Plants for All Seasons: Beautiful and Versatile Plants That Change Through the Year [Hardcover]

Ursula Buchan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

Creating a garden that has colour, beauty and architectural interest year-round is far easier than many gardeners believe. The secret is to choose versatile plants and to appreciate that brilliant autumn and winter foliage, stems and berries can create just as stunning an effect as spring and summer flowers. Selecting over 85 specially photographed plants, including shrubs, climbers, trees, perennials and other border plants, this book shows how with imagination and a little planning, a garden can look good all year, including the winter months.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Each of the 85 plants pictured in these gorgeous photos has at least two seasons of interest, and many are exceptional year-round. These plants are the antithesis of "low-maintenance gardening" (which is, of course, an oxymoron anyway). They are the opposite of boring, unchanging municipal plantings like juniper and pyramidalis. Seasonal change is celebrated in the turning of leaves, the fluff of seed heads, blooms and berries, and in a wide variety of garden-worthy plantings.

Such plants lure us out into the garden in every season, making all the work of gardening worthwhile. Vines, trees, shrubs, and perennials, carefully chosen with guidance on combinations and cultural conditions, can be put together to make a garden with year-round appeal. Gardeners are always short on space and so will appreciate that each plant comes with a justification for including it in the garden. Oak-leaved hydrangea (H. quercifolia) deserves inclusion for the unusual shape of its lobed leaves, reliable red autumn color, and creamy summer flower heads; Achillea 'Moonshine' for its silvery green fluffy foliage and long-lasting yellow flowers, ideal for drying. --Valerie Easton

From Booklist

The first section of this book, called "Nature in Transformation," examines the changes that take place in plants throughout the seasons: the way that leaves emerge, mature, and decay; the transformation of flowers to berries or seedheads; and the impact that the habit and form of a plant have on the garden at different times of the year. The second half of the book, "Plants for All Seasons," is devoted to nonbotanical descriptions of some of the best multiseasonal plants, together with short notes on their use. They are divided into the main plant groups--shrubs, climbers and wall shrubs, border plants, and trees. The plants are listed alphabetically by botanical name. Each entry includes the height and spread of the plant, flowering season, origin, hardiness, and cultivation data. Howard Rice's splendid color photographs complement the imaginative text. George Cohen

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Miller/Mitchell Beazley (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840000511
• ISBN-13: 978-1840000511
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,017,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.