Burpee Complete Flower Gardener [Hardcover]

Karan Davis Cutler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764543245 | ISBN-13: 978-0764543241 | Publication Date: October 16, 2006 | Edition: 1

This full-color guide from the experts at Burpee shows you how to plan, plant, and maintain a beautiful flower garden using an environmentally responsible, organic approach. It offers authoritative guidance on creating borders and beds, combining flower colors and shapes, selecting gardening tools, and much more, and features encyclopedic Plant Portraits section with profiles of more than 175 flowers—annuals, perennials, and bulbs.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Whether you want to start with a container flower garden to brighten a patio or create a landscape as lush as a Monet painting, this is the book for you. Burpee—The Complete Flower Gardener takes you from the ground up, with information on everything from choosing a site and preparing the soil to nourishing your flowers to full bloom and solving specific gardening problems. The authoritative yet unintimidating style of award-winning gardening writers Karan Davis Cutler and Barbara W. Ellis is perfect for beginners, while their in-depth knowledge makes this book invaluable to veteran flower gardeners.

Following an environmentally responsible, organic approach to flower gardening, Burpee—TheComplete Flower Gardener shows you how to assess local growing conditions and your site, and how to plan, plant, and maintain your garden. It presents ideas for creating borders and beds; tips on combining flower colors, shapes, and textures; advice about caring for your garden; counsel on buying must-have gardening tools; guidelines for avoiding a chemically dependent garden; and more. It also untangles the scores of terms you need to know as you choose your seeds or plants at a local nursery or peruse the colorful pages of a seductive garden catalog. The encyclopedic Plant Portraits section provides thorough profiles of more than 175 herbaceous flowers—annuals, perennials, andbulbs—with directions for choosing cultivars, cultivating and propagating them, and combining them with other plants in the garden. Gorgeous color photographs accompany every entry.

Whether used on its own or as the perfect companionto Burpee—The Complete Gardener and Burpee—The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener, thisbook has everything you could want or need to make your flower garden thrive.

From the Back Cover

"Gardens are beautiful and interesting, but every hands-on gardener knows that the word 'garden' isa verb, not just a noun. It's not only the garden, it's I garden, he and she garden, you garden, we garden, they garden. And, frankly, that's the real fun of the whole business."
—Karan Davis Cutler

"Life-long learning is an under-appreciated benefit of growing a flower garden. Each new season brings with it new plants to grow, old friends to tend, combinations to discover, and fresh techniques to try. What could be more satisfying and consuming?"
—Barbara W. Ellis

Make flower gardening even more enriching and rewarding with Burpee—The Complete Flower Gardener. The ultimate authority, it helps you get going and growing with:

• Informative Plant Portraits of more than 175 plants —from Achilles to Zinnia—including the heirloom flowers your grandmother loved as well as today's plant breeders' newest cultivars
• Invaluable guidance on everything from planning and planting your pot or plot to choosing tools to gardening with children
• Environmentally friendly solutions to common problems—both caused by conditions in your site and by wildlife, diseases, and bugs
• Information on special gardens — with details on creating a Butterfly Garden, an Edible Garden, a Hillside Garden, a Perennial Cutting Garden, and more

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764543245
• ISBN-13: 978-0764543241
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winning Burpee gardening book!, January 14, 2007

By 

Nature Lover - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burpee Complete Flower Gardener (Hardcover)

My last gardening book was the "Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener:
A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically" written by the same author
as this book on flower gardening. Although the photos and layout are gorgeous
in this book, it is the writing that is truly stellar. For me, flower gardening
has been hiding bulbs from squirrels and scattering mixed wildflower seeds into
a section of unused vegetable garden, where the flowers eventually appear but I
have no idea what they actually are. But, because of this book, I now do know.
And I know so much more! The author quickly enveloped me in her eloquent
and witty prose and got me fascinated by historical and scientific topics
I never thought I'd find interesting. I enjoy just sitting down and
reading this book for the depth and variety of information it provides.
It's a perfect addition to any flower gardener's library.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous book, May 28, 2007

By 

M. Montgomery - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burpee Complete Flower Gardener (Hardcover)

I'm thoroughly enjoying this book. I started by just looking at the excellent photos and perusing the informative Plant Portrait section (half the book!). I particularly liked the inclusion of related native plants in this section. Then I dove back into the first half of the book, with its helpful and friendly approach to all areas of flower gardening and its sidebar tips and lists. Whether you're an active long-time gardener, a wanna be or even an armchair gardener, this book will give you much pleasure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Winner, December 21, 2006

By 

M. D. M. (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burpee Complete Flower Gardener (Hardcover)

The new Burpee Complete Flower Gardener by Cutler and Ellis is a treasure. Although written as an encyclopedia of perennial plants in alphabetical order and beautifully illustrated, it reads more like a a conversation with a fellow flower lover.