Landscape architect Lake Douglas employs written accounts, archival data, historic photographs, lithographs, maps, and city planning documents -- many of which have never before been published -- to explore public and private outdoor spaces in New Orleans and those who shaped them. The result offers the first in-depth examination of the city's landscape history.

Douglas presents this "beautiful and imposing" city as a work of art crafted by numerous influences. His survey from the colonial period to the twentieth century finds that geography, climate, and, above all, the multicultural character of its residents have made New Orleans unique in American landscape design history. French and Spanish settlers, Africans and Native Americans, as well as immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and other parts of the world all participated in creating this community's unique public and private landscapes. Places such as Congo Square, Audubon Park, the river levees, and "neutral grounds" -- local residents' own term for medians -- together with ordinary residential gardens are all testaments to the city's international imprint.

Douglas identifies five types of public and private designed landscapes in New Orleans: squares, linear open spaces, urban parks, commercial pleasure gardens, and domestic gardens. Discussing their design, function, and content, he shows how specific examples of each contribute to the city's unique character and also fit within the larger context of American landscape design history. Each type has its own complexion and reflects the influence of those who occupied it. Though New Orleanians lived in strata according to language, cultural identity, economics, and race, they found common ground, literally, in their community's landscapes.

Douglas's sweeping study, illustrated with over 90 color and black-and-white images, includes an exploration of archival horticultural books, almanacs, and periodicals; information about laborers who actually built landscapes; details of horticultural commerce, services, and marketing materials; and an exhaustive inventory of plants grown in New Orleans for agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental uses.

Public Spaces, Private Gardens provides an informative look at two hundred years of the designed landscapes and horticulture of New Orleans and a fresh perspective on one of America's most interesting and historic cities.

Keep your lawn and garden lush without wasting resources by capturing and recycling the greywater that drains from your sink, shower, and washing machine. This accessible and detailed guide walks you through each step of planning for and installing a variety of greywater systems, including laundry-to-landscape and branched drain gravity-fed. After identifying greywater sources in your home and estimating flow rate, you'll learn to pinpoint where to redirect the wastewater for the greatest benefit. No matter which system you decide to build, doing so is quick and inexpensive and uses only basic tools and materials readily available at home supply stores.

From houseplants and succulents to container gardens and vegetable patches, track your gardening progress and plot your growing dreams in this charming, cheeky plant journal. Container gardeners, newly-minted homesteaders and eager plant parents rejoice! Full of informative sidebars, guided growth charts, recommended varietals and adorable illustrations, I Love My Plants is a unique and useful journal for keeping up with your green thumb. This concealed spiral-bound journal is as practical as it is beautiful, with three notched sections for easy reference, fresh tips for keeping plants thriving and a durable, matte-laminated cover. With room to track progress for both indoor and outdoor plants, as well as sections for free-form writing and planning, I Love My Plants is the perfect addition to any indoor, or outdoor, gardener's toolkit.

Includes: habitat, heigt and spread plant features and flower colors information on soil, light and water tips on how to best use the plant in your garden recommended species for Minnesota and Wisconsin gardens

Small enough to take to the garden center or nursery, this book contains all the gardening information you need to decide which plants to select and how to care for them in your regional garden

"Principles of Tropical Horticulture" leads the reader through a background of environmental influences and plant physiology to an understanding of production and post-harvest systems, environmental adaptation techniques and marketing strategies. Focusing on the principles behind production practices and their scientific basis, rather than detailed biological traits of each crop, this text outlines successes and failures in practices to date and sets out how the quantity and quality of horticultural produce can improve in the future. Case studies are frequently used and chapters cover the production of vegetables, fruit and ornamental crops, including temperate zone crops adapted to grow in the tropics.

Building Commons and Community documents 45 years of the late Karl Linn's legacy creating neighborhood spaces for communities and by communities. In this richly-ilustrated landscape-format hardcover book, Linn presents his philosophies and practical wisdom. Linn created some of America's first community design centers, and his work inspired Eunice Shriver to initiate Americorps. In this richly-illustrated book, Linn presents his philosophies and practical wisdom to help people use the resources they find in their own surroundings to create welcoming shared spaces. In addition to an extensive addendum of resources for creating community commons, this work contains colorful photo-essay case studies of projects that cross boundaries between professional design and neighborhood activism provide inspiration and guidance for citizens and professionals who wish to collaborate to strengthen communities. Projects include community gardens, playgrounds, parks and other gathering places built on derelict or unused property by the people who use them. Landscape architect and child psychologist Karl Linn (1923-2005) was a beloved, down-to-earth, visionary leader of grassroots community building, who brought life to economically disenfranchised neighborhoods in cities from Boston to Berkeley. His book documents the creativity and ingenuity of working-class citizens, students and volunteer professionals who transformed derelict vacant lots and drab institutional settings into colorful and lively community commons in Boston, New York, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Louisville KY, Pittsburgh, Columbus OH, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and Berkeley.

