Of the 25,000 known species of bee worldwide, only seven species are honeybees. Bees and plants have a sophisticated and delicate symbiosis. In recent years, the shrinking of green spaces has endangered the honeybee. Now Planting for Honeybees shows you how you can help these delightful pollinators to flourish by creating a garden as a habitat for them. No matter how small or large your space - from a window ledge in the city to a country garden - Sarah Wyndham Lewis offers practical advice on which plants to grow, and when and where to plant them. Charmingly illustrated with delicate drawings, this a jewel of a guide to treasure.

In this book, Sharon Amos explains how to design and create a beautiful garden for little or no money, offering tips on bartering for clippings, getting a bargain at garage sales or neighbourhood fairs, digging up suckers or adapting wild species and controlling them in a garden environment. She provides a comprehensive directory of 80 plants including detailed advice on where and how to grow a wide variety of garden favourites, from snowdrops to poppies. With beautiful illustrations, Plants for Free is the perfect gift book for cultivating your garden on a budget of next-to-nothing.

This inspirational book from Kew's orchid experts reveals the easiest, most attractive and most popular plants to grow today. Orchids come from the second largest plant family (with 28,000 members) and have a reputation for diversity and trickiness - but expert Philip Seaton chooses 60 of the best species to become permanent and happy members of your home. Through a combination of 12 projects and easy to follow practical advice he shows how to welcome new plants, to revive their flagging spirits as well as their basic care and cultivation. He shows how to produce and train flowers, to collect and sow their seed, and how to plant and display them in a terrarium, or on bark or in a basket. Find out when to water them, how to repot them and the ideal room and conditions that each orchid needs to thrive. The combination of botanical beauty and practical advice will inspire beginners and experienced growers to grow new species in many different ways. This book is from the Kew Experts series, in which the top gardeners and botanical scientists from Royal Botanic Kew Gardens offer up advice and information as well as suggesting handy projects on a range of gardening topics. Other titles include: Companion to Medicinal Plants, Guide to Growing Bulbs, Guide to Growing Fruit, Guide to Growing Herbs, Guide to Growing Roses, Guide to Growing Succulents and Cacti, Guide to Growing Trees, Guide to Growing Vegetables and Guide to Growing House Plants.

Stay close to family and friends with this beautiful RHS stationery set to cut out and colour. Created with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK's leading gardening charity, this amazing book is packed with unicorn magic. Packed with stunning detail inspired by the gardens of the RHS, there are 26 cards and envelopes to decorate, complete with sticker seals. Plus, there are over 40 stickers for you to give your cards that extra magic touch! With easy-to-follow instructions and tear-out pages Customise each card to create a unique gift to treasure forever The perfect activty for all ages

Throughout history flowers have been an integral part of human survival and culture - as food, for medicine, to express feelings, as symbols, to commemorate and celebrate, and to decorate. Their shapes, colours, scents and textures have always attracted us, as they do animals and insects. Flowers are used as luxury spices (saffron), and as colouring and flavouring agents - marigolds fed to chickens make eggs more yellow and lavender was Elizabeth I's favourite flavour of jam. Flowers are full of symbolic meaning: violets represent modesty, daises purity and daffodils unrequited love. And they have always played an important role in culture through myths and legends, literature and the decorative arts. This delightful new book brings together 100 of the world's flowers to tell their remarkable stories. Each flower is richly illustrated in colour and accompanied by facts about each species and what role it has played in our culture and history.

On a seven-acre small holding in rural Northern Ireland, organic gardener Jo Facer and head chef Erin Bunting run fork-to-fork supper club, organic small-holding and fledgling cooking and growing school, The Edible Flower. In their first cookbook, learn to grow and cook edible flowers with Jo and Erin's delicious recipes inspired by the seasonal produce they grow in their kitchen garden and the wild food they forage from their local shores and hedgerows. Feast, celebrate and bring people together with over 50 recipes for small plates, mains, desserts, baking, snacks and drinks, at once fresh and flavourful and absolutely stunning to serve. Recipes include: Ribboned Courgette & Avocado Salad with Poppy Seeds & Calendula, Pot Marigold Soda Bread, Lilac Panna Cotta with Strawberries, Rice with Lemon Verbena, Cardamom & Edible Flower Petals, Marigold Petal Pasta, Courgette Flower Tacos, Carnation and Blackberry Cooler, Slow Roast Lamb with Lavender, Lemon & Apricots, Blackberry & Sweet Geranium Tart, Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Violas, Aubergine Katsu Curry with Pickled Magnolia and many more ...

