Customer Reviews

Perennials: For Todays Gardens (Better Homes & Gardens)

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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I loved this book, the photographs were simply gorgeous (starting with the cover). There was excellent and practical advice on how to design a garden for the beginner as well as advanced gardener. The best part of the book was the author's plant suggestions and usage in the garden.I would highly recommend this awesome book and I can't wait to try his suggestions in my garden.

You're in for a surprise and a real treat when you get past the pretty but uninformative cover and title of this very exciting book. A more descriptive title would have been Uncommon Perennials for The Adventurous Gardener.

The book is filled with page after page of underused and brand new plants. This feast is served up with the extraordinary plant knowledge and innovative design ideas that we've come to expect from plantsman and designer C.Colston Burrell.

There is something here for every gardener but I think especially for those intrepid souls eager to expand their plant and design repertoire (and who isn't). Many of these plants will be new to the reader - thank goodness! The plant names alone - Anemonopsis, Tricyrtis 'Kohaku', Carex 'Island Brocade', Phygelius 'African Queen' -- are enough to drive the gardener straight to the appropriate mailorder catalogue, a list of which is thoughtfully provided in the index.

Don't be put off by the new and unusual in Perennials for Today's Gardens. Burrell thoroughly discusses the ferns, hellebores, epimediums, salvias, hibiscus, iris and geraniums that populate our gardens. His clear presentation on using new plants alongside our mainstays inspires us to actually try those trilliums, primulas and woodland peonies that have been so tempting but intimidating.

The book's sections on design and garden ecology are extremely well written and useful. In fact this is a great course on garden design. The plant sections of the book are divided into shade, part shade and sun gardens, and include underused native plants and some of the newest plants making their way into Western gardens from China and other less explored parts of the world. The photographs are excellent - obviously chosen to show how a plant will really work in the garden.

I can't praise this book enough. Enjoy!

I have to confess, when I saw "Better Homes and Gardens" on the cover I wasn't expecting much--at most, a rehashing of all the typical, common garden perennials. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a book full of excellent photos and descriptions of many new, uncommon, and unusual garden plants. This book is a great complement to all the other gardening books already out there, and I highly recommend it. Let's hope BH&G continues to put out such high-quality gardening books.

I ordered this book to learn more about the flowers I have planted or would like to have in my flower garden. Well, it wasn't what I was looking for. Most of the flowers are ones I have never even heard of or are the kind that would be expensive. It does have beautiful pictures tho. I returned the book.