The Art of Arranging Flowers
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The Tennessee
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Tennessee Gardener's Guide offers state-specific information on the what, when, where, why and how of Tennessee gardening rather than generic regional or national information other publications contain.
A Garden's Purpose
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Essays and stories to inspire us to nurture diverse, meaningful relationships with gardens and landscapes. "A garden, as Félix de Rosen suggests in this book, is not a place separate to the world but a tether to it. At a time of increasing ecological and cultural fragmentation and loss, de Rosen reminds us of the importance of the garden as a place of gentle activism and abundance, and gardening as a framework for being with the more-than-human world--engaging with care, reciprocity, and creativity. A Garden's Purpose is an important, timely book." -- Georgina Reid, editor of Wonderground Journal and author of The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos, and Plants The garden provides a powerful, generous way of looking at the world. Through stories and essays, this gracious volume, written in a highly accessible tone, invites readers on a journey to understand gardens as places where we build mutually beneficial relationships with the living world around us. As beautiful spaces, gardens fill us with hope and wonder. As gathering places, they nurture friendships and communities. Thoughtfully crafted, they make us pause and appreciate our surroundings. Full of edible plants, they nourish us. Full of diversity--human and non-human--they connect us with the polychromatic world in which we live. They make us feel at home in our own bodies, in our cities, and on our planet. Each chapter in this book is dedicated to a specific idea or element of the garden, from places where gardens grow (i.e., a driveway in San Francisco, a bathtub as a planter) to garden management (why some lawns need watering every few days, and some gardens can go almost a full year without irrigation) to color and texture (i.e., how fine-textured plants like grasses can be used to unify a space), and everything in between. Hundreds of gardens from all corners of the globe are included, photographed in glorious full color. Perfect for home gardeners, landscape designers, or as a gift for the gardener in your life, this is an ode to the wonder, design, and habitat of gardens, and an inspiration to nurture meaningful relationships with the natural world around us.
The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food
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The first graphic novel guide to growing a successful raised bed vegetable garden, from planning, prepping, and planting, to troubleshooting, care, and harvesting. "A fun read packed with practical advice, it's the perfect resource for new gardeners, guiding you through every step to plant, grow, and harvest a thriving and productive food garden."-Joe Lamp'l, founder and creator of the OnlineGardeningAcademy Like having your own personal gardening mentor at your side, The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food is the story of Mia, an eager young professional who wants to grow her own vegetables but doesn't know where to start, and George, her retired neighbor who loves gardening and walks her through each step of the process. Throughout the book, "cheat sheets" sum up George's key facts and techniques, providing a handy quick reference for anyone starting their first vegetable garden, including how to find the best location, which vegetables are easiest to grow, how to pick out the healthiest plants at the store, when (and when not) to water, how to protect your plants from pests, and what to do with extra produce if you grow too much. If you are a visual learner, beginning gardener, looking for something new, or have struggled to grow vegetables in the past, you'll find this unique illustrated format ideal because many gardening concepts--from proper planting techniques to building raised beds--are easier to grasp when presented visually, step by step. Easy and entertaining, The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food makes homegrown vegetables fun and achievable.
Science and Technology of Organic Farming
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Winner of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award for 2011! Organic farming is not only a philosophy, but also a well-researched science that combines soil fertility, plant pathology, entomology, and other biological and environmental sciences. Science and Technology of Organic Farming is a concise, readily applicable resource for understanding the scientific basis for organic farming and the technology required to achieve adequate yields through plant nutrition and protection. It provides the tools necessary to dispel hampering myths about organic farming so farmers - regardless of their experience - can strengthen their own growing practices. Emphasizes Foundations of Organic Farming - Composting, Cover Crops, & Farm Manures Addressing relevant issues and concepts along with practical applications, chapters cover soil fertility and plant nutrition; individual plant requirements; liming; farm manures, green manures, and composts; mulching and tillage; and weed, insect, and disease control, as well as companion planting and storage. The text also includes more than 50 illustrations and a glossary with common technical and scientific terms used in conventional and organic agriculture. This valuable reference is ideal for farmers, agricultural advisers, and soil and plant scientists - in both academia and industry.
