400 Best Garden Plants: A Practical Encyclopedia of Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Trees and Shrubs

by Elvin McDonald

Book Overview

This fully comprehensive guide to the outstanding garden plants of every season should be on the book shelves of both novice gardeners and green-fingered experts. More than 425 full-color photographs... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517203537
• ISBN13: 9780517203538
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Gramercy Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 3.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 9.3" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Gardener's Bible

If you are a new gardener or even a seasoned one, this book is a must for your gardening library. Great information!

Good overall reference book

Found this on clearance a couple years ago and have referenced over and over again. It is a great overall reference book and includes sections on 100 best plants of each: annuals, perennials, bulbs, and trees & shrubs. It includes pictures and care and habit details of each plant. I have loaned it to others and they have found helpful as well.

Great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia.

Book contains about 425 pages divided into 4 major sections: Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Trees & Shrubs. Each section describes 100 plants (hence the title, "400 Best Garden Plants"). Each plant is described by habit, leaves, flowers, light, soil, fertilizer, pruning, propagation, uses, etc. The information is fairly meager, about one sentence per item. Many of the sentences are repetitive and extremely general. For example, "fertilize with 5-10-5", is listed as advice for 97 out of 100 annuals. I'm not saying the advice is wrong, I just wonder why it must be repeated 97 times. At the beginning of the annual section, couldn't they say "fertilize most annual with 5-10-5", then go into details about the three plants that get treated differently. (By the way, the 3 special case plants are Amaranthus, Basil, and Flowering Maple).The photography is a high point. Images are crisp and clear, most pictures are large (6 inches height). Unfortunately, the species or variety in the photograph is never identified.The information is very general. For example, one of the 100 Best Perennials is listed as Anemone (Windflower, European Pasqueflower, Japanese Anemone). Egads! There is an extreme difference between two inch tall Windflower and three feet tall Japanese Anemone. Then they list uses as "cut flowers". Yeah, right! I can just see them now, on their hands and knees, harvesting the tiny flowers from the two inch tall plant. Listing characteristics of Windflower, European Pasqueflower, and Japanese Anemone in the same discussion is not useful gardening advice.I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia. Expert gardeners will find little of value in the book. For beginners, it's a 5 star book. For garden experts, it's only a 3 star.

On the money

This book is very good for it's price. Some of the photos are a little close, so it's hard to picture how the plant will look mixed into your garden. There are also some plants that I've looked up and this book doesn't cover. Also, there aren't a lot of ideas for shadey areas. However, I would honestly recommend this book. There are hundreds (400 to be exact) great plants in it. It also gives detailed information on how to care for the plants both before and after planting. This book is great for beginning and seasoned gardners alike!

An all around great plant refernce book!!!

This is a great book for the novice as well as the expert. Itis divided into 4 categories and contains many excellent pictures ofthe plants listed. For each plant, there is a description including height/habit, leaves, and flower; detailed instructions on how and when to plant and propagate; light, soil and fertilizer needs; and pruning requirements. The plants are listed with their scientific and common names and indexed accordingly. Overall, it is one of the best reference books I've seen.