The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Robert L. Riffle (Author) "The hardiness zones given in this book are those of the United States Department of Agriculture..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, West Indies, South America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"It's margarita time! If you're looking for a banana that can bounce back from zero-degree temperatures or plants that merely look tropical, this book has them, along with 400 color photographs." Boston Globe, December 3, 1998

"The essential book for anyone interested in tropical plants." John Van de Water, Newark Star-Ledger, October 7, 1998

"This new encyclopedia is the most updated guide to these lush plants." American Gardener, September/October 1998

"It's margarita time! If you're looking for a banana that can bounce back from zero-degree temperatures or plants that merely look tropical, this book has them, along with 400 color photographs."
—Boston Globe, December 3, 1998 (Boston Globe )

"The essential book for anyone interested in tropical plants."
—John Van de Water, Newark Star-Ledger, October 7, 1998 (Newark Star-Ledger )

"This new encyclopedia is the most updated guide to these lush plants."
—American Gardener, September/October 1998 (American Gardener )

Product Description
Meant primarily for gardeners in USDA zones 8--10, The Tropical Look encompasses most of the southern U.S. and the West Coast. This groundbreaking encyclopedia of lush plants will also be useful to gardeners in other zones who are interested in growing tropical-looking plants (as opposed to strictly tropical plants, which cannot endure a frost) as half-hardy, annual, or conservatory plants.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 524 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881924229
• ISBN-13: 978-0881924220
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #213,369 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > By Climate > Tropical
  #67 in	Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Gardening
  #89 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > Ornamental Plants

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars sorry I can't agree, December 28, 2000

By	P. Arroyo (Long Beach, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

okay, I know some readers gave this 5 stars but I was rather disappointed with the photo's in this book considering the price. The pics to me were quite small generally. Additionally, there are only photo's for a few of the plants described. Most of the entries had no illustrations at all. In other words, let's say there are an average of 4-6 plants described for each 2 page spread, {left and right}, there might be one, very infrequently two, very small, washed out looking photos for only one out of all the plants listed on that page. Also, I have to say that the pictures in general were not only small but they also seemed like they were very old; ie.. rather like drab pics from someone's 1964 honeymoon in Hawaii. For what are incredibly colorful and dramatic plants, these small pictures seemed almost monochromatic! {and considering the subject matter I would consider this an almost criminal offense !!}. Sorry to be so critical but there it is; this is actually the first book I have ever had to return that I bought from Amazon and the first book put out by Timber Press that I was not utterly thrilled with. Normally Timber Pr. can be counted on for really fantastic stuff. In fact they have a few other titles that cover the same material much better than this. I highly recommend you take a look at those before you fork over the $'s for this one. My apologies to the author.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love THE TROPICAL LOOK!, June 8, 1999

By A Customer

This book just received the American Horticultural Society's Garden Book of the Year Award. It's filled with over 400 color photos of tropical and tropical-looking plants from both coasts -- Lotusland in Santa Barbara, the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek CA, the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, Fairchild Tropical Garden in FL, David Fairchild's home in Coral Gables (The Kampong), Texas gardens and various other locations around the country and the world.

The plants are easily found in alphabetical order, first by genus and then by species (with nearly 5,000 species, cultivars and hybrids listed) and the pronounciation of each has been mercifully included. The encyclopedia portion of the book also includes the plant's family name, the plant's common name, the growing zone, light and moisture requirements, special considerations of the plants and how to propagate. The author's obvious love of these plants shows through in the lively descriptions, and when you're reading about a new discovery you have Mr. Riffle sharing your passion for the plant and telling you what you need to know to ensure its survival.

Chapters following the encyclopedia read like horticultural cheat sheets for those of us without formal training who want to learn: If you don't know your leaf shapes from a hole in the ground, illustrations and names are in the back of the book along with illustrations of other leaf terms, inflorescences and stems, and flower shapes and parts. A glossary complements the illustrations with definitions of terms such as "ovate" or "petiole" as well as words commonly used such as "perennial." Also in the back of the book is a conversion chart for fahrenheit to celsius, inches to centimeters and feet to meters along with formulas for conversion if you don't want to take the entire table with you.

Plant lists are included for those with a landscapes to fill and special needs to be addressed such as which plants are salt tolerant, erosion controlling, fast growing or drought tolerant. If you know you want tropical-looking plants but don't know where to begin, there are lists such as ferns, fragrant plants, groundcover plants, shrubs, trees, and hedge and screening plants.

I leave The Tropical Look on the desk and am constantly using it as a reference when reading other garden books or magazine articles. Obviously, I love this book!

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Tropical Look" - a must have book for plant lovers., December 21, 1999

By	Dr. Henry M. Donselman (San Diego California) - See all my reviews

"The Tropical Look" is a book that has great value to plant lovers and gardeners no matter what their climatic zone. Mr. Riffle has captured the essence of the plants he describes and has added value to the reader by detailing how these plants, hardy or tender, will fit into a "tropical look" landscape. No matter where you live you will enjoy the vivid descriptions and accurate botanical descriptions and names of the plants in this book. Plants, and their Latin names are always in a state of flux - Mr. Riffle has done a commendable job in selecting the names and descriptions that are accepted by the scientific community. His vivid word portrayals paint a "mind picture" that allows the reader to visualize each of the many plants he describes. As a "palm specialist" I especially enjoyed the accuracy of his descriptions for this specialized group of plants. Accurate information for this group of plants is lacking in the literature, and this book greatly adds to our knowledge of palm horticulture. It is easy to see that Bob Riffle is not just a "backyard gardener" who collects plants - he has a scientific mind that collects information and distills it into the written word that we all can read and understand. No matter what your level of plant expertise you can learn a great deal from this book. It is no wonder that it has already won so many prestigious botanical book awards. If you enjoy plants, particularly those that will provide you with the ability to provide a tropical look, then you should definitely purchase this book. I highly recommend it to all.