Good Growing
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Over the past decade, organic products have become the fastest growing sector of agriculture, with an annual increase of at least 20 percent. This book explains why organic production and consumption have seen such phenomenal growth in recent years--and, even more important, why they should. A clear-eyed, close-up look at the compelling reasons for organic farming and the methods that make it work, Good Growing begins with a frank account of the problems with conventional industrial agriculture--the pesticide use, pollution, and corporate control that have undermined public health and devastated rural towns and family farms. In-depth interviews with working organic farmers from across the country bring to life the facts and figures that Leslie Duram sets out in her extensive overview of the realities of organic farming today. Farmers with very different operations in California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, and upstate New York give us an intimate understanding of the ecological, social, economic, and personal factors that shape their farming experiences. We also learn firsthand about the attractions and pleasures as well as the problems and concerns that accompany organic farming. With its comprehensive view of the status of farming and its compelling portraits of organic farmers, Good Growing is, finally, a work of scientific advocacy describing a course of action, based on the best research available, to improve the health of agriculture in our day.
It's a Long Road to a Tomato
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Twenty years ago, just beyond his 40th birthday, Keith Stewart exchanged life in New York's corporate grind for a farm in Orange County, NY, where he and a small crew of seasonal workers grow about 100 organic vegetables and herbs. What started as a yearning--"to live on a piece of land, closer to nature; to work outside with my body as well as my brain; to leave behind the world of briefcases, computers, corporate clients, and non-opening windows"--has become a life "more full, more varied" and often "more demanding and exhausting, but always more real." Stewart sells everything he grows directly to consumers and restaurateurs, and in doing so has developed loyal and growing ranks devoted to his Rocambole garlic, herbs, heirloom tomatoes, and other organic produce. Now, in It's a Long Road to a Tomato, Stewart presents interlocking, complementary essays, addressing his mid-life development as a farmer; some of the nuts and bolts and how-to's of organic vegetable growing and selling in an urban market; humorous and philosophical stories about domestic and wild farm animals and the natural world; and some of the political, social, and environmental issues surrounding agriculture today and why it matters to all of us.
City Farmer
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City Farmer celebrates the new ways that urban dwellers across North America are reimagining cities as places of food production. From homeowners planting their front yards with vegetables to guerilla gardeners scattering seeds in neglected urban corners, gardening guru Lorraine Johnson chronicles the increasing popularity of innovative urban food growing.
Farming for Us All
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It is easy to feel overwhelmed and depressed by all the threats facing modern agriculture--threats to the environment, to the health and safety of our food, to the economic and cultural viability of farmers and rural communities. Hundreds of thousands of farmers leave their farms every year as the juggernaut of "big agriculture" plows across our rural landscape. But there are viable alternatives to big agriculture, as many farmers and others involved in agriculture, including consumers, are discovering. In Farming for Us All Michael Mayerfeld Bell offers crucial insight into the future of a viable sustainable agriculture movement in the United States. Based on interviews and years of close interaction with over 60 Iowa farm families, Bell answers two critical questions concerning sustainable agriculture: why some farmers are becoming sustainable farmers and why, as yet, most are not. The first part of the book describes how the structure of agriculture--that nexus of markets, regulations, subsidies, and technology--has created a situation in which farmers are paid to undermine their own economic and social security, as well as the security of the land. The second part explores why, nevertheless, most Iowa farmers carry on with these destructive practices. Farming is a pressured endeavor, and farmers find themselves relying on recipes of knowledge to get them through the latest crisis, with little opportunity to explore some other way--even if they think what they know how to do isn't likely to work very well for them. You have to go with what you know. And yet some farmers resist the tide of big agriculture. In the third part of the book, Bell examines Iowa's largest sustainable agriculture group, Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), and finds a new model of social relations at work. Members of PFI seek to create an agriculture that engages others--farmers, university researchers, government officials, and consumers alike--in a common conversation about what agriculture might look like, but without insisting that a common conversation requires a common vision. Instead, PFI members come to relish their differences as sources of learning and new ideas. Through dialogue, these PFI members seek to crossbreed knowledge, to create pragmatic knowledge that gets the crops to grow in ways that sustain families, communities, societies, economies, and environments. Herein lies the heart of the cultivation of practical agriculture, an agriculture that roots action in dialogue and dialogue in action, and thereby sustains them both. In an increasingly fractured and untrusting world, this is a cultivation worthy of all our interests. Farming for Us All gives us the opportunity to explore the possibilities for social, environmental, and economic change that practical, dialogic agriculture presents. It therefore represents an important step forward in our search for a viable sustainable agriculture in the United States.
