GARDEN MEDIA GUILD PRACTICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2012 Fruit and vegetables have formed a fundamental part of the Scottish diet for thousands of years. This fascinating and practical book explores the history of fruit, vegetable and herb growing in Scotland, and provides a contemporary guide to the best techniques for growing produce, whether in a garden, allotment, patio or window box. Packed with hundreds of colour photographs, drawings and descriptive diagrams, this is a detailed and comprehensive bible for the gardener. In addition to advice on climate and soil conditions, it has contacts for organisations, specialist societies, nurseries and suppliers, as well as a detailed bibliography and list of useful websites. This is an essential reference book for anyone aiming to get the best possible results from their garden produce north of the border.

"Rhododendrons & Azaleas" profiles over 4,000 varieties of this highly popular and striking plant. Illustrated with 1,100 color photographs, each entry includes a description of the plant and flower color; notes on hardiness, height and spread, and flowering time; advice on cultivation and proven performers; and the name of the parent plants, the raiser, and similar varieties. Practical advice is also given on rhododendrons in the landscape, maintenance and husbandry, pests, diseases, problems and disorders, propagation, and buying and collecting rhododendrons, along with a brief history and a guide to their classification.

Little explored and virtually inaccessible, the Tsangpo Gorge in south-east Tibet is the world's deepest gorge. Through it twists the Yarlong Tsangpo, Tibet's great river, emerging from below on the plains of India. This is the story of its exploration and the rich plant and animal life found there. Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges , first published in 1926, is the fascinating account of plant-hunter and explorer Frank Kingdon Ward's most important expedition. Kenneth Cox, Kenneth Storm, Jr. and Ian Baker spent over ten years retracing the route of the 1924-25 expedition and managed to reach further into this magical and only partly explored land. The book contains the original Kingdon Ward text and extensive additional material, including a history of the exploration, geography and religious significance of the area and more than 250 colour photographs with detailed captions on the plants of the area, most of which are described by Kingdon Ward in the original text. There are first person accounts of

In this book, Scottish gardeners will find accurate information and hundreds of plants ideally suited to where they live. Scotland is one of the best places in the world to garden. Its maritime climate, ample rainfall, and the rarity of severe droughts and really hot weather mean that huge numbers of plants grow well there. But the climate varies considerably - from the colder, wetter, windier mountainous areas to the west coast where tender plants can be grown outdoors all year round - and choosing plants that are suited to the local conditions is critical to success. Kenneth Cox and Raoul Curtis-Machin have evaluated the performance of thousands of plants in gardens all over Scotland, drawing on the knowledge and experience of many gardeners and nurserymen, and in this book they describe - with over 800 photographs - the most reliable shrubs, conifers, trees, fruit and perennials for Scotland. In this book Scottish gardeners will find a wealth of accurate information and hundreds of great plants ideally suited to where they live.

With thousands of shops closing in Britain today, this is the story of a man who made a living by helping retailers open their places of work. Roger Cox was a pioneer in shop siting and development in this country. But when he realised that there were too many of them, he switched his career. He became a freelance lecturer with the aim of showing that practical skills, allied with business theory, was the key to a students' career success. In his book, Roger tells of his experiences in both retail firms and colleges, many of them comical and thought-provoking. Alongside this, the main family pastime has been world-wide travel, much of it in America. Above all, this is an entertaining read.