Books about Flowering from Amazon.com

With more than 130,000 copies sold since its original publication, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden has proven itself to be one of the most useful tools a gardener can have. Now, in this expanded edition, there's even more to learn from and enjoy. This is the first, and still the most thorough, book to detail essential practices of perennial care such as deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing, all of which are thoroughly explained and illustrated. More than 200 new color photographs have been added to this revised edition, showing perennials in various border situations and providing images for each of the entries in the A-to-Z encyclopedia of important perennial species. In addition, there is a new 32-page journal section, in which you can enter details, notes, and observations about the requirements and performance of perennials in your own garden. Thousands of readers have commented that The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is one of the most useful and frequently consulted books in their gardening libraries. This new, expanded edition promises to be an even more effective ally in your quest to create a beautiful, healthy, well-maintained perennial garden..
Price: $21.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Ken Druse, one of today’s most acclaimed and popular garden writers, takes us on a ceaselessly fascinating stroll through the life of the garden, from the botanical marvels displayed by virtually any plant to the exploits of the plant explorers who once—and still do—race across the globe like Indiana Jones in search of rare and exotic specimens, to the need to conserve the threatened diversity of the natural world. Ripe with facts, punctured myths, serious investigation, and practical gardening wisdom, this is a gloriously illustrated and enlightening celebration of the plants that delight and sustain us. For Ken Druse, the garden provides both a refuge from the world and an irresistible invitation to explore the wonders of nature.

In planthropology, Druse celebrates the secret stories of plants and explains their im-portance within daily life, now and since ancient times. A pleasingly random and ever delightful garden stroll of a book, it uncovers scientific facts, dispels myths, exposes controversies, tells some rollicking good anecdotes, and, along the way, casually dispenses an abundance of practical gardening wisdom.

Using many of his own favorite plants as examples, Druse reveals little-known facts about both rare and common beauties. For instance, if you like winding down on a terrace or patio after work, Druse suggests planting petunias. Why? Because they are evening fragrant—their pollinators only come out at night. Perhaps you may not have noticed the beautiful spiraling patterns on sunflower heads; Druse explains that all plants feature such spirals, and that they correspond exactly to mathematical principles that have captivated great thinkers (and artists) throughout history.

With the authority and assurance of someone who demonstrates both deep passion and uncommon ex-pertise, Druse takes us chapter by chapter through the history, biology, economics, and cultural significance of plants. We meet bumblebees who literally shake pollen free from flowers with sonic vibrations. (Druse can’t recommend petting the fuzzy little apian teddy bears as they sleep in a sheltering blossom, but he has tried it!) Here too are the adventures of the plant explorers who sailed and trekked across the world in search of new and exotic specimens, and whose exploits were far more harrowing than you might imagine. Some plants even factored into the instigation of war. But Druse then gives us a handy primer on the language of flowers (a single gardenia says, “I love you in secret,” and acacia blossoms say, “Let us be friends”). He considers the influence of plants on the history of fine and decorative arts, the way we garden now with stalwart, low-maintenance plants, and the ever more critical need for conservation.

Planthropology is a wondrous ac-knowledgment, from one plant lover to his fellow devotees, of the limitless pleasure and deep wisdom to be found in the garden..
Price: $27.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

1500 orchid species are profiled in this authoritative, detailed, and carefully researched encyclopedia Infinitely varied and hugely interesting, these strikingly beautiful plants are sumptuously illustrated with over 1000 photographs in a reference that no orchid lover can afford to be without. Isobyl la Croix is a scientist, plant hunter, and horticulturalist; her deep passion for orchids informs the plant selection and adds depth to the plant descriptions. The cultivation advice includes information about the orchid's native habitat—including elevation, geography, and climate. Recent developments in DNA analysis have led to some surprising findings with regard to the relationships between orchids, and the author has undertaken an extensive effort to bring all orchid names up-to-date to reflect the latest scientific thinking and taxonomy. From Acampe to Zygostates, no other serious reference approaches the depth and authority of this remarkable book.

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Price: $32.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With this new book, William Cullina completes his three-book series on native plants. Like Wildflowers and Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines, Native Ferns, Moss and Grasses combines encyclopedic information about North American species with specific instructions on how to grow and propagate them, all written in a fresh and entertaining style.