American Farms, American Food
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American Farms, American Food bridges the gap between agricultural production and food studies allowing readers to learn about both subjects up close and in detail. Beyond that, the book provides background on the domestication, breeding, and development of crop plants and livestock that have become the food we eat. Themes such as the family farm, local food production, organic agriculture, genetically modified crops, food imports, and commodity exports are developed in nine separate chapters. The chapters treat specific crops or livestock types from the point of view of both production and consumption, highlighting the changes that have taken place in both farming strategies and food preferences over the years.
Gardens in Detail
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Explore 100 gardens from around the world with this illustrated guide to the design elements of each--from historical style to planting and landscape design. This comprehensive reference offers gardens from many periods of history--Islamic, Renaissance, English Landscape, Arts & Crafts, and more--and geographically diverse environments--from a nighttime sculpture garden on the Oregon coast, to a sustainable water garden in the mountains of Vermont, and the Mughal garden at the Indian president's palace in New Delhi. They are inspirational works made by both talented amateurs and major international garden designers--including Britain's Christopher Bradley Hole, Italy's Luciano Giubbilei and Paolo Pejrone, and Americans Isabelle Green, Raymond Jungles, and Martha Schwartz. In this affordable volume boasting 500 illustrations, readers are led through the details of each garden and provided with the tools needed to understand and replicate each exemplary design--whether the site is rural or urban, a backyard or a beach, in any climate, and on any budget. Each beautiful project photo is followed by a list of key concepts, numbered close-ups that highlight aspects of the design, and expert write-ups to explain how each element serves the garden as a whole. Whether looking for a whole landscaping scheme, or simply an individual idea for a water feature or a wall, readers will find a wealth of ideas to choose from. Both experienced and armchair gardeners will find that Gardens in Detail will enhance their appreciation of how good design decisions are made at every scale.
The Informed Gardener
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Winner of the Best Book Award in the 2009 Garden Writers Association Media Awards Named an "Outstanding Title" in University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries, 2009 In this introduction to sustainable landscaping practices, Linda Chalker-Scott addresses the most common myths and misconceptions that plague home gardeners and horticultural professionals. Chalker-Scott offers invaluable advice to gardeners gardeners who have wondered: Are native plants the best choice for sustainable landscaping? Should you avoid disturbing the root ball when planting? Are organic products better or safer than synthetic ones? What is the best way to control weeds-fabric or mulch? Does giving vitamins to plants stimulate growth? Are compost teas effective in controlling diseases? When is the best time to water in hot weather? If you pay more, do you get a higher-quality plant? How can you differentiate good advice from bad advice? The answers may surprise you. In her more than twenty years as a university researcher and educator in the field of plant physiology, Linda Chalker-Scott has discovered a number of so-called truths that originated in traditional agriculture and that have been applied to urban horticulture, in many cases damaging both plant and environmental health. The Informed Gardener is based on basic and applied research from university faculty and landscape professionals, originally published in peer-reviewed journals. After reading this book, you will: Understand your landscape or garden plants as components of a living system Save time (by not overdoing soil preparation, weeding, pruning, staking, or replacing plants that have died before their time) Save money (by avoiding worthless or harmful garden products, and producing healthier, longer-lived plants) Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides Assess marketing claims objectively This book will be of interest to landscape architects, nursery and landscape professionals, urban foresters, arborists, certified professional horticulturists, and home gardeners. For more information go to: http://www.theinformedgardener.com
The Conscientious Gardener
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In his influential A Sand County Almanac, published at the beginning of the environmental movement in 1949, Aldo Leopold proposed a new ecological ethic to guide our stewardship of the planet. In this inspiring book, Sarah Hayden Reichard tells how we can bring Leopold's far-reaching vision to our gardens to make them more sustainable, lively, and healthy places. Today, gardening practices too often damage the environment: we deplete resources in our own soil while mining for soil amendments in far away places, or use water and pesticides in ways that can pollute lakes and rivers. Drawing from cutting edge research on urban horticulture, Reichard explores the many benefits of sustainable gardening and gives straightforward, practical advice on topics such as pest control, water conservation, living with native animals, mulching, and invasive species. The book includes a scorecard that allows readers to quickly evaluate the sustainability of their current practices, as well as an extensive list of garden plants that are invasive, what they do, and where they should be avoided.
