Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #431421 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 320 pages

From Library Journal
Cleverly arranged by month of blooming time, Duthie's book covers 272 perennials, including traditional perennials and selected bulbs, ferns, grasses, and shrubs. Each "plant portrait" provides the scientific and common names of the plant; details of its flower, foliage, care, uses, and propagation; plants to combine it with; and problems, insider's tips, and a good color photograph of the perennial. One drawback is that while the author provides the USDA zone(s) where each perennial does best, no map of all USDA zones is included in the book itself. Libraries needing a good, basic guide to perennials should first consider Larry Hodgson's Perennials for Every Purpose (LJ 12/99), which covers almost three times the number of plants as Duthie's book and offers more information on them. Public libraries in USDA zones four through eight may want to consider Continuous Bloom as an added title, especially if the subject is popular with your patrons.
-John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Publishers Marketing Association
Winner of the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Gardening/Agriculture book!

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Simplicity itself!
This book is a novice gardener's dream come true!
The flowering plants & colorful bushes are arranged by month of blooming time, each page has a picture of the plant & a detailed description of it: Type, flower size, foliage color, bloom length, light preference, care problems, tips, etc..
There are planting & seasonal garden care tips at the end of the book.
As a novice gardener I'm glad that I found this book to help me create a continuously blooming garden.

The best of its kind
This superb reference distinguishes itself by its organization, unusual plant selections, excellent plant pictures and thorough cross-referencing. The format is simplicity itself, by showing by month which outstanding plants bloom in that period and what other plants combine particularly well with it. Ms Duthie adds tips and insights that show she knows of which she speaks. Several appendices round out the book.
As a landscape design professional, I have many books on planting design in my library. This is one of the very best, appropriate for both the novice and the experienced gardener.

Beautifully done - exceeded my expectations
I have several gardening books that I enjoy, but this is the first one to immediately impress me. I think this book could also be appropriately titled "Timing is Everything". Most of us have certain times thruout the year when we look at our gardens/landscaping and realize that something is missing... the bloom has gone... That's where this book shines. It takes you from March ("The Emerging Garden") thru November ("The Last Hurrah!"), listing page after page of perennials that show their best at that time of the year. Each plant has its own page, with a beautiful picture. Below the picture is information on plant type, zone, flower, foliage, bloom length, height, width/spacing, light, soil, care, uses, propogation, problems, insider's tips, and combining ("combines with"). The corners of the pages are color-coded for easy reference (i.e. April is yellow, May is green...). Some corners contain a clock icon for those perennials that have "extended bloom times" (i.e. "14-plus weeks..." on page 91), and/or a leaf icon for those that have "notable foliage" (i.e. "Mounds of chocolate-tinged oval leaves" on page 261). This book also includes chapters for Winter ("Who Stops Gardening in Winter?") that talks about "Evaluating and Planning as Part of the Gardening Process", and Tips ("Nitty-Gritty Tips for Good Garden Care") that can be as basic as "The Fifteen-Minute Garden Solution" which "eliminates...spending an entire day on the weekend...". Is this book an all-encompassing enclopedia? No. Does this book contain all there is to know on pruning and training? No. Do these things take away from the book? Emphatically, No. This is a beautifully done book that is a "Month-By-Month Guide" to help us plan, and give us ideas, and fill the voids that occur in our current scheme. It's a book that is so usefull you won't want to put it away, and is so beautiful you'll want to leave it out. This is a book you'll want to get your hands on in any format (hardcover, paperback...), but if you have the chance, get the spiral bound edition. This edition not only looks great, but all the pages are plastic coated for years of handling.