Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ORCHIDS. THERE is no room to deal with this great subject historically, scientifically, or even practically, in the space of a chapter. I am an enthusiast, and I hold some strong views, but this is not the place to urge them. It is my purpose to ramble on, following thoughts as they arise, yet with a definite aim. The skilled reader will find nothing to criticize, I hope, and the indifferent, something to amuse. Those amiable theorists who believe that the resources of Nature, if they be rightly searched, are able to supply every wholesome want the fancy of man conceives, have a striking instance in the case of orchids. At the beginning of this century, the science of floriculture, so far as it went, was at least as advanced as now. Under many disadvantages which we escape?the hot-air flue especially, and imperfect means of ventilation?our forefathers grew the plants known to them quite as well as we do. Many tricks have been discovered since, but for lasting success assuredly our systems are no improvement. Men interested in suchmatters began to long for fresh fields, and they knew where to look. Linnaeus had told them something of exotic orchids in 1763, though his knowledge was gained through dried specimens and drawings. One bulb, indeed?we spare the name?showed life on arrival, had been planted, and had flowered thirty years before, as Mr. Castle shows. Thus horticulturists became aware, just when the information was most welcome, that a large family of plants unknown awaited their attention; plants quite new, of strangest form, of mysterious habits, and beauty incomparable. Their notions were vague as yet, but the fascination of the subject grew from year to year. Whilst several hundred species were described in books, the number in cultivation, including all those ga...

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ORCHIDS. THERE is no room to deal with this great subject historically, scientifically, or even practically, in the space of a chapter. I am an enthusiast, and I hold some strong views, but this is not the place to urge them. It is my purpose to ramble on, following thoughts as they arise, yet with a definite aim. The skilled reader will find nothing to criticize, I hope, and the indifferent, something to amuse. Those amiable theorists who believe that the resources of Nature, if they be rightly searched, are able to supply every wholesome want the fancy of man conceives, have a striking instance in the case of orchids. At the beginning of this century, the science of floriculture, so far as it went, was at least as advanced as now. Under many disadvantages which we escape?the hot-air flue especially, and imperfect means of ventilation?our forefathers grew the plants known to them quite as well as we do. Many tricks have been discovered since, but for lasting success assuredly our systems are no improvement. Men interested in suchmatters began to long for fresh fields, and they knew where to look. Linnaeus had told them something of exotic orchids in 1763, though his knowledge was gained through dried specimens and drawings. One bulb, indeed?we spare the name?showed life on arrival, had been planted, and had flowered thirty years before, as Mr. Castle shows. Thus horticulturists became aware, just when the information was most welcome, that a large family of plants unknown awaited their attention; plants quite new, of strangest form, of mysterious habits, and beauty incomparable. Their notions were vague as yet, but the fascination of the subject grew from year to year. Whilst several hundred species were described in books, the number in cultivation, including all those ga...

This full-color, user-friendly field guide covers the basics involved in the collection, cleaning, and storage of garden flower seeds. Learn from an expert how to overcome pests when storing seeds, and handle environmental factors that may threaten the integrity of your seeds. An introduction to identifying different varieties of seeds will make collecting easy for beginner and experienced collectors alike. Over 150 close-up color photographs of seeds gathered from garden flowers are included in this encyclopedia-style guide. Each entry identifies the seed's family, common name, species, genera, and origin, and includes collection methods, a description of the number and color of seeds, useful hints for collection, and notes on growing the source plant. Gardeners around the world will appreciate this useful field guide when harvesting nature's bounty and preserving its genetic material for years and gardens to come.

