From Library Journal
Odenwald (landscape architecture, Louisiana State Univ.) and Welch (horticulture, Texas A&M) are well qualified to write about growing flowers for cutting and sharing in the South. The greatest part of their book is a catalog of plants, arranged by plant type and illustrated with photographs, that can be grown in the South and used in fresh and dried arrangements. In addition, the book contains chapters on marketing flowers, conditioning cut flowers, and the Southern tradition of sharing flowers from one's own garden in church, in hospitals and sickrooms, and at funerals. The authors emphasize the uses of flowers and other plant parts in arrangements, not plant cultivation per se. An excellent choice for libraries serving Southern gardeners.
-Carol Cubberley, Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The authors begin with an essay explaining the influence English and European gardens had on gardening in the U.S., and they briefly describe what is meant by the "southern tradition" of growing and sharing flowers. The book is then divided into chapters dealing with annuals, perennials, and flowering trees, shrubs, vines, and ground covers. A multitude of plants are listed, and each entry offers data on its Latin and English names, its size, and optimum growing conditions. Planting instructions are included. One chapter contains a list of ferns, ornamental grasses, and palms fit for cutting, and another lists plants that display attractive fruits. There also are tips on extending the life of cut flowers and on marketing them.
George Cohen