How to Grow Perennial Vegetables
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How to Grow Perennial Vegetables gives comprehensive advice on all types of perennial vegetables, from ground-cover plants and coppiced trees to plants for bog gardens and edible woodland plants. Perennial vegetables are a joy to grow. Whereas traditional vegetable plots are largely made up of short-lived, annual vegetable plants, perennials are edible plants that live longer than three years. Grown as permaculture plants, they take up less of your time and effort than annual vegetables, and extend the harvesting season - avoiding the hungry gap between the end of the winter harvest and the start of the summer harvest of annual vegetables. Unlike annual vegetables, perennials cover and protect the soil all year round, which maintains the structure of the soil and helps everything growing in it. Humous levels build up, nutrients don't wash out of the soil, and mycorrhizal fungi, critical for storing carbon within the soil, are preserved. Perennial plants also contain higher levels of mineral nutrients than annuals because they have larger, permanent root systems, capable of using space more efficiently Written by gardening expert Martin Crawford, this book gives comprehensive advice on how to grow and care for both common perennial vegetables like rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish and asparagus and unusual edible plants such as skirret, red chicory, nodding onions, Babington's leek, scorzonera, sea kale, wild rocket, coppiced trees and aquatic plants. With plenty of cooking tips, colour photographs and illustrations throughout and an A-Z of over 100 perennial edibles, it is an inspiration for all gardeners.
Science and the Garden
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"A thorough update and the introduction of new topics such as biodiversity and conservation has greatly enhanced this new edition: it is a 'must read' for all interested in horticulture and gardening." -John MacLeod, RHS Professor of Horticulture Most conventional gardening books concentrate on how and when to carry out horticultural tasks such as pruning, seed sowing and taking cuttings. This book is unique in explaining in straightforward terms some of the science that underlies these practices. It is principally a book of 'Why' - Why are plants green? Why should one cut beneath a leaf node when taking cuttings? Why do plants need so much water? But it also goes on to deal with the 'How', providing rationale behind the practical advice. The coverage is wide-ranging and comprehensive and includes the basic structure and functioning of garden plants, nomenclature, genetics and plant breeding, soil management, environmental factors affecting growth, methods of propagation and production, pest and disease control, post harvest management and storage, and conservation and sustainable horticulture. Now with full colour throughout, the second edition provides the reader with: Completely revised and updated chapters from the first edition, with new information and clearer focus on the topics Four new chapters, dealing with matters that have become of increasing concern since the first edition, namely: Diversity in the Plant World; Conservation and Sustainable Gardening; Gardens and the Natural World; and Gardens for Science Published on behalf of the Royal Horticultural Society, this book remains a key text for those sitting RHS examinations, particularly at levels 2 and 3; it will also appeal to gardeners, growers and scientists. Key Features Bestselling essential text for all horticulture students Edited and written by a group of highly regarded scientists Covers the scientific information of greatest importance to gardeners and horticulturists Jargon-free scientific explanations, a comprehensive glossary, and copious colour illustrations Royalties from the sale of this book go towards the charitable work of the RHS, promoting horticulture and helping gardeners. www.rhs.org.uk
The Creative Vegetable Gardener
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For decades, gardeners have approached vegetable gardening the same way: planting in square or rectangular beds or in straight rows, keeping vegetables separate from flowers, and definitely not mixing perennial plants with annual ones. According to these old rules, every insect must be killed, the garden must be tidy, and nothing should ever be allowed to go to seed. It's time to break the rules! Today's gardeners are re-envisioning the vegetable garden as a creative, playful space where the beds may be circles or spirals, beneficial insects are invited to the party, flowers for cutting grow right next to annual vegetables (which might be chosen for their curb appeal as much as their flavor), and a bit of "untidiness" simply creates a garden that more closely mimics the natural world. With The Creative Vegetable Gardener, lifestyle editor and master gardener Kelly Smith Trimble encourages readers to widen their focus, be playful, and imagine a vegetable garden that reflects their own unique aesthetic and offers a meditative sanctuary as well as a source of fresh, homegrown food. From seed selection to garden layout and regenerative gardening practices, gardeners of all levels will find Smith Trimble's liberating advice a pathway to making the garden a place of nourishment for the soul and creative spirit, while also feeding the body.
