Tropical Garden Style with Hardy Plants [Paperback]

Alan Hemsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2002

Assess your growing environment, choosing plants that thrive despite deep shade or baking sunshine, wet clay or sandy soil. Analyze the structure and aesthetics of this wonderfully overgrown setting, plus options for maintaining it year-round. A beautifully photographed plant guide presents all the varieties you could wish for: herbaceous, biennials, lilies, tender perennials and annuals, grasses, palms, gingers, bananas, succulents, water plants, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a timely work with the current vogue for all things tropical. However the ordinary gardener is often overlooked as the majority of people have neither a greenhouse nor the time to protect these plants over winter. This book transcends the problem by offering tropical planting using exotic-looking hardy plants. Written by Alan Hemsley, who has his own tropical garden in South Wales, it is an engaging look at plants with impact. Freely admitting his hardiness guidelines are by experimentation on his part, he makes allowances for those who do not want to lose their plants unnecessarily. All types of plants are looked at from trees and shrubs to herbaceous perennials, grasses and bulbs, and all soil types are catered for. As befits someone with his botanical background, the plant indexes are, for a change, taxonomically correct giving family names, genus, species and, if applicable, common names. The many colour photographs that accompany the descriptions highlight the diverse range of plants that are commonly grown but not necessarily regarded as 'exotic'. Crocosmia, carex, hops and macleaya are seen in a new light and when interspersed with newer cultivated plants such as gunnera, cordyline and phormiums, a tropical effect is instantaneous. Shady areas are transformed too with the use of ferns, aucubas and fatsias intermingled with more tender plants such as begonias and clivias to give a tropical feel to even the most shady, dank corner of the garden. Brimming with plant suggestions, this is an excellent guide for anyone looking for something more daring in the garden. Admittedly not all his choices are hardy and some will need overwintering or propagating for the following year, but the choice is so varied that even if time and facilities are not available, a tropical garden is still attainable.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman (October 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861082371
• ISBN-13: 978-1861082374
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,832,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough book, but geared for the UK, January 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tropical Garden Style with Hardy Plants (Paperback)

What wasn't apparent to me when I ordered this book was that the information was written for the British gardener. The hardiness information ("half hardy", "fully hardy", etc.) is useful in the UK, but hardiness in some plants can vary greatly between the two continents. Having said that, the book does have a thorough list of plants and is well organized. It is useful to the American gardener for plant ideas and general inspiration, but hardiness will have to be checked independently.