Cullina compares a garden made up of nothing but bright flowers to the detergent shelves in a supermarket, where every package screams for attention. What makes a true garden out of a collection of flowering plants are the ferns, moss, and grasses that are the verdant canvas on which nature paints its portraits -- dark green, medium green, forest green, light green, lime green, yellow-green, blue-green, gray-green, chartreuse, emerald, teal, puce, and every shade of green in between. These plants, Cullina says, bring to the garden a level of refinement and sophistication unmatched by any flower.

On the practical side, Native Ferns, Moss and Grasses contains a thorough discussion, with several maps, of what plant hardiness means in the light of global warming. For each species, he also gives the natural range, type of soil, and habitat in which the plant thrives. In the back he provides complete information on where to buy these plants and list of the best species for various uses..
Price: $22.10 [Notify me when price goes down.]

New York's premier fashion industry florist, Michael George is known for his signature graphic, modern arrangements that are as popular in Manhattan hotels and storefronts as they are on the pages of Vogue and on the set of Good Morning America. In Simply Elegant Flowers, George shares his secrets for creating these beautiful arrangements as he guides you, season by season, through a year of flowers.

George's philosophy of living and creating with flowers is contagious, and soon you'll agree that fresh, seasonal arrangements can enhance your life every day, not just on special occasions. His compositions recreate flowers as they are in nature--which, as he reminds us, is already perfect. Typically overlooked blooms, like carnations, take on a stunning new character when arranged en masse in a perfect dome, while more exotic stems, like dendrobium orchids, are at their most elegant when allowed to stand alone in a simple vase.

Easy to follow, step-by-step instructions and photographs show you how to master George's techniques for building clean, contemporary floral compositions with his trademark architectural precision. Along the way, George shares helpful insights from a lifetime of working with flowers, and his recommendations of choice blooms for every season give you the confidence you need to begin creating your own unique arrangements, regardless of your budget. Beautiful photography brings the flowers to life on every page as he shows you how simple it is to apply these basic techniques to virtually any bloom. With Simply Elegant Flowers as your guide, you'll be arranging flowers like a professional--and displaying them like a celebrity..
Price: $11.52 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Packed with photos, including 8 pages in full color

Color your world with orchids

Orchids are beautiful, fragrant, wonderfully varied, and surprisingly affordable. But aren't they hard to grow at home? No! says orchid grower extraordinaire Steve Frowine In this handy guide, he shows you step by step how to select the right orchids, keep them healthy, encourage blooms, and even propagate your own plants.

Discover how to:
* Select orchids that will thrive in your home
* Water, fertilize, repot, and propagate orchids
* Decipher complicated orchid names
* Get familiar with favorite orchid varieties
* Create spectacular orchid displays.
Price: $8.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The diverse external shapes and structures that make up flowering plants can be bewildering and even daunting, as can the terminology used to describe them. An understanding of plant form-plant morphology-is essential to appreciating the wonders of the plant world and to the study of botany and horticulture at every level. In this ingeniously designed volume, the complex subject becomes both accessible and manageable. The first part of the book describes and clearly illustrates the major plant structures that can be seen with the naked eye or a hand lens: leaf, root, stem, reproductive organs, and seedlings; special sections focus on vegetative propagation, and the morphology of grasses, orchids, and cacti. However, plants are dynamic organisms, constantly growing, changing, and becoming more elaborate, and understanding the development of a plant or plant part is as important as describing its final form. Part II focuses on how plants grow: bud development, the growth of reproductive organs, leaf arrangement, branching patterns, and the accumulation and loss of structures. This classic book, now revised and expanded to include the latest information on plant morphology, more than 1000 exquisite line drawings including 119 that are new to this edition, and nearly twice as many photographs as the previous edition, is remarkable for its user-friendly organization, high-quality illustrations, and extensive cross-referencing. Aimed at students of botany and horticulture, enthusiastic gardeners and amateur naturalists, it functions as an illustrated dictionary, a basic course in plant morphology, and an intriguing and enlightening book to dip into.

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Price: $28.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $30.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An easy-to-use, wide-ranging guide to invasive plants in North America. Features full-color photos and descriptions of some 175 alien species--both terrestrial and aquatic--that are in some cases changing the landscape to an almost unimaginable degree. Accompanying text describes each plant's environmental role, its history, and its economic impacts as well as management techniques used to control it. Also includes an explanation of what an invasive is and a step-by-step identification key. An essential guide to understanding this unprecedented environmental challenge..
Price: $7.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]