Louis the XIV commissioned a landscape gardener to design the Potager de Roi at Versailles. Many of the fruit and vegetable pruning systems developed by this gardener are still in use today. This beautiful book illustrates the design and planting of the ornamental vegetable garden, where aesthetics and practicality combine to create edible gardens.
Breeding plants to encourage specific traits is usual in agriculture but less common in ornamental horticulture. Daffodils, daylilies, hostas, lilacs, magnolias, and rhododendrons are among the 15 subjects covered by experts in the field. This book is only available through print on demand. All interior art is black and white.
This is a comprehensive revision ofGrowing Media, first published in 1984 and last revised in 2002. Since its first publication the book has been a core text for Horticulture students at TAFE colleges and universities as well as an important reference title.
Species acclimatization--the organized introduction of organisms to a new region--is much maligned in the present day. However, colonization depended on moving people, plants, and animals from place to place, and in centuries past, scientists, landowners, and philanthropists formed acclimatization societies to study local species and conditions, form networks of supporters, and exchange supposedly useful local and exotic organisms across the globe. Pete Minard tells the story of this movement, arguing that the colonies, not the imperial centers, led the movement for species acclimatization. Far from attempting to re-create London or Paris, settlers sought to combine plants and animals to correct earlier environmental damage and to populate forests, farms, and streams to make them healthier and more productive. By focusing particularly on the Australian colony of Victoria, Minard reveals a global network of would-be acclimatizers, from Britain and France to Russia and the United States. Although the movement was short-lived, the long reach of nineteenth-century acclimatization societies continues to be felt today, from choked waterways to the uncontrollable expansion of European pests in former colonies.
Plant selection and garden style are deeply influenced by where we are gardening. To successfully grow a range of beautiful ornamental plants, every gardener has to know the specifics of the region’s climate, soil, and geography. Growing the Southwest Garden, by New Mexico-based garden designer Judith Phillips, is a practical and beautiful handbook for ornamental gardening in a region known for its low rainfall and high temperatures. With more than thirty years of experience gardening in the Southwest, Phillips has created an essential guide, featuring regionally specific advice on zones, microclimates, soil, pests, and maintenance. Profiles of the best plants for the region include complete information on growth and care.
Create stunning effects, from clouds of delicate meadow grasses to striking bamboo plantings by adding ornamental grasses to your garden. As well as providing a backdrop for flowering plants, they can bring movement and whispering sound to the garden.