Starter Vegetable Gardens
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Develop your green thumb as you learn to grow your own food. In this introductory guide to growing vegetables, Barbara Pleasant addresses common problems that first-time gardeners encounter. Using simple language and illustrated garden layouts, Pleasant shows you how to start, maintain, and eventually expand an organic vegetable garden in even the tiniest backyard. With handy tips on enriching soil, planting schedules, watering, fighting pests, and more, you'll quickly discover how easy it is to enjoy your own homegrown vegetables.
Tennessee and Kentucky Gardener's Guide
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Authored by Judy Lowe, leading gardening expert in the region, this proven format has helped gardeners experience more success and enjoyment from their gardens. As gardening continues to grow in popularity, gardeners want more resources to help them succeed. The Gardener's Guide series provides credible information on the plants that perform best in specific states. Gardeners will find information they can trust and use successfully in their own gardens.
On Guerrilla Gardening
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When Richard Reynolds began planting flowers secretly at night outside his tower block in South London he had no idea he was part of a growing global movement committed to combating the forces of neglect, land shortage and apathy towards public spaces. But his blog GuerrillaGardening.org attracted other guerrillas from around the world to share their experiences of the horticultural front line with him and become a focal point for guerrilla gardeners everywhere. On Guerrilla Gardening is a lively colourful treatise about why people illicitly cultivate land and how to do it. From discretely beautifying corners of Montreal to striving for green communal space in Berlin and sustainable food production in San Francisco, from small gestures of fun in Zurich to bold political statements in Brazil, cultivating land beyond your boundary is a battle many different people are fighting. Unearthed along the way are the movement's notable historic advances by seventeenth century English radicals, a nineteenth century American entrepreneur and artists in 1970s New York. Reynolds has researched the subject with guerrilla gardeners from thirty different countries and compiles their advice on what to grow, how to cope with adverse environmental conditions, how to seed bomb effectively and to use propaganda to win support. On Guerrilla Gardening gives entertaining inspiration, practical reference and no excuses for not getting out there and gardening.
Botany Illustrated
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Thisisadiscoverybookaboutplants. Itisforeveryone For those interested in the methods used and the interestedinplantsincludinghighschoolandcollege/ sourcesofplantmaterialsintheillustrations,anexp- university students, artists and scienti?c illustrators, nationfollows. Foradevelopmentalseriesofdrawings, senior citizens, wildlife biologists, ecologists, profes- there are several methods. One is collecting several sionalbiologists,horticulturistsandlandscapedesign- specimensatonetimeindifferentstagesofdevel- ers/architects,engineersandmedicalpractitioners,and ment;forexample,severalbudsand?owersofaplant physicaltherapistsandtheirpatients. Hereisanoppor- (see29)andbuttontomatureformsofmushrooms(see tunitytobrowseandchoosesubjectsofpersonalinter- 50,51). Then,somearecutopentoobservepartsand est,toseeandlearnaboutplantsastheyaredescribed. decidehowtopresentthem,whileothersaretousefor By adding color to the drawings, plant structures be- ?naldrawings. Anothermethodiswaitingfortheplantto come more apparent and show how they function in change,whichinvolves"forcing"stems(see14),ger- life. Thecolorcodecluestellhowtocolorforde?nition natingseeds(see40),watchingoneleafexpand(see andanillusionofdepth. Formoreinformation,thetext 69),anddrawinga?owerinoneseasonanditsmature explains the illustrations. The size of the drawings in fruitinanother(see104,109,110,111). Analternative relation to the true size of the structures is indicated towaitingforfruitistouseacollectionofdryorfrozen by ×1(thesamesize)to ×3000(enlargementfrom specimens,sothatasspring?owersappear,thelater truesize)and ×n/n(reductionfromtruesize). maturingfruitscanbeseenatthesametime(see102, 105,106). The contents re?ect a balanced selection of bota- calsubjectmatterwithemphasison?oweringplants, Inthe?rstsection,introductiontoplants,thereares- the dominant plants of the earth. After a page about eral sources for various types of drawings. Hypoth- plantnamesandterms,thebookisdividedintothree ical diagrams show cells, organelles, chromosomes, sections. The ?rst is an introduction to plants, show- the plant body indicating tissue systems and expe- ingstructureandfunction;then,majorgroups,provid- mentswithplants,and?owerplacentationandrep- inganoverviewofthediverseforms;andlastly,one- ductivestructures. Forexample,thereisnoaverageor seventhofthe?oweringplantfamilies,withtheaccent standard-looking ?ower; so, to clearly show the parts onthoseofeconomicimportance. Thesequenceinthe ofa?ower(see27),adiagramshowsastretchedout sectionsissimpletocomplex(celltoseed),primitiveto and exaggerated version of a pink (Dianthus) ?ower advanced(blue-greensto?oweringplants),andunspe- (see 87). A basswood (Tilia) ?ower is the basis for cializedtospecialized(magnoliastoastersandwater- diagrams of ?ower types and ovary positions (see plantainstoorchids). Whereappropriate,an"ofinter- 28). Another source for drawings is the use of p- est"paragraphlistswaysthesegeneraarerelevantin paredmicroscopeslidesofactualplanttissues. Some ourlives(categoriesincludeuseasfood,ornamentals, are traced from microscope slide photographs such lumber,medicines,herbs,dyes,fertilizers;noticeofwild ascross-sections,vascularbundles,andtransections. or poisonous; and importance in the ecosystem).
