Customer Reviews

Colorado's Great Gardens: Plains, Mountains & Plateaus

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

 

 

This book features photos of gorgeous Colorado gardens and interesting information about how each gardener planned, prepared, planted, etc. their garden. It has given me many ideas for my own flower garden, and it would make an ideal gift for any Colorado gardener -- or for anyone who is interested in how our gardening is different from other parts of the country.

From the front cover: "[The book] features seventy-two gardens singled out for their beauty and adherence to plants indicative of their area. ...Proctor's striking images depict the serenity and charm inherent in each garden...Geargia Garnsey, a Denver-based writer, provides lively profiles of each garden and the gardener who tends it."

The only good thing I can say about this book is that it has nice quality photos on every page. That's why it got a star.

Now for the negatives.

-Every single garden was photographed in the middle of Summer as everything was flowering. The gardens depicted in this book will only look good in the Summer. Any mass of flowering plants will look pretty (especially in front of the Rocky Mountains). I don't need to learn how to mass flowering plants. What I need to see is at least some photos of plants in the off season: Autumn, Winter. A well-designed garden will look good year round. I want to see how people arranged plants with different foliage colors and textures and shapes. (Almost no variety of foliage color or shape in any photo.) What plants add Winter interest? Red-stemmed dogwood, witch hazel, etc. Conifers? What about Autumn? There are other seasons that gardens have to pass through.

-I also want to see how people use hardscape and furniture and garden features to add interest and suspense. None of that here.

-Then on the outside chance that I spot a plant I like I won't be able to ID it in this book. They may or may not name the plant in the rambling text. They certainly don't label the plants in photo captions.

This book is about as worthless as a book can be. I didn't get one idea from it. Didn't get inspired once.

Another handsome piece of work from Westcliffe: oblong book, blind-stamped cloth over hardback boards with a sewn binding. 143 pp. Heavy stock. Terrific photographs.

"Colorado's gardens are as diverse as the state's various ecosystems. Gardeners along the warm, dry Western Slope cultivate a much different array of plants than their counterparts in the mountains, or even those on the eastern plains."

This book features "72 gardens singled out for their beauty and adherence to plants indicative of their area. From gardens that grace the grasslands zone near Loveland, Denver, and Colorado Springs, to picturesque plots of the pinon-juniper woodlands zone in Grand Junction, Montrose, and Dolores, to the hardy perennials of the higher montane in Vail, Telluride, and Crested Butte, these Colorado gardeners have adapted to their individual climates."