Few gardens can transport visitors to wild and rugged landscapes as well as rock gardens. Eye-catching rock gardens are among the most challenging -- and satisfying -- expressions of the gardener's craft. A true rock garden is a specialized habitat that allows the gardener to grow plants that do not flourish anywhere else. This book offers the first comprehensive treatment of building rock gardens in all parts of North America. Topics covered include rock placement, materials, and planting and maintenance. Variations on the rock garden theme, from planting troughs to creating water features are also discussed. The book presents regional styles and techniques and profiles a dozen public rock gardens from Oregon to Newfoundland. More than 100 inspiring photos accompany the lively text.

North America is home to approximately four dozen bulbous genera. Among these are some very popular rock garden plants, such as "Calochortus, Erythronium," and "Fritillaria," which have never had anything substantial written about them in book form. Others, including "Calydorea, Hypoxis," and "Muilla," are not as well known outside specialist collections. The characteristics that make bulbs so desirable in gardens include their great diversity of flowering time, color, size, and form; their ability to adapt to a wide range of environments; and their capacity to multiply and spread without a gardener's intervention. Amateur botanists and horticulturists, particularly those with an interest in alpine and rock gardens, and travelers planning a field trip to choice plant-viewing sites all over the continent, will be inspired by this firsthand account of native North American bulbs. More than 100 impressive color photos illustrate the 11 original chapters.