Garden expert and lovable eccentric Ruth Stout once said: "At the age of 87 I grow vegetables for two people the year-round, doing all the work myself and freezing the surplus. I tend several flower beds, write a column every week, answer an awful lot of mail, do the housework and cooking; and never do any of these things after 11 o'clock in the morning " Her first book about her no-work gardening system, "How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back," was the kind of book people can't bear to return. She reports, "A dentist in Pennsylvania and a doctor in Oregon have both written me that they keep a copy of my garden book in their waiting rooms. Or try to; the dentist has had twenty-three copies stolen, the doctor, sixteen." "Gardening Without Work" is her second gardening book and is even more entertaining and instructional than the first, so hide it from your friends How does it work? "And now let's get down to business. The labor-saving part of my system is that I never plow, spade, sow a cover crop, harrow, hoe, cultivate, weed, water or irrigate, or spray. I use just one fertilizer (cottonseed or soybean meal), and I don't go through the tortuous business of building a compost pile. Just yesterday, under the Questions and Answers' in a big reputable farm paper, someone asked how to make a compost pile and the editor explained the arduous performance. After I read this I lay there on the couch and suffered because the victim's address wasn't given; there was no way I could reach him. "My way is simply to keep a thick mulch of any vegetable matter that rots on both my vegetable and flower garden all year round. As it decays and enriches the soil, I add more." Regardless of topic, Ruth Stout's writing is always about living a joyous and independent life, and "Gardening Without Work" is no exception This book is a treasure for the gardener and a delight even to the non-gardener. First published in 1961, this Norton Creek Press version is an exact reproduction of the original edition. Ruth Stout, who, in her teens helped temperance activist Carrie Nation smash saloon windows, could turn any aspect of life into an adventure. She may have been the only woman who both gardened in the nude and wrote a book on being a hostess ("Company Coming: Six Decades of Hospitality"). She died in 1980 at the age of 96.

Flower Your Garden looks at different types of flowers that would be great for any garden, but Ms. Shiela includes rhyme and tools that are essential to keep the flowers growing and story going. The 26 very talented students bring the story alive with accuracy and color.

A straight forward method on organic gardening. How to prepare your soil, how to build a compost bin, seeding through harvest and preserving your garden bounty. A strategy to incorporate natural concepts, without using any dangerous chemicals. Also choosing the right vegetables and fruit for their nutritional value.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

With some 270 species, "Penstemon" is the largest genus endemic to North America, with examples to be found in every state in the continental U.S. Penstemons are particularly beloved by rock gardeners, but as Panayoti Kelaidis points out in his foreword, they belong in every garden, since "one penstemon or another will thrive in virtually any microclimate a garden can contrive, from hot, desert exposures to dank shade."

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Rebecca Northen penned her first letter to Robert M. (Bert) Hamilton in 1968 requesting a copy of his book, "Orchid Flower Index." From that small beginning grew a correspondence that continued for 35 years until 2003. Northen passed away in 2004, but Hamilton had carefully kept the almost 300 letters, notes, and cards he and his wife, Anne, had received from their dear friend. Hamilton, 97 years old, asked friends and family to help organize his collection of Northen's letters. "Rebecca Northen Recollected" is the result. Northen's frank and witty observations about the world of the orchid hobbyist during the last three decades of the twentieth century are a delight. The letters are arranged in chronological order and are preceded by two autobiographical sketches, one previously unpublished. A general index and an index to orchid plant names are provided.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Includes: Names, Classification, Structure, Planting, Care, Enemies, Propagation, Hybridism, Shipping, Uses.

Fresh from his award-winning monograph on penstemons, Robert Nold turns his attention to one of the best-loved - and most frequently misunderstood - groups of garden plants. "Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia" is the first gardener's guide to these striking plants in more than half a century; and in his funny, personal, and charming prose, Nold makes sense of the thorniest taxonomic and horticultural questions they present. Sixty-five species of Aquilegia receive detailed examination, with a complete summary of cultivation needs, history, and biology. The author also describes plants of the genera "Semiaquilegia" and "Paraquilegia," cutting through confusion and dissension to create a useful overview of these "columbine cousins." Nold also provides a brief history of hybridization, and practical chapters on propagation and pests and diseases round out the book. In addition to beautiful paintings by the author's wife, celebrated botanical artist Cindy Nelson-Nold, the book also boasts several dozen exquisite photos of columbines in the wild and in gardens.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.