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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1310278 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 524 pages

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

About the Author
Robert Lee Riffle (1940—2006) was known throughout the horticultural community for his expertise on all things tropical, especially palms. His landmark book, The Tropical Look, won an American Horticultural Society Book Award in 1999, as did An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms (with co-author Paul Craft) five years later. Bob received a degree in music from Centenary College and briefly pursued studies in botany at the University of Texas, Austin.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
MEGASKEPASMA (meh-gas'-ke-PAZ-ma) Acanthaceae: The Acanthus Family BRAZILIAN RED-CLOAK Large herbaceous shrub; immense ovate leaves; gigantic terminal red flower spikes Zones 10b and 11 as a permanent perennial; zone 9b as a returning perennialSun to partial shade Average but regular amounts of moisture Average well-drained soil Propagation by cuttings A monotypic genus that occurs naturally in southern Venezuela. Megaskepasma erythrochlamys (e-rit'-ro-KLAY-mis) (synonym Adhatoda cydoniifolia) is a magnificent shrub with a grotesque botanical name. It grows to at least 6 feet in height and, without frost, often to 10 or even 12 feet. The leaves are a foot, sometimes more, long, and are elliptical to ovate in shape with a prominent and lighter colored (rarely pink) large midrib and slightly depressed lateral veins, which give somewhat of a quilted effect to the blade. The plants bloom mainly in the fall through the spring, but summer blooms are not uncommon. The erect terminal inflorescence is a foot or more tall and consists of closely packed large scarlet to purplish red bracts enclosing elongated arching two-lipped white flowers, which peek out in the same manner as those of Justicia brandegeana (shrimp plant). This shrub is breathtaking in the landscape as a tall background subject underplanted with almost anything that is not as tall; one of the most intriguing partners is the shrimp plant whose more subtle flower colors are extremely complementary with those of the red-cloak. The plant in bloom is shockingly spectacular when one first encounters it because of its unexpected size in leaf and flower cluster. This shrub has soared in popularity in the 1990s. Plate 279, above. 1999 AmericanHorticultural Society Annual Book Award Winner

Customer Reviews

lov'n Tropicals
I have been tropical gardening for almost 20 years here in the Midwest. I am always trying new things and combinations. It was great to finally get the book. What a treasure of information. I used it to do a 50 banana display last year in my garden. The pictures were so rich that I wanted to grow all of them. This book is great for the intermediate gardener. You have to have some idea of what your doing to get the most out of this book. I liked that all the plants were together not seperated so if I didn't know it was a shrub or a tree I could find it. The cheat sheet at the start of each genus entry was great it made scanning the book for something easier. All in All a great book

Better Suited to scholars than Casual Gardeners
I received the Encyclopedia and found it to be just that. The pictures are all clustered on a few pages in the center of the book while the first and last parts are dedicated to an encyclopedia britannica style listing of the plants without pictures. The plants are alphabetical so it's great if you want to know more about a plant and know it's latin name. If you're looking to flip through a book and pick out the ones you like, this isn't the book for you. I'd recommend Hardy Palms and Palm-Like Plants. It's cheaper, and the plants are grouped together by typs along with pictures and descriptions of each. It may not be as thorough, but it's more helpful for those of us who don't know what we're doing yet.

One of the best tropical plant books out there!
I have a passion for tropical plants, and this book is my tropical bible. I find the plant descriptions highly informative and the pictures are an added bonus. Bob Riffle's selection of the plants in this book is one of the most inclusive I have ever found. A must have for the tropical gardener!!!