artists" who call plants by their local colloquial names, and when you carry on a conversation with them they persist in calling Digitalus "Foxgloves" when we who know Latin know that Digitalus refers to digits as in parts of hands over which gloves fit--that foxes would undoubtedly wear if they wore gloves.
I learned to forego showing off my Latin when I was asking serious questions of fabulous "old-time" gardeners. Latin terms are useful if you're trying to converse with horticulturists, gardening friends in other localities, or folks who have migrated from to your growing zone. Latin is also useful if you're looking up a name in a good garden book since all of them use Latin. "Gardener's Latin" contains a simple listing of Latin terms (135 small pages) and seems to have most of the more common terms.
If your a poet, you'll still want to use "Foxgloves", "Bouncing Bet" and "Queen Anne's Lace in your discourse.
Excaliber.......1999-06-20
If you've always wanted the key to the botanical universe to follow Raman's Incandescene of flowers, in coalescing knowledge always careful to leave four (4) plants unmolested and untrampled (Hester Reagan), and dovetail the Harvard botanist Grey (Gray?)'s _Manual of Botany);.. then this is your ticket to heaven
As Francis Chapman Pellett quotes in _American Honey Plants_, Whether to Heaven or Gehenna; he that goes fastest, goeth alone.
Hester Reagan her picture is in _Cherokee Plants: their uses - a 400 year history_, (C)1975 by Hamel and Chiltosky, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-27776
Book Description
First compact dictionary to combine definitions of botanical names in general usage with information on their derivation and guides to pronunciation. A monumental index provides a cross-reference from some 1,800 common plant names to corresponding botanical ones. Combines thoroughness, botanical rigor, and interesting facts and lore — all leavened with touches of humor.
Customer Reviews:
Vintage etymological dictionary.......2000-07-22
This is reprint of A.W.Smith's classic, which since then has been revised by William T. Stearn as "A Gardener's Dictionary of Plant Names" (1972) and "Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners" (1992). Comparing it with the latter it is obvious at once that there still is a great similarity, with many entries a 100% identical. The major differences are that the latter has a more modern layout, is updated and contains more information.
This reprint of the original has as bonus points that it is cheaper and includes directions at pronounciation. In some cases it also contains bits of information which were edited out of its modern descendant.
Review of "A Gardener's Book of Plant Names".......2000-04-04
I needed a book to use to give me the derivation of the scientific names for plants found in the wild throughout California. I looked at fifteen books at the University of California Davis Library and checked out five. I found this book to be the most useful of the bunch. It had the name of almost every plant I looked up, whereas most of the others had far fewer. I recommend this book if you want to know the derivation of plant names, whether in the garden or in the wild.
Average customer rating:
- A Must-Have for Every Gardener!
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Complete Gardener's Dictionary
Barbara W. Ellis
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0764106376 |
Book Description
Gardeners puzzled by recommendations to "buy a swoe," or confused when trying to understand the difference between "linear" and "obovate" leaves will find answers here, in understandable English and precise diagrams. It's a reference book that deserves a place on every home gardener's bookshelf. It defines more than 2,500 botanical and garden-related terms, translating technical information into ordinary language. You also get listings and definitions of a wide array of common gardening practices, garden tools and their uses, landscape methods, horticulture, soil analysis and care, fertilizing, controlling pests and diseases, and many other related topics. The book features unusually handsome and botanically accurate black-and-white line art--approximately 500 illustrations in all.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Have for Every Gardener!.......2000-03-25
From "abaxial" to "zygote", this book contains just about every gardening-related term you can think of. The definitions are written in real English: not scientific jargon that you need another dictionary to decipher. It's clear that the author is a gardener herself! I also liked the extensive index with drawings to illustrate various leaf shapes, flower forms, insects, and other things that are easier to show than define. Best of all, the written entries are in clear, easy-to-read type; they're not crammed in or set in tiny type that's hard to read. This handy reference belongs on every gardener's bookshelf!
Book Description
An encyclopedic book, designed for the wide range of American climatic and cultural conditions. Includes 400 classes and 3000 species of cultivated varieties and hybrids. 360 full-color photos. Just published in '89, this is already a backlist bestseller
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Foundation..........2000-02-24
This excellent book is one of my plant "bibles." Good photographs and good character and cultural information for a broad range of garden perennials. It could be even BETTER, as it is slipping out of date (more than 10 years!). Time for a good revision, not just a reprint. This superb foundation should be invested in and built upon by the publisher. I own 5 copies and also give copies as gifts. I'd renew all of them if more current varietal information were included...