Orchids fascinate. Parts of the orchid flower have shapes unlike any other flowering plant, and the sheer number of species means that their variety is seemingly endless, with an ability to interbreed and create ever more fantastical forms. Extraordinary Orchids reveals some of the bizarre life-styles and interactions that botanists have uncovered amongst different categories of orchids: the epiphytic orchids, the ground-dwelling ones, the insect-mimicking ones and those whose lifestyles are so closely bound to their interactions with insects and birds. Many orchid common names refer to the shape-shifting forms of the orchid flower - the 'man-orchids' or 'monkey orchids' are so called because of their resemblance to the primate form. Orchids lend themselves to depiction, and botanical artworks of them abound. Who could resist painting or drawing such intriguing shapes? Sandra Knapp examines each category of orchid in turn and all are illustrated with stunning artwork from artists such as Ferdinand and Franz Bauer, Arthur Harry Church, Sydney Parkinson, Henry Fletcher Hance, John Russell Reeves, and images taken from James Bateman's The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala.

This is an illustrated guide to varieties, cultivation and care, with step-by-step instructions and over 135 beautiful photographs. It is a handy, practical guide to growing and caring for rhododendrons, with instructions for planting outdoors and in containers, mulching, pruning and propagation. It features a full photographic directory of over 50 varieties, including 'Bashful', 'Cecile', 'Homebush', 'May Day', 'Pink Pearl', 'Sappho' and 'Vuyk's Rosyred'. It includes a fascinating history of rhododendrons, from their origins in the Himalayas through to their cultivation in European gardens, and the modern hybrids of today. From tiny, ground-hugging bushes producing small and delicate flowers to huge tree-like specimens clothed in magnificent and glorious blooms, rhododendrons belong to a diverse and fascinating genus. Offering interest from mid-winter to late summer, many of these hardy evergreen shrubs produce exquisitely textured foliage in hues of silver, gold or bronze once the flowering season is over. This practical handbook contains complete instructions for growing rhododendrons, from choosing and buying to planting, propagation and controlling pests and diseases.With over 50 varieties described and illustrted, there is a beautiful rhododendron to suit every garden situation.

Here are 100 beautiful orchids that you can grow in Florida.

These orchids were chosen for their beauty, ease of cultivation, and suitability to Florida's climate. Whether you are an old hand at growing orchids or are a beginner anxious to try it, you will find help here choosing the plants that will work for you, as well as help on how best to make them prosper.

First you will learn about the structure of orchids; how they are named; and how to pot, water, feed, ventilate, and protect them from weather and insects. You will find you can grow them inside and outside in Florida, and some even in the ground as part of the landscape. Then you will be introduced to 100 fabulous orchids that are well-suited to Florida. You'll find answers to commonly asked questions, lists of suppliers, and a handy reference chart to plant size, flower color, bloom size, bloom time, and exposure.

