You can grow tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and the rest of their spring-blooming brethren indoors, all winter long, when the view outside your window reveals snow, sleet, or icy rain. Instead, imagine your windowsills filled with an array of dazzling flowers. In this informative and entertaining book, famed bulb forcer Art Wolk humorously reveals the secrets he's used for three decades to win silver cups and baskets of blue ribbons. And, he admits, bulb forcing requires no Green Thumb. As long as you can put soil and bulbs in a pot without mortally wounding yourself, you'll succeed. Wolk's book is filled with laugh-out-loud humor and more than 350 glorious photos that show you exactly how to produce your own indoor, wintertime flower show every year.
There are plenty of books on how to look after houseplants but no one has shown us how, when and why these plants came to be found in our homes. In this fascinating book we learn how potted plants are as subject to fashion as pieces of furniture. For the Victorians it was the aspidistra in the front parlor; for us it is the orchid in the designer loft. We find that Wedgwood created a market for special bulb pots and that some of Conran's early designs were for houseplant containers. Then there is the story of mignonette - a modest plant but once prized in every home for its intoxicating scent. Now that scent is lost to us for ever. Catherine Horwood's novel combination of social history, plant history and the history of interior design is intriguing. Her illustrations come from a variety of unusual sources since potted plants may be found in many unexpected corners.
“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.
Identify and control dozens of common vegetable garden pests quickly and organically with the pest profiles and expert advice found in The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook.
Flowering bulbs, the perfect antidote to the winter blahs, can bloom on a windowsill while plants outdoors await the warmth of spring sun to flower. This handy guide tells readers how to force spectacular tulips, fragrant hyacinths, and other hardy bulbs for a head start on spring, and how to grow rare tender bulbs from the tropics and subtropics, which bloom in winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Beauty, charm, and simplicity are the hallmarks of the Scandinavian planting techniques featured in Containers in the Garden. Celebrity gardener and Danish floral designer Claus Dalby shares his signature container gardening style in this gorgeously illustrated book. His distinctive use of a single plant species in each pot, with dozens of planted pots collected together, creates elegant and eye-catching garden displays. Partnered with an abundance of textures and often a monochromatic color palette, Claus’s container gardens change with the seasons. By combining flower and foliage colors with beautiful pottery and layered displays, the results are nothing short of extraordinary. In Containers in the Garden, the English-language version of his top-selling Danish gardening book, Claus shares his best-kept secrets so that you, too, can create the container garden of your dreams. Season by season and color by color, you’ll learn how to plant, organize, tend, and share your potted plantings. Whether your display is on the front steps or the back patio, the simple yet bold design methods found here create unique garden features that are a joy to behold. The breathtaking photography found within, coupled with Claus’s descriptive and personal text, features: Early season container plantings of tulips, primroses, narcissus, and other spring-flowering beauties Lush summer pots, overflowing with dahlias, roses, hydrangea, and foxgloves Colorful and textural foliage-only containers to add structure and interest to the collection Unusual container plants such as spikemosses, wintergreen, oxalises, and even edible plants Tropical beauties bring a summer explosion, including cannas, Brugmansia, and hibiscus Autumnal fireworks of bronze, gold, and rust round out the seasonal display Step inside Claus Dalby’s Danish garden, and find ideas and inspiration for bringing a bit of lykke and hygge to your home with Containers in the Garden.