Customer Reviews

The Rose Bible

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my first rose related book and it was absolutely magnificent. An all-over great experience. To me it seems mostly useful only if you are in the Pacific Northwestern area or a place where the climate is similar to Reddell's (N. California). If you're looking for a book that covers that area, you can't get any better than this. The book was fat with knowledge and had tons of gorgeous pictures which are always a plus. He catalogues his favorite 50 roses with a page each to their honor. Most priceless was his refreshing honesty with his opinions of roses. He wasn't afraid to show favorites or non-favorites and came right out and said what his experiences were with actually growing in this climate. I absolutely recommend this book to any new beginner in the Pacific Northwest, it covers all the bases.

Martha Stewart says it's full of inspired wisdom and knowledge- I wonder if she read it! The pictures are good- but much of the information is found in many other rose books I have in my library.

I could part with this book and never miss it- but then again I have a good size collection of Gardening and Landscape books. I suspect that the average person who loves roses would truly enjoy this, especially if it was the first rose book in the collection.

Some of the photographs would make great study photos for an art teacher to use to help her students study the structure of these flowers for drawing and painting.

Many different types of roses are covered, but only limited information on each is given. This book forms an overview of roses- with beatifull color photographs.

"The Rose Bible" is the best and most helpful book on roses I've ever browsed or read. The pictures are magnificient, the language is informative, honest, and humorous, and the history of roses is explained very well. There is a slight bias towards cutting as opposed to garden roses in the top fifty list, but the contents and organization are nearly flawless. No potpourri tips here! If you want to know where roses came from, what is available now (with strong and weak points for each), how to buy, feed, prune, protect roses, and if you don't mind drooling over hundreds of rose pictures in the most undignified fashion, this is the book you want.

It would take volumes to cover the multitudes of roses that are out there, but, with a name like "The Rose Bible" I expected more than this book delivered.
It's not a bad book, it just doesn't live up to it's name. The roses listed are common, the type you can find information on anywhere. ( Try: [...])
There is nothing new in this book.

If you're new to roses The Rose Bible will open your eyes to a whole new world that exists beyond the Hybrid Tea rose and it gives very good information about selecting, growing and pruning roses.

As an experienced rosarian whose looking for more in depth or obscure rose information, The Rose Bible doesn't have it.

Make no bones about it, this book is about roses the author enjoys. This is not a bad thing. He gives you a good concise history on roses, introducing you to the various types of roses grown through time. He gives great advise on planting, pruning and maintenance over the year. Then there are the pictures- lots of them, and beautifully photographed. Yes there is a whole chapter on his favorite roses (many of them tried and true) but hundreds more are referred to with photos and text. This is an ejoyable book, fun to flip through, but still has the information a beginner needs to know when choosing roses.

I am an avid gardner and appreciate a book that tantalizes me with new ideas for my garden. Although I already have some 18 roses in my garden, this book has inspired me to create even more space for more roses, and collect some amazing bourbons and antiques that are out there. I originally purchased this book to research new climbers, and found that and more! The photos are captivating, and the author provides a great history on the various species. In addition, I feel like the author does an outstanding job of explaining the positives and negatives of roses he highlights. I have reread the chapter on "Fifty Immortal Roses" numerous times, and can't seem to put this book down. I can't wait to start digging in the dirt. Very inspirational!

Even if you aren't into roses this is a good book to brouse through. He does concentrate on his favorites making them sound like they are the best. The thing to keep in mind with this book is that most of the modern roses will do well in his area as he says they do. However the best chapter in the book is the part on how to grow. He does give detailed type of information generously, plus pictures to show you how to do it which is a big plus. I haven't found clear photos like his in most rose books.

This book is very useful to me as I am a novice rosarian. The only dislike is that it's diificult to determine which of the roses discussed wiil do well in my region of the US. The photos are very good & the chapters on rose care are very easy to understand

I love this book! It is well written and informative. Plus, I enjoy Rayford Clayton Reddell's frank and sometimes-humorous remarks. I am in charge of overseeing the survival of old roses growing in my city's 17-acre pioneer cemetery, and I have found "The Rose Bible" to be a cornucopia of helpful information regarding the maintenance, pruning and propagation of the living antiques I oversee. Plus, the book provides a fascinating history of old roses. Yes, I am actually READING this book, not just skimming through it!

Just what I wanted to get my rose garden started. Great pictures, interesting and informative.