'Who is the patron saint of gardeners? Which leafy South American herb, 200 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories? These are just two of the knotty brainteasers in this fun book for gardening know-it-alls, ideal for those wanting to test the limits of their botanical knowledge. And if you were wondering, the answers are: St Fiacre and stevia.' - Mail on Sunday Ever wanted to show just how much you know about roses? Or see if you can remember the Latin name for Japanese Maple? RHS Gardener's Quiz & Puzzle Book is designed to test your horticultural and botanical knowledge with puzzles to delight and challenge. Featuring over 400 lavishly illustrated questions, from anagrams to garden history, from obscure tools to identifying plants based on their leaves - there are questions for every level of gardening knowledge. Including... - Solve anagrams to improve your knowledge of Latin names - Test your ability to identify plant anatomy with annotated diagrams - Feature pages contain quizzes on specific themes such as botany, vegetables, houseplants, pests and plant care ...and much more.

Gardeners across the nation are seeing clear signs of trouble in their home gardens, no matter the size-like many aspects of life on our warming planet, gardening practices need updates. In the Southeast, gardeners are under pressure to deal with increasing weather extremes, shifting hardiness zones, and seasonal unpredictability. Such environmental conditions are increasingly tough on plants as well as insects, pollinators, birds, and mammals. In this lively and heartening guide, Barbara J. Sullivan offers an essential, easy-to-use resource for adapting to the new realities of climate change. This book will empower southerners to grow beautiful gardens while using gardening practices that contribute to solutions for our shared environment. Surveys the science behind climate change and gardening Covers USDA hardiness zones 5a to 9b, which include thirteen southeastern states Gives advice on planning and installing gardens that will not only thrive but also help address critical environmental challenges Covers key topics ranging from designing a climate-friendly garden that will attract songbirds and pollinators to weaning off gas-powered tools to using water wisely Features a wealth of color illustrations, charts, and tables brimming with recommended native plants for the region

Gardening in Texas is not for the faint of heart or weak-willed. Given the remarkable variety of soils, climate ranges, and the potential for stifling heat, humidity, and drought, the dedication of so many gardening enthusiasts speaks to the powerful hold plants have over people. Living and gardening in Central Texas since 1969, Bill Scheick has celebrated successes and analyzed failures; techniques and plants that worked in one yard did not necessarily work in another just a few miles away. In Adventures of Texas Gardening, Scheick shares, through personal accounts as well as stories from fellow gardeners, big gardening efforts-transforming an entire backyard, dealing with unruly pets and marauding wildlife, and fostering vanishing bees. Attention is also given to challenges like soil erosion and yard contamination. With a firm understanding of horticulture and a good dose of humor, Scheick offers beginning and experienced gardeners a resource for inspiration, information, and commiseration as they pursue their own gardening adventures in Texas.

There aren t many books more beloved than The Tale of Peter Rabbit and even fewer authors as iconic as Beatrix Potter. More than 150 million copies of her books have sold worldwide and interest in her work and life remains high. And her characters Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, and all the rest exist in a charmed world filled with flowers and gardens. Beatrix Potter s Gardening Life is the first book to explore the origins of Beatrix Potter s love of gardening and plants and show how this passion came to be reflected in her work. The book begins with a gardener s biography, highlighting the key moments and places throughout her life that helped define her, including her home Hill Top Farm in England's Lake District. Next, the reader follows Beatrix Potter through a year in her garden, with a season-by-season overview of what is blooming that truly brings her gardens alive. The book culminates in a traveler s guide, with information on how and where to visit Potter s gardens today. Richly illustrated and filled with quotations from her books, letters, and journals, it is essential reading for all who know and cherish Beatrix Potter s classic tales."

The most comprehensive, entertaining, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference ever, and highly praised:
"Barbara Damrosch delivers the goods."--"Chicago Tribune"
"Best of the crop."--"House Beautiful"
"Barbara Damrosch's writing has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old rose."--"The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer"
"Covers just about everything you could think of and then some." -- "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
"An extraordinarily comprehensive guide." -- "The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle"
"Takes your soaring visions of garden splendor and plants them firmly in the ground."--"The Toronto Star"
Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remain--she is still an "old-fashioned dirt gardener" at heart.

Discover the secrets of a naturally pest-proof vegetable garden with Great Garden Companions. Let master gardener Sally Jean Cunningham show you how to keep pests and diseases at bay with her unique companion-gardening system.

By planting special combinations of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, you can minimize pest and disease problems and create a high-yielding, beautiful garden!

The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering. Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food. Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season. Steve Solomon is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades which has appeared in five editions.

The potato is economically a very important crop in many parts of the world. All improvements through potato breeding or biotechnology must be based on a thorough knowledge of potato genetics. This book fills a major gap in the current literature for an up-to-date account of this topic and its implications for crop improvement. Written by authorities from the UK, USA, Canada, Peru, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Poland, this major reference work will be indispensible for workers in plant genetics, breeding and biotechnology.

A revised and updated edition of Andrew Lawson's classic work Andrew Lawson has an artist's eye, a scientist's training and long experience as both a gardener and a photographer of gardens. In this book he calls on all his skills and practical knowledge to illuminate the complex subject of using colour in the garden and to demonstrate the extraordinary power of colour to change the sense of space, to suggest coolness or warmth and to evoke different moods. The Gardener's Book of Colour shows how to put colours together in garden beds, borders and containers, explaining how to construct harmonizing and contrasting schemes and exuberant displays of mixed colour. All the major schemes are supported by keyline drawings giving full planting details. In addition, illustrated plant directories, arranged by colour and flowering season, provide cultivation details for over 850 plants, enabling you to assemble the right plants for your chosen scheme and to carry that scheme through the year. Authoritative and accessible, The Gardener's Book of Colour will stimulate your imagination and put exciting new ideas within your grasp. Whether you want an instant splash of brilliant seasonal colour or a sumptuous border with subtle year-round appeal, this book will show you how to achieve it.

In House + Flower, Cynthia Zamaria immerses the reader in her creative process sharing how she infuses gardens, flowers and other elements of nature into sensitive home design. Through engaging photography and a welcoming narrative, this book inspires us to celebrate living environments as expressions of our personal style while also embracing a home's unique soul. With a passion for character-filled spaces, carefree floral displays, and an appreciation for vintage and artisanal objects, Cynthia's approach is timely, yet timeless. Readers are invited to see the potential in their own homes through the reimagined interiors and exteriors of the many Toronto-area residences she and her husband, Graham, have restored over the years. 'Here are houses found, embraced, personified and embodied by the spirit of the author. Cynthia gives the same generous passion to her homes as she does to her readers.' - Deborah Needleman, Author of The Perfectly Imperfect Home and co-author of the Domino Book of Decorating