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.

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

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

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.