Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners [Hardcover]

Frances Tenenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1997

From everyday gardening terms to essential botanical Latin, this illustrated book is truly a dictionary of horticultural literacy for gardeners of every level of interest and experience. With 2,000 entries and 275 illustrations, Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners defines and clearly explains the terminology of horticulture, including:The botanical names of common species, or how to read a plant label, Horticultural terms - the difference between genus,species, cultivar, and hybrid, Garden techniques, such as what it means to scarify seeds and distress roots, The anatomy and physiology of plants, including the everyday significance of apical dominance, Historical gardening terms and styles, from ha-ha to bedding out. The book also includes names and descriptions of garden tools and insect pests, brief biographies of famous gardeners, and listings of botanical gardens and institutions in the world of horticulture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Designed for the amateur gardener, this dictionary by a Houghton Mifflin gardening editor defines a variety of terms, including gardening techniques, genus names, Latin terms often encountered in formal plant names, names of individuals connected with gardening, and even well-known gardens. Most terms are described in one or two sentences, though a few longer definitions (e.g., Linnaeus) stretch to a page. This is by no means an encyclopedic dictionary in the style of The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening (LJ 6/1/92). Taylor's provides a one-sentence definition of a rock garden, while the RHS Dictionary has six pages, two of illustrations, with information on plants for the rock garden and techniques for creating and maintaining one. Taylor's is well illustrated with line drawings, and the pictures of plant pests show the creatures both life-size and enlarged for ease of identification. This is not the only garden dictionary to own, but newcomers will find it useful. For public libraries.?Molly Newling, Piscataway P.L.,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Houghton continues to capitalize on the name of Norman Taylor, who first produced The Garden Dictionary in 1936, with later editions titled Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening. The Taylor name is now used for a series of more than 20 guides on different aspects of gardening--annuals, perennials, bulbs, roses, ground covers, fruits and berries, etc. This is the first dictionary in the series, and it appears to be a hodgepodge of definitions of botanical names of plants, garden tools, insects, diseases, famous gardeners, botanical gardens, and associations.

The definitions are usually no more than three sentences, and on most pages there is a line drawing of one of the entries. Some of the definitions are less than helpful. American Hemerocallis Society is defined as an "organization that publishes an extensive source list . . . ," but one needs to look under hemerocallis to discover that it is a society of daylily enthusiasts. The Fairchild Tropical Garden is said to have one of the world's largest collections of palms and cycads, but the dictionary has no definition for cycads. Definitions of botanical names give just the common name with no description of the plant or its habitat.

Libraries that have the fourth edition revised of Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening (1976) will find it far more useful than this new dictionary. For descriptions and photographs of plants only, The American Horticultural Society A^-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants [RBB Ja 1 & 15 98] is highly recommended.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (December 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395876060
• ISBN-13: 978-0395876060
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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