Making More Plants: The Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation [Hardcover]

Ken Druse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2000

For people who love gardens, propagation is gardening itself, the practice of growing whatever you want, whenever you want. Whether you crave healthy, vigorous plants, wish to grow new ones to share with friends, or hope to produce scores of them to fill your own beds and borders -- for free -- Making More Plants will help fulfill your most vivid garden dreams. Ken Druse, one of America's foremost gardening authorities, an award-winning photographer, and the author of the best-selling Natural Garden series, presents innovative, practical techniques for expanding any plant collection, with more than 500 full-color photographs.

Based on years of personal research, Making More Plants is a practical manual as well as a beautiful garden book, presenting procedures Ken Druse has tested and adapted, as well as photographed step by step. In clear, nspirational language Ken takes the mystery out of seemingly complex practices such as seed conditioning, bulb division, leaf and stem cutting, grafting, and more. Whether focusing on techniques as easy as creating multiple plants from a single perennial using a common kitchen knife or on more complicated practices such as air layering, Ken's advice will inspire both novice and experienced gardeners to turn their homes and gardens into personal nurseries.

Supplementing the text and photographs is a comprehensive appendix charting methods for propagating more than 700 different plants, listed by both common and Latin names, an invaluable resource unmatched by even the most thorough of propagation manuals.

Straightforward advice, gorgeous photographs, and Ken's own engaging voice all combine to make Making More Plants an indispensable guide for every passionate gardener and plant lover.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Generally, a gardening book that teaches practical skills is designed to look more like a plain textbook than an artful coffee-table decoration, but Ken Druse (The Natural Garden, The Collector's Garden) has changed that with his gorgeous book Making More Plants. An invitation to examine the miracle of birth in the botanical world is at the center of this book, and you'll be amazed and delighted as Druse's photos and text bring this astonishing world to life.

Filling these pages are close-up photos of plants at every stage of life and in every variety--pinecones, dried seed pods, root and stem cuttings, ripe fruits, and lush flowers show off their unique shapes and colors everywhere you look. Specific techniques are outlined with both photos and text; from the spore prints of ferns to the nicking of hard-shelled seeds, you'll learn exactly how to tackle every aspect of creating new plants. Careful attention is paid in the text to the timing of taking different types of cuttings from different plants, and these practical details will hopefully help curb any urgent desire to play Johnny Appleseed with your favorite wildflowers until the season is exactly right. Special projects like hardwood cutting and involving children in plant propagation have small sections devoted to them; the African violet project for youngsters is a fascinating introduction, and only slightly more involved than that old carrot-top-in-a-dish-of-water project. For serious gardeners who enjoy plants for more than their pretty flowers and attractive shapes, this combination of science and beauty will supply both inspiration and information. --Jill Lightner

From the Inside Flap

For people who love gardens, propagation is gardening itself, the practice of growing whatever you want, whenever you want. Whether you crave healthy, vigorous plants, wish to grow new ones to share with friends, or hope to produce scores of them to fill your own beds and borders -- for free -- Making More Plants will help fulfill your most vivid garden dreams. Ken Druse, one of America's foremost gardening authorities, an award-winning photographer, and the author of the best-selling Natural Garden series, presents innovative, practical techniques for expanding any plant collection, with more than 500 full-color photographs.

Based on years of personal research, Making More Plants is a practical manual as well as a beautiful garden book, presenting procedures Ken Druse has tested and adapted, as well as photographed step by step. In clear, nspirational language Ken takes the mystery out of seemingly complex practices such as seed conditioning, bulb division, leaf and stem cutting, grafting, and more. Whether focusing on techniques as easy as creating multiple plants from a single perennial using a common kitchen knife or on more complicated practices such as air layering, Ken's advice will inspire both novice and experienced gardeners to turn their homes and gardens into personal nurseries.

Supplementing the text and photographs is a comprehensive appendix charting methods for propagating more than 700 different plants, listed by both common and Latin names, an invaluable resource unmatched by even the most thorough of propagation manuals.

Straightforward advice, gorgeous photographs, and Ken's own engaging voice all combine to make Making More Plants an indispensable guide for every passionate gardener and plant lover.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (November 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051770787X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517707876
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.9 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Propagation addicts, your prayers have been answered., December 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Making More Plants: The Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation (Hardcover)

After 5 years of raising a bazillion plants from seed and just finishing a 3 month course on plant propagation (and trying to figure out how to turn my kitchen into a clean room for the purpose of tissue culture without driving my husband to divorce court), I saw Ken Druse's book reviewed in 'Garden Design ' magazine and ordered it. Not only is this book exquisitely photographed to the point of tears, (I get very emotional about plants, except marigolds) it has excellent information and clear directions which put my propagation textbook to shame. If you raise more than ten plants from seed, you will eventually want thousands of plants and Ken is your man. The step by step instructions are clear and botanically correct. The photographs are achingly beautiful but more importantly, tell you what to do, why and how, yet without putting you to sleep like above-mentioned textbook. In fact, you may need two copies, one to fill in as the proverbial coffee table amusement and another to take to your greenhouse or shed or wherever you commit these delightful little acts of plant reproduction. Oh, and maybe one for the bedroom on slow nights. And maybe the bathroom. One for the car for long trips. This book is that good.

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great "How To" book, June 20, 2001

By 

Tom Krischan (Big Bend, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making More Plants: The Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation (Hardcover)

Simply the best book written on plant propagation.

Book contains 22 pages on botany, 10 pages on how to hybridize, 14 pages on seed collecting, 14 pages on seed conditioning, 24 pages on sowing, 14 pages on vegetative reproduction, 44 pages on cuttings, 12 pages on layering, 12 pages on grafting, 16 pages on division, 24 pages on bulbs and roots, 3 pages on tissue culture, 16 pages of plant specific notes, 4 page cross-name reference, 4 pages of plant suppliers, 4 page glossary, and 5 page index.

Each section contains dozens of photographs displaying the "how to" approach described in the text. Excellent information and easy to follow instructions. Every page contains a tip or trick about plant propagation.

My favorite section is the 16 pages of plant specific propagation notes and comments. Hundreds of plants are listed. It's like reading Mother Nature's secret diary! Everything you every wanted to know about how to make more plants (but growers never would tell you) is contained in this section. All alone, these propagation notes are worth the price of the book.

If you want to get your hands dirty, this is a great "how to" guide for plant propagation. You'll recover the cost of this book over your next garden season.

Excellent information!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Best Garden Book, January 11, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Groton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making More Plants: The Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation (Hardcover)

This book was given to me for Christmas by my husband. I had not seen it before and I was completely staggered by the combination of very full information about propagation with the incredible photographs and the overall passion for every growing thing that is expressed here. It is unusual to find a "how to book" that contains the visual perfection found in this volume. No plant lover-gardener should be without it.