The North American Rock Garden Society is an organization of amateur botanists and gardeners drawn from around the world who are devoted to all aspects of the plant species grown in rock gardens. This unique horticultural society commissioned Jane McGary to compile a wealth of contributions from expert contributors to present a comprehensive reference on North American bulbous plants that would be suited to the geographical ranges, soil varieties, and moisture regimes found throughout North America. In addition to descriptive information identifying the various species, practical information is provided for growing these plants from seed, as well as tips for viewing them in the wild. Superbly enhanced with more than one hundred full color photographs, Bulbs Of North America is a core addition to any personal, professional, academic, or community library horticultural and gardening reference collection.

This is a wonderful book, packed with an amazing amount of information, engagingly presented, in its 144 colorfully illustrated pages. The author's fascination with, and immersion in, his subject is apparent, and generates a responding enthusiasm in the reader. Learning that, for instance, high altitude plants tend to be pollinated by birds, not insects, because of the lower temperature and humidity, and because they are less fragrant, may not be needed to make a butterfly garden, but it is a fun snippet of knowledge.

The book can be divided into three major segments: The first two chapters tell us about butterflies (and moths) in literature and lore, as well as nature. The second section (chapter 3) provides brief discussions of over two dozen butterfly species, with an emphasis on food sources for both the caterpillars and adults. The third section is about the plants one can place in one's garden to make it attractive to wild butterflies; not only food sources, but as roosting places. Over 100 plant species are discussed, organized by type (shrubs, trees, annuals) and season. This is followed by a chapter on the general principles of designing a garden for butterflies, with two example garden plans.

A fascinating read for the armchair gardener, no coffee table book yet profusely illustrated, "TheButterfly Garden" is also full of good and specific advice for attracting these beautiful creatures.

In a world frought with technical jargon and paraphenalia, take a moment to simply retreat. Susan captures simplicity at its most basic level and causes one to remeber fondly the most beloved of memories.

As a newcomer to the Northwest, I was delighted and relieved to find the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide. It is a planting calendar for year-round organic gardening and so much more. Growing in this climate is so vastly different from my experiences in the Midwest that sometimes I felt like a complete novice. Month-by-month, the Garden Guide provides a nearly exhaustive list on which seeds are appropriate to sow indoors, sow outdoors, and sow under cloches. Following their suggestions yields year-round produce. It's full of great reminders that January is the time to start planning your crop rotation, February is the time to have your soil tested, March is the month to begin the soil amendments and April is the time to begin hardening off. What? you don't know what "hardening off" means? You really need to buy this book!

Long before the small block chevy hunted the streets, the GMC was the way to go. California Bill tells all. Fun to read, cool to browse, I'm always picking mine up. Turn up the way back machine Sherman and gaze at ancient speed parts offered by long forgotten manufacturers. It's an exact copy of the original and you don't have top worry about the binding falling apart. Very Cool.

It's almost always by my side. As a landscape designer, sometimes I draw a blank when looking for a specific plant for a specific, sometimes tricky, situation. This book has about 100 different lists to work with (maybe more?, maybe less, but it seems like 100 or more!) A few examples: Vines that climb by tendrils versus by twining versus by clinging; trees that have problem root systems, drop messy fruit or leaves, or that have beautiful bark and/or trunk structure; shrubs for oceanside sites, for erosion control, for shady areas. There are the same types of lists (plus many more) for ground covers, perennials, annuals, etc; The lists only give the common and botanical name for the plants in each catagory, it does not give any details about the plant, so you have to know your plants. But for anyone in the profession, or an amature who knows their plants, this book is a must. The only drawback: it doesn't have a cross reference/ index for each of the lists, so you have to go through each chapter (broken down by perennials, trees, shrubs, roses, vines, ferns, ground covers and annuals.) I still recommend it 100%.

This book is a must have for anyone interested in native plants, California or simply beautiful things. The book divides the state up into geographic regions which consist of examinations of special areas within the region (i.e. the Tahoe Basin is explored in the Sierra Nevada section). It also includes an introduction to basic classification of plant communities, geology, and ecology. If you want to get one user-friendly resource on California plants that features breathtaking photos and informative text, then add this book to your library.

This is such a great book!!! It has so many easy and quick recipes and the best part is they are all low fat. I love it, my husband loves the food and guess what so do the kids.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hover magically over a coffee table while watching your husband sprinkle plant food on your neighbor's dandelions? This is the amazing book that will no doubt show you how.

The Captain's Garden: a Reflective Journey Home Through the Art of Paul Landry is a delicious carmel apple of a book. Each page is filled with the rich, sweet colors and visions of the people, gardens and seaside cottages of the North Atlantic coast. The tart, juicy text tells of rose-covered arbors, brick ovens, berry picking and sails of fishing boats. Landry's use of color and light are extraordinary. Landry works primarily in oil, but with a light touch that resembles water color. This book is a feast for all the senses and a delightful treat