The fourth edition of this popular title has been given a completely new look, but it remains the same practical illustrated guide that is a must-have for all gardeners. The text has been updated to incorporate more indigenous species, locally bred hybrids, and waterwise plants, in keeping with changing trends that recognize the importance of gardening in harmony with the natural environment.

The bulk of the book comprises directories that describe over 2000 plants (trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, creepers, bulbs, grasses and roses) with each entry accompanied by symbols that depict the ideal growing conditions, such as water and sun requirements, hardiness to frost, and whether the plant is deciduous, evergreen or flowering.

A brief introduction covers garden planning and design, maintenance, and how to deal with pests and diseases. The book concludes with a handy list of plants, grouped according to their suitability for particular circumstances, such as drought-tolerance, growing in containers, in full or partial shade, or to provide flowers for the vase.

This handy pocket guide introduces local gardening enthusiasts to some of southern Africa’s most beautiful, beneficial and easy- to-care-for indigenous plants, giving guidance on how best to use them and how to ensure that they flourish.

It offers:

• A selection of 145 garden-friendly, low-maintenance trees, shrubs and bedding plants perfectly adapted to our local soils and weather conditions
• Text that’s direct and simple
• Full-colour photographs that show plant details and ‘in context’ planting
• Icons indicating at a glance whether a species is evergreen or deciduous, frost-hardy, suitable for a sunny or shaded position, fast or slow-growing, water wise, fragrant and attractive to insects or birds.

An essential handbook for easy-care beautiful gardening.

The author, Glenice Ebedes, is the owner of Grounded Landscaping. She is a graduate of Lifestyle College and an active member of the Guild of Landscape Designers. She specializes in indigenous, wildlife-friendly gardens and her gardens regularly feature in magazines.

Patrick Watson is currently South Africa’s most innovative and versatile landscape architect. Known for designing extensive mega-sites, such as Sun City and an entire Indian Ocean Island, he is also the creator of exquisite small gardens in private homes and quiet spaces for reflection, such as the Apartheid Museum and the Garden of Hope at St George’s Anglican Church in Parktown, Johannesburg.

In all he does, he combines artistic intuition with extensive botanical knowledge and a deep concern for the conservation and restoration of nature. His projects are creative, fresh with inspiration, and often bold, and he uses plants, colours, landforms and space to create visual and emotional experiences.

Covering 23 gardens and landscapes, and richly supported by sensitive photography and some specially commissioned artworks, the book is a beautiful record of a remarkable local talent, a visionary whose art is informed by nature. It recognises and celebrates the combination of knowledge, skill and instinct that make up the man, and the radical influence he has had on his profession.

Do you love living in the city but dream about growing your own wholesome fruit and vegetables? South Africa’s organic gardening guru, Jane Griffiths, shows you just how easy it is to achieve a flourishing food garden, no matter how small your space.

Jane’s Delicious Urban Gardening is packed with inspirational ideas and practical information on all aspects of urban eco living.

In her trademark sensible and easy-to-follow style, Jane provides a wealth of tips and suggestions for:

• growing organic vegetables just about anywhere – from containers to edible walls, from raised beds to rooftops, from community gardens to neglected pavements
• planting and maintaining a space-efficient urban orchard
• converting an existing lawn or tennis court into an instant edible oasis
• keeping urban bees, hens and aquaponic tanks
• harvesting rainwater and recycling grey water
• introducing solar power into your home
• converting a chlorinated swimming pool into a wetland-filtered haven.

Illustrated with hundreds of beautiful colour photographs, Jane’s Delicious Urban Gardening is essential reading for anyone wanting to live a more sustainable, productive and healthy lifestyle in the city.

Bulbous plants produce some of the most striking natural floral displays, and our region is endowed with the greatest number and richest variety globally. With over 1,200 naturally occurring bulb species, the Cape Floristic Region is the undisputed bulb capital of the world and the source of many species now found growing in other parts of the world, including Europe, the UK and the USA.

Bulbs of the Fynbos features 345 of the region’s more common or showy species, meticulously arranged for easy comparison and identification.

