Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants: 200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals [Paperback]

Gil Nelson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Beautifully illustrated, well-written. -- Florida Monthly, June 2005

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (December 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081302644X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813026442
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful way to meet the Florida natives., October 10, 2005

By 

Karl J. Hallsten "Good Storyteller" (Sierra Vista, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants: 200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals (Paperback)

As a Northern imigrant gardener to the South Florida eco-system I have found Nelson's "Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants" a useful place to meet and get to know the Florida Natives for the following reasons.
1. He has narrowed the list to 200 of the most useful plants in Landscaping.
2. It is a reference book rather than a text book--using a useful format to describe each plant. The inclusion of a category for companion plants is very helpful in getting the right plant in the right place.
3. He presents a useful summary of the wisdom of using native plants--A point that seems so obvious to me but most imigrant gardeners and almost all plant suppliers and nursuries resist.
4. The layout of devoting 2 facing pages to each plant and including a close up view, a mid-range view and a full plant photo along with very well done illustrations is unique and very helpful.
What would I have liked that isn't there?
1. Foremost the biggest shortcoming is not providing a common name index. I support his decision to arrange by botanical name, and to include common name--but in this day of easily assembled indexing I find it a major shortcoming not to have included the common name index. The result is I need another book to find many of the plants--It is a combersome way to meet the natives--usually introduced by common or nick names. Apart from this shortcoming I would rate it a shiny five star.
Less significantly:
2. Most of the pictures appear to be taken in a non-homescape or landscape setting and many are not of professional quality
2. The format did not include or really allow space for more information on how to care for and use the plant.
I find it a useful but insufficient guide to "meeting the Florida natives."

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Title says great for Homeowner, I disagree, April 25, 2007

By 

Geoffrey B. Stoner "FL homeowner" (Port St Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants: 200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals (Paperback)

Pictures are great and info is good too. My main complaint is the the book and index is arranged alphabetical by botanical name and not common name. There is no common name index or cross reference either. It does give common names on the individual pages, so you might find what you are looking for by browsing the 411 pages. I fail to see how this is homowner freindly unless you are a homeowner that happens to have have a degree in hortoculture.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here is a horticultural treasure trove of choices, April 3, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants: 200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals (Paperback)

Florida residents and visitors to the state who want to embark on gardening projects for relatives will find Gil Nelson's Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants will provide them with a fine and knowledgeable overview of native plants available to the Florida gardener. Here is a horticultural treasure trove of choices, providing technical details on the design, maintenance, and use of a wide range of readily available native plants. The notes on companion plants are especially valuable.