Product Description

The Complete Book of Cacti & Succulents features the history, cultivation, and imaginative use of more than 300 plants -- in step-by-step color stages. This is a feast of in-depth information and eye-catching photography. DK's new line of paperback titles combines all the qualities of its hardcovers with the advantages of the soft cover format. Each of these already popular books will now be available to a large new readership who will delight in the essential elements of every DK title: clarity, educational value, and visual appeal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1508047 in Books
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Ingram
Through step-by-step color photographic sequences and expert text, this book gives in-depth information on the history, cultivation, and imaginative use of hundreds of strikingly handsome specimens of cacti and provides practical information for use in both house and garden. Over 600 full-color photos.

Customer Reviews

This should be on the shelf of all cacti collectors.
I recommend this book to all cacti collectors, especially beginners. I have more than a dozen cacti book on my shelf but this book, with its colorful plant catalogue, stands out to be my most referenced book. The other book than I also refer to frequently (and would also highly recommend) is "Cacti: The illustrated Dictionary" by Preston-Mafham. There are a few reasons for my love for this book by Terry Hewitt. Firstly, its plant catalogue, while not matching Preston-Mafham's book in terms of number of species illustrated, contains more than a 100-plus of the most commonly grown cacti and succulents. You will therefore, still most likely find a new plant that you've just acquired in the book. Incidentally, this is in contrast to Preston-Mafham's book, which only illustrates globular cacti; it has nothing on other form of cactus and succulents. Secondly, Terry Hewitt gives a very succinct description of each species, giving information such as their natural habitat, flowering habits and other characteristics and needs of the plant. Thirdly, the book contains other equally useful chapters on propagation, care and pest control. This beautiful book should definitely be on the shelf of all cacti and succulents collectors.

Kill Your Lawn - Part 2
Several years ago I converted my front lawn into a cactus garden. Actually, it's a hybrid cactus/zen garden. It has the requisite stream [dry of course] and dry pond. The buddhas have been replaced by coyotes and the lamps by Mexican-style chimneys. My neighbors seem to like it [at least they haven't tried to run me out of town]. Terry Hewitt's The Complete Book Of Cacti and Succulents has been an invaluable reference in my cactus education. It's a DK book and therefore has the killer DK style that I love so much. It's not as comprehensive as Miles Anderson's The Ultimate Book Of Cacti And Succulents [which Terry Hewitt consulted on], but it is still an excellent reference. My rating is actually higher than 4 stars, but not high enough to make it a 5 star book.

Excellent book- great info.- great photos!
Terry Hewitt's Complete Book of Cacti & Succulents may not exactly be complete (it is not an encyclopedia), but it is thorough and is an excellent book especially for beginners. Hewitt discusses the anatomy and discovery of cacti/succulents, how to plant them, propogate them, how to keep them healthy, and even discusses how best to display the plants. And of course the most important part: the plant catalog. He covers hundreds of cacti and succulents in full color. In addition to the many desert cacti I'm happy to say that Hewitt also covers epiphytic cacti including aporocactus, aporophyllum, epiphyllum, and the Christmas cacus. In the back of the book the author includes Plant Selection Lists. In these lists he lists the plants that are best for beginners, as indoor pot plants, those that are easy to flower, those that grow best in the different climates, etc. And I again want to stress the many, many beautiful, clear full color photos throughout the book.