Fuchsias: The Complete Guide [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Edwin Goulding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2002

This is a truly comprehensive book on fuchsia growing, from basics to hybridizing. There are descriptions of species and cultivars, including scented fuchsias, as well as advice on the best selections for beds and baskets. Pruning, cultivation, and propagation are also covered.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Goulding's encyclopedic book starts with a history of this popular plant and continues with chapters on propagation, soils, fertilizers, potting procedures, greenhouses and environmental controls, shaping and pruning, bedding, exhibiting, pests and diseases, and hybridizing. Goulding discusses fuchsias with ornamental foliage, white-flowered and terminal-flowering fuchsias, and what he calls novelty types. A chapter on growing fuchsias in baskets and other containers is followed by one that offers a month-by-month calendar of care. Included is a descriptive list of all known species in alphabetical order. This comprehensive guide is to be heavily illustrated. George Cohen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This new edition is greatly welcomed ... an important source of reference."—Plantsman, June 2003 (Plantsman )

"This comprehensive work addresses all aspects of fuschia growing ... Both experienced and first-time fuchsia growers will enjoy the work and benefit from its entensive, yet well outlined and clearly written information."—Kymberly Goodson, E-Streams, May 2003 (Kymberly Goodson E-Streams )

"It's enjoyable to read, has a lot of information with great illustrations. This book is well suited to committed fuschia growers."—Rodney Bergquist, American Fuschia Society Bulletin, May 2003 (Rodney Bergquist American Fuschia Society Bulletin )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (July 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881925543
• ISBN-13: 978-0881925548
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #591,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful but could have stood professional editing, July 3, 2007

By 

Atash (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fuchsias: The Complete Guide (Hardcover)

The book is one of the few complete Fuchsia references left (at least, in English--there are a few more in German and sometimes these are sold in English-language markets for lack of other options).

The sections on how to achieve various goals are a bit long on prose and short on procedure.

The section on pests and diseases seems backwards--the section headings are the names of the diseases--the expectation seems to be that you already know the disease and then read about the life-cycle of the agent that causes it! My experience advising neophyte Fuchsia growers is that they tell me the symptoms and expect me to determine the disease and what to do about it. It really should have been a symptomatic approach. This section too is long on prose and short on procedure--there is a lengthy discussion of spider mites including speculation on why some of them turn red, but not much about what to do about them. There is a section on spider mite predators but no clear instructions on how to use them (assuming that's the point of that section).

There are other oddities in the way information is organized. There is a brief section on scented Fuchsias derived from Fuchsia paniculata--naturally these exist in the chapter on Encycliandras (sarcasm--F. paniculata is not an Encycliandra--but if I didn't know better, reading that chapter I'd think it were). The section on Encycliandras briefly discusses breeding them but only barely mentions, in a caption, what is significant and different about them. If I didn't already know what they are, the section on Encycliandras would just be confusing to me.

Possibly the most useful and best-written section is the guide to Fuchsia species near the end of the book. There are also some photographs of some of the species including several rare in cultivation. The book also does cover some sections of the genus Fuchsia, and their hybrids, that are rarely discussed in other Fuchsia references.