The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia Of Garden Plants. - Review - book reviews

Whole Earth, Fall, 1999 by HortIdeas

THE AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY A-Z ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GARDEN PLANTS Christopher Brickell and Judith D. Zuk, eds. 1996; 1,095 pp. $79.95. DK Publishing.

These two massive books give gardeners the most complete and up-to-date information (mainly, but not exclusively, on growing ornamentals) currently available. And, since the Encyclopedia is loaded with thousands of plant photographs with only a small amount of text devoted to gardening techniques, while the Desk Reference contains only a few illustrations but is full of detailed recommendations on methods and tools, the books are quite complementary. Serious ornamental gardeners will benefit from the pair, while serious food gardeners and ornamental gardeners who aren't interested in dabbling with a large palette of species and cultivars should at least consider purchasing the Desk Reference.

Nearly the entire Encyclopedia consists of an "A-Z Plant Directory" with descriptions arranged according to scientific names. More than 15,000 ornamental plants are listed, including the most important cultivars of both common and unusual species. Each entry includes brief data on cultural requirements, propagation, and significant pests and diseases; cultivars are described thoroughly. The book includes a comprehensive glossary and an index of common names, and both a US Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zone Map and an American Horticultural Society Plant Heat-Zone Map. The Encyclopedia almost could be considered a compact edition of the enormously expensive New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening.

The Desk Reference has a much broader agenda. This is a workaday information source, not a purveyor of breathtaking images. You want data? Here is data! We were tremendously impressed by Janet Marinelli's (and her regional collaborators' and technical editors') consistently intelligent choices on what to put in and what to leave out. We've seen (recently!) some gardening books that have hundreds of pages of nothing but fluff. The Desk Reference is the opposite. To show the breadth of coverage, here's a list of the chapters: Who They Were (short biographies of contributors to horticulture); Gardener's Atlas (botanical geography as well as weather maps); Botany for Gardeners (words, rules, and resources); Plant Conservation; Ecology for Gardeners; Natural Gardening; Kitchen Gardening (fifty pages); Ornamental Gardening (240 pages); Safe Pest Control; Indoor Gardening; City Gardening; Garden Tools; The Horticultural Traveler (horticultural sites to visit in North America and beyond); Poisonous Plants (with drawings of problem plants); Plants in Literature and Lore (myths and legends of particular plants); Plant Trivia; Essential Resources (thirty-five pages).

"Gardening in the boreal region is a challenge. The growing season is short, and the shade is often dense. Their tall trunks and narrow canopies enable conifers to grow close together, effectively blocking most direct rays from the sun. As an adaptation to year-round shade, plants such as hepaticas (Hepatica species), partridge-berry (Mitchella repens), and bunchberry (Comus canadensis) bring out the heavy artillery: thick, evergreen leaves. Their persistent leaves enable these plants to photosynthesize all season long.--GARDENER'S DESK REFERENCE

"Foliage Plants for the Western Deserts

The plants are appropriate throughout the region, except those noted as follows:

* Not cold-hardy in cold desert areas

**Favor cooler/moister desert areas Plants with Bold and Dramatic Foliage Agave species, century plant (native) Daslirion wheeleri, desert spoon (native) Euphorbia rigida, gopher plant Glaucium oxylobum, horned poppy Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca (native)....

--GARDENER'S DESK REFERENCE

"The tarnished plant bug is found throughout North America, especially on the West Coast, and feeds on the sap of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, preferring the tender shoots, growth points, and flower buds.

Attacked strawberries have hard, seedy ends; apples are cat-faced, small and shrunken; the flowers of ornamentals are poorly developed....

HOW TO CONTROL: Clean up in fall and keep the garden free of weeds. Cover row crops such as strawberries with a floating row cover very early in the season before bloom. Bugs can be vacuumed from plants with handheld vacuums. Grow herbs and flowers to attract beneficials.

--GARDENER'S DESK REFERENCE

"DIANTHUS Carnation, Pink CARYOPHYLLACEAE Genus of over 300 species of mostly evergreen, low-growing subshrubs, annuals and biennials from the mountains and meadows of S., C., and E. Europe, and N. Asia to Japan, plus one species native to North America. Tens of thousands of cultivars have been bred for garden use.... The leaves of all types are linear to lance-shaped, mostly pointed, and often blue-gray or gray-green with a waxy bloom....

Carnations and pinks are grouped according to the coloring and marking of their flowers (see panel).

* HARDINESS Hardiness varies widely.... Where frost penetration is typically deep and snow cover variable, apply a loose winter covering of evergreen boughs....