This guide features:

• detailed accounts of each species, including diagnostic features, flowering times, habitat and distribution, as well as information on subspecies and similar species
• colour photographs capturing the plants’ splendour and diversity
• an informative introduction examining the biology, structure and conservation status of fynbos bulbs, and explaining the botanical features that are essential for identification

An innovative guide with wide appeal to wildflower lovers, natureenthusiasts, hikers, students and gardeners.THE AUTHO

In hierdie boek wys twee kenners jou hoe om dit reg te kry, met honderde voorbeelde uit tuine van regoor die land. Dit wys jou dat 'n tuin basies 'n kombinasie is van kleur, vorm, tekstuur en groeiwyses - in wese 'n kombinasie van kombinasies. Leer hoe om plante te kombineer wat mekaar aanvul en hul eie harmonie skep en hoe om plante en elemente te kombineer vir enersheid, of vir andersheid. Deur uitgesoekte plante en elemente saam te gebruik, skep jy 'n prentjie wat mooier, treffender en meer skouspelagtig is as wat elk van die gekombineerde elemente individueel sou kon doen. Die skeppende omvang van kombinasiemoontlikhede kan nie gekwantifiseer word nie - as jy jou 'n kombinasie kan voorstel, kan jy dit skep. In Kreatiewe kombinasies word in vier kategoriee na kombinasies gekyk: kleur, vorm en groeiwyse, tekstuur en die tuin en plante se spesifieke omgewing. Daar is meer as 230 foto's om jou te bekoor en inspireer en al die nodige inligting om slim en vindingryk met kombinasies te werk. Vergroot jou tuin se trefkrag deur die beste moontlike gebruik van die kombinasies daarin.

This book shows you how to identify, tackle and solve both pests and diseases naturally in your organic edible garden. The book is divided into 5 easily navigable chapters:

1. Prevention

Learn how to create and maintain a balanced garden to help plants naturally withstand pests and diseases, including detailed methods of preventing problems before they start.

2. Solutions

If problems do occur, this chapter provides effective natural solutions. It also traces the rise and impact of chemical pesticides in agriculture, and the shift back to safer organic alternatives. Included is a comprehensive A–Z of natural solutions.

3. Host plants

This chapter provides details of edible plants (vegetables, herbs, grains, fruit and nuts) and potential pests or diseases that can affect them, with a focus on ideal growing conditions to prevent problems.

4. Pests

This chapter is a guide to commonly found pests, organised within their biological orders, with separate sections on larger and opportunistic pests. Each entry features photographs and descriptions to help with identification, plus information about their size, host plants, targeted plant parts, damage symptoms and natural enemies.

5. Diseases

Diseases are divided into three sections – Bacterial, Fungal and Viral – with detailed methods for prevention and solutions, plus plenty of photographs for easy identification. Included is information on hosts, symptoms, how each disease spreads and optimum conditions.

There are also quick guides at the start of both the Pests and Diseases sections to help identify common problems, a glossary and detailed index for further reference

In 2011 a property in the Midlands in South Africa that contained a rundown motel went on sale. Rumours were that it would become a truck stop and would start renting out rooms by the hour. That was until entrepreneur Iain Buchan, who owned the neighbouring farm, and his wife, Carol, stepped in.

The Buchans created a wedding venue by building a small dam with a rustic chapel on its banks, but the couple yearned for more. They had been dazzled by the grand gardens they had seen on their travels and decided to transform the green grasslands into something spectacular. Landscaper Tim Steyn was asked to draw up plans and they were about to break ground when the pandemic broke out. A man of endless action, Iain pressed on and persuaded the staff of the wedding venue to help. Waiters began swinging picks, housekeepers dug beds and one chef became a master of irrigation.

Four years on an audacious, magical garden has been rendered from the fertile Midlands soil. Iain Buchan thinks nothing of gouging grottoes and running brooks out of the hillside or moving trees around like a giant in a Grimm’s fairy tale. Today Brahman Hills boasts a moat, a grotto, a magnificent sculpture garden, water features, paths and 16 beehives that are works of art.

The gardens at Brahman Hills are so spectacular they caught the attention of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the United Kingdom, which selected it as a Partner Garden in 2023. It then went on to win the RHS Regional Winner award for that year.

The greatest botanical artists in the world capture one of the most diverse floral kingdoms on earth.