Seeds are nature's consummate survivors. The next time you admire a field of waving green grassland or a stunning grove of acacia, stop to consider how it got that way--often against incredible odds. Seeds can survive freezing temperatures and drought. They can pass through our digestive systems without damage and weather a trip across the ocean, hitching a ride on marine debris. They can even endure complete desiccation, a feat taken to extraordinary lengths by the date palm, a seed from which was recovered from the palace of Herod the Great was germinated after some two thousand years. The Book of Seeds takes readers through six hundred of the world's seed species, revealing their extraordinary beauty and rich diversity. Each page pairs a beautifully composed photo of a seed--life-size, and, in some cases, enlarged to display fine detail--with a short description, a map showing distribution, and information on conservation status. The whole spectrum of seeds is covered here. There are prolific species like corn and less widely distributed species, like the brilliant blue seeds of the traveler's palm or the bird of paradise flower, aptly named for its distinctive orange coiffure. There are tiny seeds and seeds weighing up to forty pounds. And while seeds in all their shapes, sizes, and colors grant us sustenance, there are even some we would be wise to treat with caution, such as the rosary pea, whose seeds are considered more toxic than ricin. The essential guide to these complex plant creations, The Book of Seeds offers readers a rare, up-close look that will inspire scientists and nature lovers alike.

This national award winning book, now in its second edition, was developed especially for Master Gardener volunteers and home gardeners and is a primary source for research-based information on gardening and landscaping successfully in North Carolina and the Southeast. A fundamental reference for any seasoned gardener, the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook is also written to appeal to beginners just getting their hands dirty. It explains the "why and how" basics of gardening from soils and composting to vegetable gardening and wildlife management. Advice on garden design, preparation, and maintenance covers all types of plantings including lawns, ornamentals, fruits, trees, and containers. This handbook provides color images, detailed graphics, diagnostic tables, case studies, frequently asked questions, and specific management strategies for insects, diseases, weeds, and other pests. Written by a team of the state's leading horticulture experts, it contains a wealth of information to support you in creating and managing thriving gardens, lawns, and landscapes. The North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook is an essential book for serious gardeners in North Carolina and the Southeast. Want to learn more? * Visit go.ncsu.edu/eg-handbook to view information contained in this book in an open access format. * Access free gardening resources from NC State Extension by visiting gardening.ces.ncsu.edu. * Find the Extension center in your county to speak with local experts by visiting www.ces.ncsu.edu/directory. * Become a Master Gardener volunteer and join an outstanding group of life-long learners working together to change the world.

How does your magickal garden grow?... With violets, rosemary, and yarrow to attract faeries; an apple tree for love and health; and a circle of stones in some tucked-away corner? Whether you live in a cottage in the woods, a home in the suburbs, or a city apartment with a small balcony, a powerful and enchanted realm awaits you. Discover the secret language and magickal properties of the trees and flowers, herbs and plants found growing around you, and learn how to create your own witch's garden.

Written with down-to-earth humor by a master gardener who is also a practicing witch, this creative and encouraging guide will inspire gardeners of all ages and experience levels. It includes a journal section that makes it easy to keep track of your progress, practical gardening advice, personal stories, and garden witchery lore and magick. Inside, you'll get the dirt on:

-- Flower folklore-- Moon gardening and astrological timing-- Faerie magick-- Beginning to advanced witchcraft-- Floral and herbal spells-- Sabbat celebrations-- Witch crafts (sachets, wreaths, charm bags)-- Creating sacred space-- Shade, moonlight, and sun gardens-- Enchanted houseplant and container gardens-- Magickal herbal correspondences-- Garden blessings

2004 COVR AWARD WINNER

All gardeners know the disappointment of finding their flowers nibbled, or their prized produce riddled with rust. Armed with this essential guide, which helps you identify, target, and banish the likely culprits, you can stop the destruction.Get acquainted with all the common pests and diseases that afflict ornamentals, vegetables, fruits, and houseplants, and learn the best ways to deal with them. The effective options include both biological controls-increasingly popular in the gardening world-as well as the better-known organic and chemical methods.At-a-glance checklists explain which ailments generally afflict various plant types, from roses and rock-garden plants to soft fruits and vegetables.

One of the bestselling garden books ever is fresher than ever! Ready to inspire a whole new generation of gardeners. When he created the "square foot gardening" method, Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer and efficiency expert, found the solution to the frustrations of most gardeners. His revolutionary system is simple- it's an ingenious planting method based on using square foot blocks of garden space instead of rows. Gardeners build up, not down, so there's no digging and no tilling after the first year. And the method requires less thinning, less weeding, and less watering. "I found a better way to garden, one that's more efficient, more manageable, and requires less work," Bartholomew explains. Not surprisingly, his method quickly received worldwide recognition and has been written up in every major newspaper and gardening magazine. His book, which served as the companion to the nationally acclaimed television series, has sold over 800,000 copies. Now freshened with new illustrations, the book Ingram calls "the largest selling garden book in America" is reissued for the delight of a whole new generation of gardeners.

The Complete Kitchen Garden is an inspiring collection of garden designs and recipes for the home gardener and cook. based on the seasonal cycles of the garden, each chapter provides a new way to look at the planning stages with themes and designs such as "the salad lover's garden," "the heirloom maze garden," "the children's garden," and "the organic rotation garden." More than 100 recipes featuring the food grown in each specific garden encompass a full range of soups, salads, main course savory dishes, and desserts, as well as condiments and garnish to dress up the plate.Praise for The Complete Kitchen Garden:"With charming hand-drawn planting plans, bright color photos, and tempting recipes. . . . Ms. Ogden's book arms wannabe gardeners with all the tools to plan a productive garden before seeds ever meet the ground."-Wall Street Journal"There's no reason a vegetable garden must be an eyesore, banished to the corner by the garage. . . . The Complete Kitchen Garden . . . combines design advice, garden wisdom and recipes." -The Chicago Tribune