The Plant Finder
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Doing research and making informed choices save the gardener money, work and time. The best plants for a location and a good plan will provide rewards for many years. At almost 1,000 pages, The Plant Finder is big enough to contain 5,000 carefully researched entries on the best garden plant varieties for every zone. Yet it's compact enough to be portable. Kept on the bookshelf or carried to the garden center, it's every gardener's best reference. Based on the material used in the classic Flora: The Gardener's Bible, The Plant Finder helps every gardener match the latest, hardiest and most favored plants to specific location, soil and climate. The book is organized by major plant groups. Each section opens with a comprehensive plant selection table featuring all the plants in that section and showing, at a glance, all the characteristic growth habits and needs of each plant. Once you identify a suitable plant, you check the extensive entry for a more detailed description. Each description includes notes on origins, cultivation requirements, growth habit, propagation, pests and diseases -- and more. The Plant Finder will be useful to the many thousands of garden and landscape professionals wanting a comprehensive reference. But it will also be a complete resource for the amateur gardener who makes a big investment in new plants every year, constantly changing and improving the garden. This market numbers in the millions, with an annual budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, a passionate interest in gardens, and a strong will to find the best plants and put them in the right place.
Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
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A Gardener's Guide to Botany
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Ever wonder if plants sleep or why their leaves are shaped a certain way? The inner workings of the plants you love are revealed and celebrated in this guide by botany expert Dr. Scott Zona. *2023 American Horticultural Society Award Winner* A Gardener's Guide to Botany is not just another book on how to grow plants. Instead, it's a lushly illustrated botanical journey into what makes plants tick, delivered in layman's terms that are easily understood and appreciated by both advanced gardeners and first-timers. It's the chlorophyll-infused science behind the plants you know and love, whether you grow them indoors or out. You'll learn how different plant parts function (do you know what stomata are and why every leaf has hundreds of them?), the traits that separate plants from animals, and how through eons of evolution the plants we grow in our gardens and homes have developed a million different fascinating adaptations that allow them to survive and thrive. From their leaf shape and growth habit to how they have sex and metabolize the nutrients they absorb, A Gardener's Guide to Botany covers it all in an accessible and thought-provoking way. Divided into chapters based on what plants need to survive, some of the topics you'll discover include: How plants convert water, air, and sunshine into roots, stems, leaves, and flowers through photosynthesis How plants react to their environment and "know" when it's right for supporting growth and reproduction How light can inhibit or facilitate chemical reactions in a plant How plants access and use water and different nutrients, including through lifelong partnerships with other living organisms How plants reproduce in some pretty ingenious ways, both with and without sex How plant genes are dispersed via seeds spread by wind, water, animals, or by the mechanics of the plant or the seed itself Up your #plantnerd status by going on a knowledge expedition to learn about all things botanical, including the enlightening science of plant communication, hormones, insect relationships, and even plant sleep. Plus, learn the many varied ways plants protect themselves, from growing spines and producing toxic leaf compounds to emitting volatile chemicals that serve as messages to insect predators or warning signals to neighboring plants. Through beautiful illustrations, full-color photographs of plants from around the world, and fascinating and relatable text, get to know your plant family like you never have before! Whether you grow houseplants on a windowsill, vegetables in raised beds, or shrubs and perennials along your front walk, A Gardener's Guide to Botany takes you on a beautiful adventure into the amazing kingdom of plants.
