Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book) [Hardcover]

Larry Hodgson (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Rodale Organic Gardening Book | Publication Date: February 23, 2002

Annuals are very much back in style after the decades-long perennial revolution. You see annuals in every garden, with the old-fashioned flowers still among the most popular. With new varieties being launched every year and older ones (many dating back more than four or five years) disappearing just as quickly, gardeners need help sorting them out. Author Larry Hodgson tells you what to look for among the numerous new introductions: greater adaptability to growing conditions, longer period of bloom, improved insect and disease resistance, and more--everything, in fact, that you need to know to make growing annuals both simple and fun. You'll discover:

How to cut back tired annuals, like sweet alyssum, to get them to rebloom even more intensely than before.

How to save money by taking cuttings of so-called "designer" annuals, using one plant to create many.

All about overwintering numerous "annuals" that are really tropical perennials.

Which cool-loving annuals you can sow in the fall so they can sprout when the conditions are perfect the following spring.

Simple tricks that make designing with annuals a snap.

And much, much more!

You'll find annual gardening has never been easier--or more exciting--than when you have Annuals for Every Purpose as a handy reference.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From choosing seeds to grooming and fertilizing, veteran gardening writer Hodgson (Perennials for Every Purpose) guides readers through the making of an annual garden. He explains what to look for at the nursery, how to design with annuals and how to keep plants blooming all summer long. True to its title, the book includes encyclopedic listings of annuals suited to every imaginable whim, whether gardeners want their flowers to bloom in the shade, attract birds and butterflies, hang in baskets or make pleasing dried arrangements. Hodgson's entries include growing tips for each plant, potential problems and quirks, and suggestions for "good neighbors" to plant beside it.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"There are three things that I feel should go into any book about gardening. The first is, Will it help the gardener in the garden? The second is, Will the readers, be they professional or amateur, understand what is written? The third is, Will there be new and old territory covered in the book? Larry's book covers all three and then some!"--Bob Tanem, host of the San Francisco Bay Area's #1 radio garden show, "Bob Tanem in the Garden," on KSFO

"Colorful and down-to-earth, this wonderful book tells you everything you need to know about growing annuals in your garden. And there's an abundance of great hints about using these wonderful plants in your landscape."--Ed Hume, host of the television show "Gardening in America"

"In the rush to embrace perennials, many of us seem to have forgotten the simple pleasure of planting a seed and watching it grow. Larry Hodgson hasn't forgotten, and this book provides all the whys and how-to's you'll need. Whether you want vases full of flowers all summer or rich color after the burst of June perennials, annuals fill many needs and niches in every garden. This excellent reference will reintroduce you to the wonderful plants you thought you could find only in six-packs at the garden center. Beginners will find it invaluable, and those of us who've grown annuals all along will find many helpful tips and ideas."--Renée Beaulieu, Internet editor, White Flower Farm and Shepherd's Garden Seeds

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (February 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875968244
• ISBN-13: 978-0875968247
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look no further for a book on annuals, February 4, 2002

By 

Karen E. Sisko-schafman "siskokid" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book) (Hardcover)

This is THE book you'll need on annuals. I've been looking for two years for one that sorts flowers by use and growing conditions and tells you everything you need to know. Others make all annuals sound like they'll be successful in your situation. But as someone who strictly grows only annuals (I have a rooftop garden), even treating flowers according to directions in other books doesn't always work. This book will save you money in the end. Buy it!!!!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have for a New Gardener, May 4, 2002

By 

"socrlovr" (Snellville, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book) (Hardcover)

As a novice gardener, I have found this book to be an invaluable resource. When I'm not studying it at home and planning my next flower bed, it is in my tote bag going to the local nurseries with me. When I find a flower I like, I look it up to get more details and find recommended companion plants.

Although I've not found the plants to be nearly as available in my nurseries here in the Atlanta area (I've had a little more success with mail ordering a few), there are still some great features to his book.

My two favorite features are:

Organized by Plant Type - The book is organized into sections such as General Purposes, Drought Tolerant, Flowers for Containers, Foliage for Containers, etc. It has helped me as a new gardener focus in on plants that fit my need rather than reading about all plants and determining what's right.

Good Neighbors - This is probably my most used section. For every plant, there is a "Good Neighbors" section. In this section, Larry lists several plants that would do well with the plant being described. Especially for a novice gardener, this section is great to help choose a plant that is not only going to look good alone but gives you some companion suggestions to put together that gorgeous bed or container.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ANNUALS FOR EVERY PURPOSE, April 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book) (Hardcover)

WHILE I LOVED HODGSON'S PERENNIALS FOR EVERY PURPOSE, I FIND THE ANNUALS FOR EVERY PURPOSE BOOK A LITTLE LESS HELPFUL, BUT WOULD STILL RATE IT A 3.5-4. THERE ARE LOTS OF PICTURES OF THE ANNUALS, BUT MOST OF THEM ARE CLOSE UPS...SOME OF THE CLOSE UP PICTURES YOU LOOK AT AND SAY "WHILE I KNOW THAT IS THE CORRECT ANNUAL, IT REALLY DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT FROM A DISTANCE OR IN THE GARDEN". HOWEVER, THE SECTIONS FOR EACH ANNUAL ENTITLED "PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS" "GOOD NEIGHBORS" AND "TOP PERFORMER" ARE STILL HELPFUL....HOWEVER, I AM STILL LOOKING FOR A BETTER ANNUAL BOOK... LANSING, ILLINOIS