Book Reviews, Royal Horticultural Society, Encyclopedia of Gardening

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Royal Horticultural Society New Encyclopaedia of Plants and Flowers
American Horticultural Society New Encyclopaedia of Plants and Flowers

UK and USA editions of this best-selling Gardening Book

Royal Horticultural Society New Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
Hardcover - 744 pages (6th March 2003)

This essential work of reference has been given an update for the millennium making it an authoritative encyclopaedia that no keen gardener should be without. So if your original copy is falling to pieces from constant use or you haven't yet got a copy, now would be the time to acquire one.

The value of this encyclopedia for the ordinary gardener is in the lay-out, which divides plants into categories by type (e.g. shrub, perennial, bulb), size, colour and season. This means that you can identify a plant by a series of quick steps and home-in on what you are looking for without needing any expert knowledge. Similarly if you are trying to select a plant for a particular situation you can make your own choice from the Plant Catalogue or use the newly-expanded Plant Selector section which lists recommended plants for specific purposes and even has a list of rabbit resistant plants!

The Plant Dictionary at the back of the book is alphabetically ordered by botanical name and gives descriptions, common names and information on cultivation and propagation for over 8,000 plants suitable for temperate gardens worldwide.

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USA

American Horticultural Society New Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers

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Hardcover: 720 pages DK Publishing; Revised edition published November 1, 2002

The following review refers to the first UK edition of the book published in 1989, the latest versions build on this earlier volume

An excellent plant book set out in a very useable manner. Plants are catalogued by type (see contents below) and then separated into season of interest and colour. For instance Shrubs / small is further subdivided into:

Spring interest
- White
- Red / green
- Yellow
- Yellow / orange
Summer interest
- White
- Pink
- Fuchsias
- Pink / red
- Red
- Purple
- Purple / blue
- Green / yellow
- Yellow
- Yellow / orange
- Orange

Autumn interest
- White / red
- Red
- Purple / yellow
Winter interest
- White
- White / pink
- Red
All year interest
- White / green
- Green
- Green / yellow
- Yellow / orange
- Heathers

Other categories of plants: trees / small, medium, large: perennials small, medium, large etc. are similarly arranged.

The first half of the book has colour pictures of the plant / flower with basic information, e.g.:

Box 1

Passiflora coccinea (Red Passion Flower) Vigorous, evergreen, woody-stemmed tendril climber with rounded, oblong leaves. Has bright deep scarlet flowers, with red , pink and white crowns, from spring to autumn. H 3-4m (10-12ft) Min 15°C (59°F).

There are then symbols informing of requirement for sun or shade, water availability and frost hardiness

The second half of the book is dedicated to more detailed descriptions of the habits and growing requirements of the plants described. This is followed by further descriptions of similar species or sub-species and varieties. e.g.:

Box 2

FORSYTHIA (Oleaceae)

Genus of deciduous, spring flowering shrubs, grown for their usually profuse, yellow flowers, which open before the leaves emerge.
F. x intermedia 'Beatrix Farrand' and F. x i. 'Lynwood' make attractive flowering hedges. Fully hardy. Prefers full sun and fertile, well drained soil. Thin out old shoots and trim hedges immediately after flowering. Propagate by softwood cuttings in summer or hardwood cuttings in autumn or winter.

There then follows for this group further descriptions of 9 species or named varieties in addition to the pictured variety listed under Shrubs medium / spring interest / yellow.

There are indexes that can be used to find a plant according to common or Latin name. Over 8000 plants are covered and there are over 4000 high quality photographs.

The book can be used to find plants if you know the name or find a plant by characteristics if you know what you want for a position, but don't know which plants fit the bill.

If you're at all interested in plants then look forwards to many long hours sitting and looking through this book at all the tempting specimens that will sit there winking at you from between the pages along with full details of how large they grow, what shape they will be and how to look after them properly.

There are also useful lists of plants for particular situations, sandy soil, paving and wall crevices, flowers for drying, architectural plants and many more.

The first half of the book is "The Plant Catalogue" Set out as follows with full illustrations as in box 1 above