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Taylor's Guide to Annuals: How to Select and Grow More Than 400 Annuals, Biennials, and Tender Perennials
An illustrated guide to the latest plants shares valuable information on growth cycles and daily care for a wide variety of annuals, biennials and perennials. By the author of Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants.
- GenresGardening
441 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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June 15, 2010
What can I say? I really like flowers, and this book was full of them. How to grow, where to grow, all the basics. The best part is that, if a flower attracts butterflies or hummingbirds, its entry will say so. This was especially helpful, since I'm hoping to talk Dad into creating a butterfly garden with me. I've got all sorts of little tabs sticking out the edges of the pages marking those butterfly/hummingbird plants, and I'm eager to start determining what plants our yard will support and deciding which ones we'll use.
However, the book does not include a zone chart or an explanation of some of the techniques mentioned. The author mentions "pinching for bushier growth" a lot, but I don't know what pinching is. (Well, I do know, because I just read it in the Perennials book, but I didn't when I was reading this one.) If your going to suggest propogation by division, I want you to explain division to me. Further, specific zones north of zones 9, 10, and 11 are rarely mentioned in plant entries. The author was a big fan of saying "in the North this plant is smaller" or "only hardy in the South." What defines North and South? I live in a slighter more northern are of zone 5, but the hardiness zone map goes through Canada. So, where does zone 5 fall in Ellis's mental N/S map? She never tells me.
So while I'm all excited about butterflies and hummingbirds and bees and edible plants, I'm a little disappointed at how vague some of the more pertinent growing information is. I will most likely have to do more research on many of the plants I hope to use before I know enough to decide if they will work in my garden.
However, the book does not include a zone chart or an explanation of some of the techniques mentioned. The author mentions "pinching for bushier growth" a lot, but I don't know what pinching is. (Well, I do know, because I just read it in the Perennials book, but I didn't when I was reading this one.) If your going to suggest propogation by division, I want you to explain division to me. Further, specific zones north of zones 9, 10, and 11 are rarely mentioned in plant entries. The author was a big fan of saying "in the North this plant is smaller" or "only hardy in the South." What defines North and South? I live in a slighter more northern are of zone 5, but the hardiness zone map goes through Canada. So, where does zone 5 fall in Ellis's mental N/S map? She never tells me.
So while I'm all excited about butterflies and hummingbirds and bees and edible plants, I'm a little disappointed at how vague some of the more pertinent growing information is. I will most likely have to do more research on many of the plants I hope to use before I know enough to decide if they will work in my garden.
Displaying 1 of 1 review