Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants [Hardcover]

Barbara Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1998

With this major, oversized new book in the Taylor's series, gardeners need look no further for complete, sensible, and specific explanations of everything they need to know about growing a host of the most beloved plants. "Where can I get it?" "Which is the best cultivar for my garden?" "Should I fertilize it when I plant it?" "Do I cut it back after it flowers?" "Can I divide it?" To these and hundreds of other questions, readers will find practical answers and helpful, encouraging advice. Includes: directions for growing new plants from seeds, cuttings, division, and more, with specific instructions for the best method of propagating each species; ideas for how to use plants in the landscape and suggestions for suitable companion species; and a techniques glossary that gives step-by-step instructions for essential tasks such as planting, dividing, and propagating. The author takes the mystery out of selecting such plants as irises and daylilies, which come in a mind-boggling number of varieties, by describing the best choices for the reader's own garden.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This addition to the Taylor bookshelf on gardening gives the gardener a most delicious opportunity to simply browse. Starting with Achillea and ending with Yucca, author Barbara Ellis, former garden editor for Rodale Press and author or editor of such gardening books as Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and the Burpee Complete Gardener, slathers on with a garden trowel the enthusiasm and the detailed information that lead to success in any garden.

"I don't have just one list of favorite plants," Ellis writes. "They not only change from season to season and site to site, they also vary as I evaluate different attributes such as flowers, fragrance, foliage, or fruit." Or even sentimentality. "Each spring peonies that once grew in my great-great-aunt Hattie's garden in Columbus, Ohio flower in my own. Growing plants that remind us of where we came from, or of people who are important to us, adds a whole new layer of meaning to a garden."

But what if you have forgotten the name of some of those old friends? Or what if there are old garden friends out there you have simply forgotten existed? Just let the beautifully illustrated pages flip by one by one. And when the right plant catches your eye, Ellis provides you with the gist of what you need to know: the description through the seasons, how to select a plant, what the best site and soil are, how to plant, how to care for each plant through the seasons, and suggestions for uses in the landscape. You will know right off if your garden and this plant are a match.

Mixed in with the single-species entries (and if you get your species and genera mixed up, Ellis sorts all that out, too) are broad but detailed entries such as Annuals and Biennials, Bulbs, Ferns, Herbs, Ornamental Grasses, Perennials, Shrubs, Vines, and Wildflowers. The index is by both common and Latin name, and the book closes with a techniques glossary. --Schuyler Ingle

Review

"Taylor's Guides are the best, most authoritative guides on the market." Garden Design

"This 342-page guide earns our nomination as the 'must-have' gardening book of the year." Country Living Gardener

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 342 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395765358
• ISBN-13: 978-0395765357
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,291,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My very favorite gardening book, April 8, 2000

By 

Bethany Neeland - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants (Hardcover)

I have many good gardening books but this is the one I refer to constantly and suggest to my friends. Arranged alphabetically, the mini-chapter on each plant contains all the information I need to make decisions on purchasing, choosing a site, planting, growing tips, and propagating. The final section in each chapter suggests companion plants that mix well and like the same conditions. To top it off, this is a beautiful book with excellent photographs of the entire plant in its natural surrounding. GET THIS BOOK.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy -to-use, outstanding home reference, December 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants (Hardcover)

This is the best guide to home gardening I have seen, combining ease of use with authoritative information. The brief notes are to the point, the photographs are excellent, information is easy to find, and the full entries are exceptionally well done. A pleasure to read, this work will surely become the standard reference on home gardening.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a guide, a resource for every gardener., July 6, 2004

By 

FL Design (FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants (Paperback)

Despite the books' massively long title, it's actually an easy-to-read, well organized reference guide to plant selection, propagation, care and maintenance, as well listing of hundreds of plants. Like many Taylor's guides, this one is profusely illustrated with lovely photographs of plants that will not only inform, but inspire you to get gardening. Almost 350 pages in length, there's not a lot of filler in here, rather, it's packed with lists, glossaries, appendices that will answer most questions any beginning and most intermediate gardeners might have in regards to perennials, annuals, shrubs, flowering trees and vines. If you want to landscape your garden and not sure of what plants to work with, you may want to start here!