Southern Living Garden Book
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This much anticipated volume is the first major, comprehensive garden guide that reflects the uniquely southern climates. Steve Bender, senior garden writer at Southern Living magazine, offers customized advice for all five southern climate zones, making it simple to understand what plant in each zone. The plant encyclopedia features information on more than 5,000 plants.
The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
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Combining the authority of the AHS with the visual expertise of DK, this full-color gardening reference is the definitive guide for gardeners. Simply the definitive full-color reference to the horticulture of North America, AHS Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers contains more than 8,000 plant profiles, over 4,250 photographs, and practical advice on everything from cultivation, pests, and diseases, to plant selection and identification
Food Plants of the World
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A comprehensive survey of the plants that provide food, beverages, spices, and flavorings, this book will serve as an invaluable reference to gardeners, ethnobotanists, nutritionists, culinary professionals, dieticians, and food enthusiasts. This scientifically accurate guide will allow them to identify all the major plant-derived foods and flavors, research culinary uses, and understand their dietetic and nutritional properties. Introductory chapters cover the various categories of plant use, including cereals, pulses (legumes), nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables, culinary herbs, sugar plants, beverages, spices, and flavorings. The core of the volume is an encyclopedic description of more than 350 food and flavor plants in use worldwide, with over 1000 color photographs. This accessible, pictorial guide is a concise source of practical information, not readily available elsewhere, and should be on every food enthusiast's bookshelf.
A Garden of Marvels
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In the tradition of The Botany of Desire and Wicked Plants, a witty and engaging history of the first botanists interwoven with stories of today's extraordinary plants found in the garden and the lab. In Paradise Under Glass, Ruth Kassinger recounted with grace and humor her journey from brown thumb to green, sharing lessons she learned from building a home conservatory in the wake of a devastating personal crisis. In A Garden of Marvels, she extends the story. Frustrated by plants that fail to thrive, she sets out to understand the basics of botany in order to become a better gardener. She retraces the progress of the first botanists who banished myths and misunderstandings and discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, roots choose their food, and hormones make morning glories climb fence posts. She also visits modern gardens, farms, and labs to discover the science behind extraordinary plants like one-ton pumpkins, a truly black petunia, a biofuel grass that grows twelve feet tall, and the world's only photosynthesizing animal. Transferring her insights to her own garden, she nurtures a "cocktail" tree that bears five kinds of fruit, cures a Buddha's Hand plant with beneficial fungi, and gets a tree to text her when it's thirsty. Intertwining personal anecdote, accessible science, and untold history, the ever-engaging author takes us on an eye-opening journey into her garden--and yours.
Plants
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Plants form a fundamental element of the biosphere, and the evolution of plants has directly affected the evolution of animal life and the evolution of the Earth's climate. Plants have also become essential to humans not only in the form of cereal crops, fruit, and vegetables, but in their many other uses in wood and paper, and in providing medicines. Their aesthetic importance too in our parks and gardens as well as in wildflower meadows and great forests should not be underestimated. In this Very Short Introduction Timothy Walker, Director of the Botanical Gardens in Oxford, provides a concise account of the nature of plants, their variety, their evolution, and their importance and uses, stressing the need and efforts for their conservation for future generations.