The traditional medium of botanical art is given a new lens with the aim to ultimately connect the reader to a bigger picture - one in which the intricate relationship between ourselves, the natural environment, plants and their pollinators is revealed. Expect meticulous detailing of floral structures, bursting seed pods, brightly coloured beetles, foraging ants, floating pollen and striped field mice...coupled with scientific facts and narrative stories about each plant.

This is a florilegium immersed in the natural world, informed by ecology and the fragility of our botanical heritage. Each chapter includes an up-front ‘Wunderkammer’ of artists' notes, colour swatches, working drawings and archeological details, revealing a glimpse into the creative process and ancient origins of the area.

A unique marriage of art, natural science and storytelling is used to share the treasures of our botanical heritage, diversity and sustainability.

Kweek dit self is ’n alsomvattende gids vol praktiese riglyne wat jou sal leer hoe om jou tuin (groot of klein) ten volle te benut, hetsy met tradisionele of alternatiewe tuinbou metodes. Die inhoud is nie beperk tot alledaagse en bekende spesies nie, daar word metodes aangebied om ongewone en moderne variasies van elke tipe plant te kweek. Elke plant word op ’n geordende en logiese manier volledig bespreek, met besondere verwysing na die vereistes vir die voorbereiding van die grond, verdeling van die plante, die kweking, asook die oes en berging daarvan. ’n Lekker bonus is die bykomende wenke hoe om plante in houers te kweek, die geskikste plante vir verskillende spasies, hoe om peste te bekamp, plantmaats, en die beste wapens in die oorlog teen siektes en ander probleme. Met die oog op die haastige leser wat nie onnodige opleeswerk wil doen vóór besluitneming nie, is daar ’n gebruiksvriendelike opsomming van elke spesie en bykomende interessante inligting op so ’n manier saamgestel dat dit ’n plesier is om daarna vollediger inligting te bekom.

In Remarkable Gardens, the beauty of South African gardens is revealed by Craig Fraser and Nini Bairnsfather Cloete.

Featuring sumptuous photographs and engaging text, this book combines history and horticulture to take its reader on a fascinating journey through 20 of the most magical private gardens in the country.

While most of these gardens usually remain hidden from view, in Remarkable Gardens of South Africa their stunning scenery, rich history and intriguing diversity are explored with romantic, inspiring results.

The Power of Permaculture Principles is both inspiring and practical, written from years of experience and testing the ideas. Full of stories and case studies, it will enable you to enrich your knowledge of permaculture and how to apply it to your own life.

What is permaculture design? How can you use it in your personal daily life, in your community or in land-based settings?

Permaculture has spread across the world since it was originated by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s as a response to the degradation of land and loss of species caused by industrial farming methods and the rising cost of fossil fuels. The problems of the world today are far more complex as technology advances at an accelerating pace, along with the ever-growing inequality caused by greed and the concentration of power. Viable solutions and emerging alternatives are commonplace but political will has been destroyed by the super-rich.

Permaculture offers principles that are part of a holistic framework and a set of thinking tools that allow us to creatively re-design our environment and our behaviour in an unravelling world, and like a living system, it has evolved and grown. We can demonstrate and develop that these alternatives work, bringing us back to a unity with nature and community.

In this collaborative book, Wilf Richards and a cohort of many of the most experienced permaculture teachers and elders from across Britain and beyond, explore Holmgren’s 12 permaculture principles, retrieve many of Mollison’s original ones, and include principles from many other worldwide permaculture designers. Together they share a history of each principle, its development since being formed and an analysis of how they are being used, understood and applied.

These principles have evolved from indigenous knowledge, observations of nature’s cycles, and the living, teaching and practice of permaculture, over the past 50 years, in many different climates and cultures. They can be applied to our personal, economic, social and political reorganisation. The ethical foundation of permaculture guides us to use these design tools in appropriate ways for the betterment of the land, our wild relatives, and human culture.

Covers forty eight wild edible and medicinal plants of Britain and Ireland.

Includes multiple full-colour photographs of each plant to help make identification easy.

I wrote this book to help you rediscover our forgotten plant heritage. To learn how to use wild plants as food and medicine. Knowledge that was once common to everyone.

