Customer Reviews

100 Easy-To-Grow Native Plants: For American Gardens in Temperate Zones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great pictures and a worthy book. This book describes the benefits of growing native plants and has beautiful photos. I am always in a quest to find and identify native plants to Michigan and this book is a terrific asset. It differs from wildflower books as it strictly focuses on the native plant and not the non-native yet wild. I would like to see the author write a larger more comprehensive guide. I have shared this books with friends and they have all found it very beneficial in appreciating the native flowering plants.

This isn't by any means exhaustive, either in coverage or growing information, but as an intro to native plants it is a fine addition to your library. Generally excellent photographs and an accessible page layout, with a description, requirements (soil type, sun), propagation tips, and good companions for each plant. Very pleasant to read.

There is one goofy thing about this book that is worth mentioning: The plants are presented in alphabetical order by common name. This leads to confusion when you find nothing under Trillium, only to find it under "Western Trillium," or you find Coneflower under "Purple Coneflower." The index lists only Latin names. To get around the problem of multiple common names, the book should be sorted by Latin name, and the common names should be available along with the latin names in the index.

When I was a little girl, my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Bryant took our class on a walking field trip. We hiked from the school to a nearby creek that actually ran through a woods behind my home. There on a bank (or several banks for that matter), we found the plants we had been studying, NC flora-trilliums, mandrakes, jack-in-the-pulpit and others. I haven't seen these plants in the wild in a long time. The reason of course is that my old haunts have become unrecognizable as developers plowed under miles and miles land between High Point and Thomasville, and Winston Salem and Salisbury--farms when I was a kid. With the destruction of these farms, went creeks, bogs, hedgerows and other wonderful places native plants thrived. `Like the dew on the mountain, like the bubble on the fountain...lost and gone forever....'

100 EASY TO GROW NATIVE PLANTS by Lorraine Johnson is about these native American plants systematically destroyed by the forces of change, including the invasion of foreign plants such as English Ivy (Hedera helix) and Asian and European privet. There are alternatives. Instead of English Ivy you can plant Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). At the headquarters of Museum of Garden History at Lambeth Place in London, Virginia Creeper grows on the old church that serves as the museum and tumbles across the small cemetery that houses the Tradescants and Captain Bligh of Bounty fame (also a great plantsman). Unlike the evergreen English ivy, Virginia creeper loses its leaves in winter and thus moisture does not collect under the leaves and destroy masonry. (I ripped it off my house because I thought it would lift the shingles). In addition, the creeper leaves turn a bright red in the fall...so, when you see those lovely fall photos of old houses in England and notice the red leaves on the facades, remind yourself "That is a Native American plant."

Johnson does not really cover the list of invasive plants you might wish to displace with native substitutes but you need to know their names. You can obtain more information about invasive plants and native substitutes on the US Fish and Wildlife Service site www.nfwf.org (202-857-0166). At the NFWF site look for a publication entitled `Plant Invaders of the Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas' (the NFWF has similar documents for other areas, but this monograph will work for most of the Eastern Seaboard). Another source is the Plant Conservation Alliance www.nps.gov /plants (202-452-0392).

We will deal with invasive plants one person at a time. Next week I am having Euonymous, Buddleia, Privet, and Bayberry removed from my yard. I will substitute Fothergilla, Clethra, and Aronia arbutifolia (Chokeberry), considered as of this writing as okay for my neck of the woods.

I discovered this book while I was interning at a National Wildlife Refuge and immediately fell in love with it. A lot of people don't seem to realize that planting non-native plants often results in gardens that don't thrive. Plants native to your area will thrive naturally and require very little garden maintenance! Additionally, planting native plants provides proper food sources for the insects (including butterflies!) of your area, which will in turn invite birds and other wildlife into your garden. This book has great descriptions and pictures of each plant listed, and includes information such as each plants' native habitat, range, soil, sun, and moisture requirements. I especially like the lists at the end of the book which tell you exactly which plants you should plant in which region. Lots of great information!

"100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants" is an informative and well-organized resource that my family HAD to add to our growing collection of gardening books. Being new to native plant gardening, this book gives us a great starting point to collect information about a lot of the plants we're coming across at native nurseries, and plants that we want to include in our yard. Each plant has a profile page of its own on which you find optimal growing conditions, propagation methods, and excellent companion plant information, among other things. The indices at the back of the book include charts for quick references (very handy for taking to the nursery). I think my local library is grateful that I've finally gotten my own copy of this book rather than continue with checking out and renewing their copy! Very recommended!

A helpful guide and reference for those who are converting to native plants- soooooo good for our biodiversity and ecosystem.

I was very happy because I ordered this to use as a Wedding gift and I received it 3 days before the wedding was going to happen.

I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and condition of the book upon receipt. There was not anything written in the borders, nothing was underlined, and there was not any evidence of yellow underlines. The book was in perfect condition, and had no appearance of previous owners. I have enjoyed it, have learned from it, and have plans to keep it in my library for I am a native plant enthusiast.