Continuous Color: A Month-by-Month Guide to Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous Bloom Garden [Hardcover]

Pam Duthie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

A guide to using more than flowers to make a beautiful garden, this book discusses the small trees and shrubs that make up much of the structure for contemporary gardens. Trees and shrubs are arranged according to months of interest with many of the trees' characteristics described through multiple seasons -- flowers in spring, foliage in summer, foliage and fruit in fall, and bark in winter. Gardeners can find the information they need quickly, and each of the 272 entries include beautiful photographs showing the plant characteristics in a natural setting. Specific gardening information is listed for each tree -- the plant type, zone grown in, fruit or flower, habit or foliage, height, width, spacing, light, soil, care, uses in the garden, problems, insider's tips, and complimentary plants. Deciduous, evergreen, and broadleaf evergreen trees and shrubs are all profiled.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Pam Duthie is a landscape designer who owns her own design company, The Gifted Gardener, and is the author of "Continuous Bloom". She lives in Northbrook, Illinois.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Ball Publishing (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883052386
• ISBN-13: 978-1883052386
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #363,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Continuous Color-- A Continuous Hit!, April 12, 2004

By 

Darla R. Highley "Darla Highley, Madison Perf... (Hinsdale, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Continuous Color: A Month-by-Month Guide to Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous Bloom Garden (Hardcover)

When Continuous Bloom was released a couple of years ago, my gardening friends and I thought we'd died and gone to heaven. It was the first book ever to speak to the Midwestern perennial garndener, and to do so with such beautiful pictures and in a way we could understand, and actually take to the garden store and into our gardens with us. I never thought Pam Duthie would top Bloom,until I read her newest book, Continuous Color. It's the perfect complement to her first book, with pictures as beautiful building on the great design ideas laid out in "Color". Like "Bloom", "Color" gives the gardner many practical ideas for implementing beautiful shrubs into any landscape. I believe this book is a must have for any gardener, new or experienced.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiral Edition: Laminated Pages for Use in the Garden, August 10, 2004

By 

Rick B. (Hampshire, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Continuous Color: A Month-by-Month Guide to Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous Bloom Garden (Spiral-bound)

I must be honest and tell you that I'm the editor of this book, so my rating is potentially biased. But I did want to let everyone know that the spiral edition of Continuous Color has laminated pages and cover, making it incredibly water and dirt resistant. It's ideal for taking out to the garden. Sure, it costs a little more than the hardcover edition (which is not laminated), but it's very practical for the hands-on gardener, and is very popular with attendees of the author's seminars.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced and Uninformative, April 25, 2005

By 

S. Davis (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Continuous Color: A Month-by-Month Guide to Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous Bloom Garden (Hardcover)

I was very disappointed with this book. It is primarily a list of the author's favorite shrubs organized by month of best color. The quality of the pictures is uneven: some are good but others are too shadowed, or the plant blends into the background, or the shrub described is so hidden by other plants its features can't be seen. The plant descriptions and growing information are both pretty basic, the details easily gleaned from catalogs. The "Insider's Tips" are sometimes informative but way, way too short - if the author is an expert with these shrubs she should share more of that expertise here. The listing of 2 or 3 plants in each of the "Combines With" sections is valuable however, but overall this book is overpriced and uninformative.