Hardy Herbaceous Perennials: Two volumes (Gardener's Guide) [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Leo Jelitto (Author), Wilhelm Schacht (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gardener's Guide | Publication Date: October 15, 1990

Here is the English translation of the world's greatest encyclopedia of perennial plants. Included are 809 genera; 4286 species, subspecies, varieties, and hybrids; and 3617 cultivars. It is a peerless resource for perennial one-upmanship because of its inclusiveness, and this translation offers material on new introductions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hardy Herbaceous Perennials easily has more useful information on herbaceous plant species and cultivars than my favorite 5 or 6 perennials books I usually use for reference."
—Michael Vassar, Herbertia, January 1996 (Herbertia )

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 722 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press; Third Edition edition (October 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881921599
• ISBN-13: 978-0881921595
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Exceptional Work, July 12, 2001

By 

Kmrsy "kmrsy" (Fort Wayne, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardy Herbaceous Perennials: Two volumes (Gardener's Guide) (Hardcover)

I have a modest horticultural library, including the AHS A-Z mentioned in another review, and I was thrilled to be able to add "Hardy Herbaceous Perennials" to my bookshelf. The authors are well known experts in the field of herbaceous perennials and they've compiled a truly remarkable book on the subject.

Whereas "A-Z" has as many pages as this work, it includes every type of plant - woodies, vines, conifers, annuals, perennials, water plants - you name it. Obviously you're getting a lot more entries on the narrowed down topic of herbaceous perennials in Jelitto & Schachts' book. You'll find more obscure perennials included in this work than in A-Z.

The entries are also more interesting than A-Z's. Each entry is from the author's first hand knowledge of the plant, more along the line of what you might find in Dirr's and Armitage's writings. However, they do also stick to the facts as in A-Z, so you do get the information you need, as in in origin, zone, plant requirements. A-Z is more clinical.

Since the book was written many years ago (this edition was updated in 1990 when it was translated from the German), some of the photos are black and white, though many are color. And, since the translation was done in 1990, taxonomic changes that occurred after that date are missing. Neither of these points is a drawback to buying this book. All the photography is excellent and, well, names change all the time, so even A-Z needs updating.

One last point to be made is that we in the United States tend to feel perhaps a little too self important. This is why A-Z is considered the 'best' by many US readers. While I wouldn't give up my copy of A-Z, I don't restrict my library to US publications. There is a huge amount of information originating in Europe and on other continents that never makes its way here. This does not reduce its value, just makes it less available unless we reach beyond the US. I have a friend who bought a shrub here in a US nursery and could find no info on it. It wasn't in A-Z or Dirr. The first 3 books I pulled off my shelf had it; two from the UK and one from Australia.

In conclusion, "Hardy Herbaceous Perennials" is one of the best additions I've made to my library in a long time. The price is a bit steep, but worth it.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars There are better books out there, May 28, 2000

By 

reuben friedman (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardy Herbaceous Perennials: Two volumes (Gardener's Guide) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book as a recomendation of my teacher in Hort Science, at The Ohio State University. When i recieved it, their was only 1 of 2 copies, which was outrageous for the price. The pictures were of poor quality, the information was in small amounts, and there was no detail. I showed this book to my teacher since he had never see it himself, and he laughed. He showed me a book he and I thought was going to be, infact The American Horticultural Society A To Z Encyclopedia Of Garden Plants is one of the best in his collection of over 2000 books on Horticulture. This book shows 6000 color photos, full descriptions on each plant, trees, details, and everything else I thought the Hardy perennial book was going to be. If you want to know the truth, their are many other books out there better than this one. For instance check out TimberPress.com, the maker of this book. It shows many other titles related to this title.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed with the delivery, June 29, 2005

By 

organikoak (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardy Herbaceous Perennials: Two volumes (Gardener's Guide) (Hardcover)

This book was supposed to have two volumes. I only received one. I'm still awaiting Amazon's response to this, but for one volume this is way overpriced.