Each individual plant profile includes:

• common name
• scientific name
• family
• an easy to understand botanical description
• multiple full colour photos of each plant
• when the plant flowers
• where it is found
• a historical summary
• which parts of the plant to use
• how the plant is used as food
• its nutritional profile
• its traditional folk medicine uses
• and finally, safety notes

This full-colour photograpic guide describes and illustrates more than 350 different species of commercially important flowers, foliages and potted flowers.
The emphasis is on flowers that are commonly used in the cut flower industry mand the book gives useful hints about the selection and handeling of these flowers.
Cut flowers of the World is a comprhensive review and practical guide to the most important types of commercial flowers that are sold in florest shops every day.
The book includes:
* Descriptions of more than 350 plant species and their close relatives. For each flower, the lollowing information is given: description of the plant; geographical orign: historical overviewlcultivation;cultivars; properties such as colours, scents and vase lif; quality criteria (how to select for quality); and the proper care and handling of the flowers.
* More than 600 excellent full-colour photgraphs, showing the beauty, colour variation and diversity of the flowers. Important foliage plants and potted flowers are also included, making this a useful reference guide for florists.
* Indroductory chapters on basic aspects such as cultivation methods, harvesting and shipping techniques, cultivar development, modern trends in marketing (including the role of colour in customer preferences) and perhaps most importantly, thr basic principles of the selection, handeling and use of flowers and foliage.
* A new selection on production tequiques and a quick guide and checklist of more than 1 000 of the most important and well known cut flowers, potted flowers and foliage plants, listed according to scientific name but giving the common names, family name, region of origin, parts used, colour, fragrance, ethylele sensitivity and storage temperature.
* Separate common names indexes to the most familiar and well known cut flowers, foliage and potted flowers; a comprhensive scientific index to all the scientfic and common names mentioned in the text; a glossay explaning specialist terms; and a list of references and further reading.

From the best-selling author of The Hedgerow Apothecary Learn how to make the most of your common garden plants like the herbalists of the past Unlock the sustainable and ethical art of the apothecarist, and explore its rich folklore and history. Discover the hidden delights in your own garden and how to use them to make delicious edible treats, herbal cures and restorative beauty products. With photographs to help you safely identify edible plants and tips on how best to prepare and preserve your finds, this is the essential guide to enjoying the home-grown riches of your garden. Enjoy the therapeutic delights of the plants to be found in your own garden with easy-to-follow recipes. Heal dry hands with calendula balm Encourage restful sleep with cherry moon milk Get creative with a vivid blue ink made from cornflowers Try a borage infusion for tired eyes Soothe itchy skin with herbal bath tea Bake a delicious nettle and lemon sponge cake Freshen up with a rosemary mouthwash Enjoy a cool glass of red clover lemonade And much more!

This book is an immersive experience into the delights of foraging in Spring, written by one of Britain's most respected foragers. Forage In Spring celebrates the top fifteen edible and medicinal wild plants found in March, April and May. It's a comprehensive exploration of their past and present uses as food and medicine. An invaluable addition to any forager, herbalist, gardener, horticulturist or naturalist's library, providing plant-lovers with a much-needed resource to understanding nature's most useful wild plants. Inside, you'll discover the forgotten story of Alexanders, Brooklime, Cleavers (Goosegrass), Dandelion, Garlic Mustard, Ground Elder, Ground Ivy, Plantain, Primrose, Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Sea Beet, Sorrel, Sowthistle, Stinging Nettle and Violet. Plants have stories that reconnect us to the Land and the rest of Nature. As our society becomes ever more disconnected, there is a revivalist movement flourishing like a rhizome. This ancient path of the forager reconnects us to the vital, to wildness, to creation, to what is in effect the very pulse of life itself. One of the most direct ways to experience this is to consume this wildness. Take it into our bodies, where like a sleeper agent, it lies dormant until you have eaten enough to change the structure of your blood, thereby changing your brain and how you relate to the non-human world. For it is this simple act. The act of taking wild food and medicine into our body, that in time becomes so transformative. Forage In Spring is not a harking back to some naive, romantic vision of how we might once have lived. Instead, these plants' stories are a way to help you sense into the future and understand our ecological function (as a species) within the world.