Have you ever had a question on how to grow African violets but could not find the answer? Now your dilemma is solved and you will be able to quickly find the information for which you are looking. With this book in your hands you will no longer have to guess when it comes to growing beautiful African violets, crowned with dozens of gorgeous blossoms. The primary theme of Mel Robey's third book on African violets is: Getting Back to the Basics. The reader will find answers to 250 of the most common questions the author has been asked since the publication of his first book on these popular houseplants. He combines a unique knowledge of horticulture with an easy to understand writing style. 250 Questions and their answers are covered in ten chapters Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Getting To Know Your Plants Chapter 3 Plant Food Essential For Healthy Plants Chapter 4 Potting Mixtures: Key To Being Successful Chapter 5 Containers For Growing Beautiful African Violets Chapter 6 Proper Watering Techniques Important Chapter 7 Those Ugly Pests: Insects, Diseases, and Other Unsightly Problems Chapter 8 Propagation Is Easy Chapter 9 The Environment Around Your Plants Chapter 10 Light: Its Role In A Plant's Life Glossary You will find answers to questions such as: .What can be done to solve the problem after a white, salty crust has formed on the potting soil surface and rim of the pot? .Does the type of fertilizer I use have any influence on how well my African violets bloom? .Are there any simple ways to sterilize my potting mixture? .If you could pick one problem that causes African violets the most trouble, what would it be? .Why are the flower buds on my African violet dropping off before they open? This is very discouraging

Griselda Kerr has drawn on over 20 years of gardening knowledge and experience to create the book that she wishes she had had access to when, as a complete beginner, she started to revive the "dismal looking" plants in her garden - an indispensable, practical guide to how and when to look after more than 700 garden plants. No coffee table book this, it is designed for constant quick reference, to be used, perhaps as a stand-in for a knowledgeable friend, for advice on specific plants. Look up each plant in a specially formatted index spread across the year and a page reference will take you to a short, clearly written entry on what to do in a particular month - whether to clip, deadhead or divide, cut right down, feed, mulch or leave well alone. Each of these gardening techniques is also explained in a comprehensive glossary The Apprehensive Gardener is an attractive, durable, easy-to-use guide to plant care which will be referred to over and over again and will stand the test of time.

A magnificent pictorial document of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, the Hortus Eystettensis is in a class of its own when it comes to the range of flowers engraved. First published in 1613, the 367 copperplate engravings by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) capture the spectacular diversity of the palatial gardens of Prince-Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1593/95-1612) in Eichstatt, Bavaria, Germany. The meticulous illustrations are organized according to the four seasons, and, following the classification system used today, show plants belonging to a total of 90 families and covering 340 genera. The whole collection is regarded as one of the finest treasures of botanical literature; it was described by Carl Linnaeus, the legendary 18th-century botanist and zoologist, as an "incomparable work." Besler's pictorial catalog long outlived the gardens, which were destroyed in 1634 by invading Swedish troops. In auction, the asking price for a first-edition copy of Hortus Eystettensis is now more than half a million dollars. With this edition, TASCHEN opens up the garden to a much wider audience: a rich and beautiful record, destined to keep the garden's beauty in bloom. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!

Happily for us, these days they are affordable luxuries - and easy to grow as well. This charming little hardcover book includes 40 full-colour botanical illustrations, basic botany and history, everything you need to know to grow gorgeous blooms in the garden, tips for creating beautiful arrangements, plus quotes, lore, and notable gardens and growers. Like a bouquet of tulips, this book is the perfect hostess gift or Mother's Day present for gardeners and flower lovers! Perfect for flower fans, this giftable little love letter to the tulip is bursting with tips, tricks, and facts.

Orchids in South Africa - A gardener's guide shows new and existing growers how to care for their orchid plants. Learn how to treat your orchids (and most commercially available orchids are quite easy!), water and feed them, how much shade or light they need, and how you need to grow, maintain and propagate them to prosper and flower regularly. Many species are discussed in detail, and the accompanying photographs of the species and a selection of popular hybrids will help you identify the different kinds, and also show you what other species you may be able to grow in the conditions you are able to provide. Orchids in South Africa - A Gardener's Guide is an invaluable guide for orchid growers in South Africa. It contains chapters on Orchids and their history; Basic botanical information on orchids; General growing information, and Repotting and dividing of orchids. Growing orchids is a fascinating and satisfying hobby. However, be warned that when you obtain your first orchid you will be blessed with an instant, life-long addiction to orchids!

