Customer Reviews

The Best Flowers for Midwest Gardens: The Plants You Need to Create Spectacular Low-Maintenance Gardens That Bloom with the Seasons Year After Year

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Do you want a book with pictures of gardens you can emulate at home? Keep looking. This book has no pictures, only close-up black and white illustrations of flowers.

I recently cameto Southern Iowa and was struggling for what to plant in the Midwestern garden that had been left in a sad state of ruin by the former occupants. With my busy family, I needed something low maintenance but also wanted something really lovely to showcase my old Victorian home. Midwest Gardens is the perfect book- well written, beautiful photographs. I felt just like a good friend was leading me by the hand through my land showing me what to plant. I got the book last fall as a gift and followed all the suggestions. Now that spring is coming, my beautiful daffodils, crocus and other flowers are peeping up to be followed by the other flowers recommended. I was so happy with this book that I've decided to try my hand at vegetable gardens. I received that book, too and now that I have been successful wtih flowers, will try that advice and try to raise some great vegetables. Thank you for such a valuable resources.

"Sizzling heat and numbing cold produce special challenges for Midwestern gardeners, says an Iowa State University Extension master gardener, writer, and designer. Iowa's weather extremes forced Laara Duggan to learn what plants worked in her Cedar Falls garden and what didn't. She wrote in journals and notebooks about no-fail flowers and flowers that attracted butterflies. When Duggan shared her gardening experiences with her writing group, members encouraged her to write a book. Duggan's book includes a bit of garden lore, an easy-to-follow chart for designing a colorful garden and tips for seasonal chores. The book includes research from gardens in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin."

After receiving this book as a gift, I felt obligated to try to turn my brown yard into at least a small spot of color. With the guidance and help from Laara's book, my drab fenceline is now lined with beautiful perennial flowers that are low maintenance and high color bringing joy to my family and the songbirds in the area. I even tried buying and growing a rose plant and this spring intend to plant more. The instructions about planting, mulchign and feeding the roses really made a difference. They were beautiful all summer. The book can even make a brown thumb like mine green.

This book is a wonderful tool for anyone with a garden. Its a radical new approach to an old concept. We even had fun coloring the illustrations to mach the flowers in our garden. Truly a joy.

WONDERFUL - not pretentious or "snobby" in its' writing, perfect for an Arizona gal like me to learn the midwest from the ground up, literally. Again, I have yet to read this one cover to cover, which is definitely on my summer reading list, but I have used it as a handy reference to plants/flowers/shrubs I already have and ones I plan to purchase in the future. I can already see my "black thumb" turning a wee bit green - not to jinx myself, lol. Great for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike - I highly recommend it.

This book did provide new info for me, but it would have been helpful to have more actual photos of plants.

information on the best plants to grow but elusive if you can grow other plants

"Gardening is an intimate art form - a time-honored method of creativity and personal love of beauty. Laara Duggan, a successful writer, artist and gardener has documented that philosophy to help hundreds of Eastern Iowans and Midwesterners enhance their own gardening experience. Duggan's book is itself a successful combination of art and information."

"Gardening is an intimate art form - a time-honored method of creativity and personal love of beauty. Laara Duggan, a successful writer, artist and gardener has documented that philosophy to help hundreds of Eastern Iowans and Midwesterners enhance their own gardening experience. Duggan's book is itself a successful combination of art and information."