Excellent and Comprehensive Reference.......2000-02-12
I have owned this book for ten years and probably use it at least ten to fifteen times a year. I have given several as gifts and frequently hear positive remarks about the book years later from the recipient. A very comprehensive reference that will not disappoint.
Customer Reviews:
My favorite source of information about perennials!.......2006-01-26
Anyone who loves perennial plants should own at least one perennial plant encyclopedia. I highly recommend this 'Encyclopedia of Perennials' by Christopher Woods. This book does not concentrate on pictures, although there are enough photographs to give you an idea of what at least one plant species in each genus looks like.
The listing for each plant genus includes information about cultivation, landscape use, and propagation. After each genus listing, the book offers a wealth of information about the many plant species within each genus of plants. Information for each species includes the common name, the plant's origin, height and spread, description, and zone hardiness. Many cultivars (cultivated varieties of a species of plant) are also listed and described.
As an example, after the general information about Penstemon, seven species are listed and described. One of the species entries reads:
"P. digitalis. Eastern United States. Height 3 ft; spread 2 ft (90 x 60 cm). An erect, clump-forming plant native to open meadows, with elliptic to broadly lance-shaped basal leaves becoming narrower and smaller up on the flower stem. Spikes of bell-shaped, white flowers sometimes flushed pink are produced in early summer. This is a variable species. 'Husker Red' has purple-red leaves, red stems, and white-flushed purple flowers and is a highly desirable cultivar. In general, this species and its cultivar are far easier to grow in hot and humid climates than their western relatives. Zones 3 - 9."
I enjoy the author's style. Christopher Woods provides no-nonsense descriptions, such as his warning about the Houttuynia: "An effective but sometimes ugly groundcover for wet sites, where it can become almost impossible to eradicate. Be warned!"
I have found 'Encyclopedia of Perennials' to be an excellent source of information. More than once, it has prevented me from purchasing a plant with which I would not be happy, and it has also encouraged me to seek out plants that otherwise, I would have passed by!
This book has information on seemingly every perennial.......1999-10-23
Each time I need information about a perennial, I find this book has a listing for that plant. I can't say that about any other perennial reference book that I have used.
Average customer rating:
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A Gardener's Latin
Richard Bird
Manufacturer: Hearst Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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Gardener's Latin: A Lexicon
ASIN: 0688167799 |
Book Description
Sooner or later every gardener encounters a certain intriguing plant or species that is known by several different legitimate names. Which is the correct one to use, becomes the question. And this is where A Gardener's Latin comes to the rescue.
Without presupposing the knowledge of even "high school" Latin, this charming volume demystifies plant nomenclature. Key Latinate words are translated into English. Cumbersome names are rendered easy to pronounce, usually providing indications of the plant's normal habitat, flowering periods, leaf patterns, and all sorts of other useful information.
A Gardener's Latin is more reference tool than plain dictionary, with beautiful watercolor-collage illustrations. An introduction explains how plants are classified, then lists plants' names. Following pages focus on colors, flower and leaf shapes, fragrance, size, indigenous country, and so forth.
A thoughtful gift to tillers of the soil, A Gardener's Latinwill be well appreciated by novices and experts alike.
Average customer rating:
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Gardening: A Gardener's Dictionary
Henry Beard
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
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Binding: Paperback
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Cooking: A Cook's Dictionary
ASIN: 0894802003 |
Book Description
The bestselling satirists dig deep into gardening lore to come up with 200 clarifications, including ones for Houseplant, Rotary Mower, Sucker, Tree Surgeon, and Zucchini. "Filled with puns, word plays, and an amusing cynicism."-Publishers Weekly. A New York Times Best Seller. 259,000 copies in print.
Beard & McKie lexicons have over 2.3 million copies in print.
Books:
- ROMANTIC'S GUIDE, THE: HUNDREDS OF CREATIVE TIPS FOR A LIFETIME OF LOVE
- Sharks in the Desert
- Show Me Your Smile!: A Visit to the Dentist (Dora the Explorer (8x8))
- So, What Did You Dream Last Night?
- State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America
- Telling Ain't Training
- The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God
- The Areas of My Expertise
- The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being
- The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
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