By the early eighteenth century botanists were inching towards the shocking truth that plants had male and female organs and reproduced sexually. The first person to realize the practical implications of this was London nurseryman and author Thomas Fairchild. By transferring the pollen of a sweet William into the pistil of a carnation, he created a new plant that became known as 'Fairchild's Mule': the first man-made hybrid in Europe. But this primitive form of genetic engineering aroused a scientific and religious furore.

Michael Leapman offers fascinating and colourful detail about the life and times of Fairchild, a troubled, gentle soul whose pioneering work changed the course of horticulture and paved the way for the growth of gardening as a cultural obsession.

'A beguiling perambulation around the Georgian nursery trade.' Sir Roy Strong, "Daily Mail"

Introductory and advanced techniques for gardening with bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers.

The Art of Positive Thinking All Year Round"Simple Pleasures has become my go-to book for remembering to slow down and enjoy the little things in life."-Becca Anderson, bestselling author of Badass Affirmations and The Book of Awesome Women #1 New Release in Soups & Stews, Container Gardening, and Flowers An abundant sourcebook of ideas, encouraging quotes, recipes, and activities, Simple Pleasures shows you how to appreciate the simple things that make up your daily life. Learn new secrets to happiness. Rediscover the pleasures our grandparents knew when life was quieter and slower. A time when pleasures were made, not bought, and enjoyed all the more because of it. Organized seasonally and full of touching stories, practical tips, and dozens of satisfying crafts, Simple Pleasures is both a guide to and a celebration of the art of living well. Make your self-care easy. Sometimes positive thinking can be hard, but it doesn't have to be. From the recipe for a homemade herbal bath to quick and easy recommendations for an instant room makeover, the suggestions collected in this book offer a new appreciation for the everyday activities that nurture and comfort you. Inside Simple Pleasures, find motivational tips and learn how to: Make your own perfume and body lotion Create old fashioned sachets Bake the world's best cookies If you enjoyed other books in the Simple Pleasures series by Susannah Seton such as Simple Pleasures of the Home or Simple Pleasures for the Holidays-or books like A Year Of Positive Thinking, Declutter Your Mind, or 365 Days of Positive Affirmations-you'll love Simple Pleasures.

A one-stop treasure trove from the experts at RHS that covers every aspect of gardening! Dreaming of having the perfect garden? Does it have a vegetable patch? Classic borders or flowers to attract wildlife? A picturesque garden for all to marvel at is achievable with this gardening guide giving you the vital tools to achieve whatever you desire for your dream garden. Delve into this concise and practical guide to find all the gardening ideas and advice you need to create a spectacular, thriving garden. Here's what you'll find inside: - A comprehensive guide covering everything from growing in containers to planting a garden from scratch - Fully illustrated with detailed step-by-steps and inspirational gardening ideas - Detailed beginner's guide to garden design, including step-by-step instructions for simple hard landscaping such as building a raised bed, creating a pond, or laying a patio - Covers all aspects of planting styles, including "recipes" to make the most of different types of plants - Easy-to-follow guides on how to water, feed, prune and propagate your garden - Advice on problem-solving and controlling weeds and pests - A chapter full of Plant Chooser galleries to help you grow the right plant in the right place at the right time Learn how to plan, sow, plant, and protect your garden throughout the year with expert tips and techniques that will see your garden flourish. Discover how to design with plants by using colour and texture to create inspirational displays, and keep them at their best with jargon-free guides to pruning and preventing pests and diseases. Undertake a new endeavour of DIY landscaping projects, which include laying your own patio or lawn, or building a raised bed ready for you to grow your own fruit and vegetables. Choose from a catalogue of hundreds of different ornamental plants to find varieties that will thrive in your garden's climate and provide seasonal interest throughout the year. The Complete Gardener's Manual is the perfect all-around practical book for gardening beginners, also for those looking for a step up from a beginners' gardening book.

For beginning gardeners and homeowners, this handbook shows you exactly how to plan, build, and plant a simple raised bed. Fully illustrated step-by-step instructions make it easy and ensure success! In just a weekend, using a few basic materials and minimal building skills, you can set up a complete garden bed adapted for vegetables, flowers, or herbs.