Perennials: The Complete Guide to Designing, Choosing, and Maintaining Easy-Care Plants

by Sally Roth, Jane Courtier

Lifelong gardeners help readers create a perennial garden that will remain beautiful and care-free for years to come--buy once, plant once, and enjoy year-round. The fully illustrated directory of more than 100 perennials and variations addresses design, care, and trends.

Genres: Gardening

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2008

About the author

Sally Roth is an award-winning author of 20 or so popular books about birds, nature, and gardening, including the best-selling "Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible," and a contributing editor for "Birds & Blooms" magazine.

Her latest book is "An Eye on the Sparrow: The Bird Lover's Bible," which uses quotes from the Bible as a jumping-off point for examining the natural behavior of the birds behind those Scriptures. It's a bird book, and it's for everyone, religious or not.

Sally's also an enthusiastic public speaker, whether it's grabbing a stranger on the street ("Hey, want to see something cool?") or talking to an audience of hundreds ("Hey, want to see something cool?"). She'll be appearing in the Michiana area (northern Indiana/Michigan) in early spring of 2013, as well as other places.

She and her husband Matt Bartmann share their home in the high Rockies with two dogs, one cat, a family of pine squirrels, a hard-working packrat named Sisyphus, a spotted skunk who lives beneath the house, a well-fed bunch of birds at the feeder, and a stable of old Volvos.

Come visit us at www.sallyroth.com. We'd love to see you!

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reader's Digest always publishes informative and helpful non-fiction books on a range of health, home, and hobby topics. Their reference book to perennials and perennial gardening fits with their brand quite well and gives you the information you need with beautiful aspirational photos throughout.

The logical and practical layout builds on earlier steps in the process and it is easy to pick this up here and there and continue learning. Most of the foundational knowledge is presented in short two page topics allowing you to focus on one matter at a time and consider how the information impacts your design, plant choice, and maintenance decisions. Sidebars also highlight useful tips on planning, planting, and growing a garden that is lively and visually appealing. The plant directory provides half to one page profiles with a physical description, photo, common varieties, growing basics, and sometimes even partner plants to pair with your selections.

This is a handy book to keep on your shelf for quick information on perennial flower gardening topics, techniques, and tasks. Having this at your fingertips will allow you to head down the path to growing your own beautiful flower garden that you can enjoy year after year.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it very informative. Will be adding to my.list to purchase.

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plentiful photographs and decent information about planting with perennials but I found the plant directory came up short for me. The information was just too abbreviated to be useful but, I guess, this could be an okay general guide. Some of the plant lists were puzzling to me: for dry soil and alkaline soil was one, for clay soil and shade was another. How about a plant list for dry soil in shade? (That's one I'm actually needing right now.) If you need more depth, you'll have to consult another resource.

[Kami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best Perennial, outside gardening book I've ever read. I love the way its layed out. When I need to pick out some new perennials I know where I'm heading.

[Rose Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful and helpful book.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome resource for folks who want easy-peasy gardens...I will definitely buy this one!