HOLIDAY GARDENING BOOK ROUND-UP

It is time again to fill those stockings, exchange those gifts, and treat you and your loved ones to the presents they deserve. This year there are great titles, some new and some perennial favorites, to keep yourself and those gardeners in your life happy for years to come. Enjoy!

Diseases of Annuals and Perennials
A Ball Guide
Identification and Control
A.R. Chase
Margery Daughtrey
Gary W. Simone
Ball $59.95

This 200-page paperback is worth every penny of its price. By supplying the reader with a basic understanding of the general types of diseases that can afflict many of our commonly used garden plants, this guide will become an important reference addition to any gardener's library. It's a fact-filled, informative and surprisingly comprehensive book that you will refer to time and time again to gain practical methods of pest and disease management.

There is a helpful list of commonly used plants; both botanical and common names are used. In table two, you will find suggestions on how to tackle pests and diseases naturally without chemicals. There are sections on foliar diseases, bacterial leaf spots and blights, rust, powdery mildew, root and stem diseases, and many others.

The most useful part of this book for any novice would be the pictures. Many gardeners are able to identify rather quickly when our beloved plants have a problem. With this guide you will be able to easily match the pictures to your plant's problem.

Invasive plants
Weeds of the Global Garden
John M. Randall
Janet Marinelli
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, $9.95

The editors at Brooklyn's botanic garden put together this guide of invasive plants in 1996, and the need for gardeners to become aware of the problem of overused, non-native plants continues to be great to this day. Many hardy, low-maintenance plants are listed here like Buddleia, Cotoneaster, Euonymus and English Holly. Plants that we have become very accustomed to seeing, planting and enjoying in our everyday Washington landscapes. Plants that must be placed in areas where we can monitor their spread and protect our native plants.

Arguably, many people think that our DC gardens are far removed from the forests that are threatened by many invasive plants. However, the next time you think that way, look at the map and see how close we are to Rock Creek Park. The time to embrace limiting the use of invasive plants is now. The reference to use is the Brooklyn botanic gardens' guide.

Armitage's Native Plants
For North American Gardens
Allan M. Armitage
Timber Press $49.95

This is one of the best guides available today to help you fill your garden with natives. Many books have been written on this subject from a purist's point of view. This book is dedicated by the author to his “daughters, Laura and Heather, and their friends and gardening buddies, who would love to try some native plants but don't know where to start."

These plants perform year after year because they are from our woods, fields and valleys. World-renowned horticulturist, professor and avid gardener, Allan M. Armitage, has accomplished with flair what he set out to do. The plants in this informative, illustrated  book are listed with straight-forward, easy to comprehend facts on growing and propagating some of our favorite natives. Perhaps the hardest thing that you will have to do is limit yourself when choosing plants from this book for your native garden.  

The Daylily
A Guide for Gardeners
John P. Peat
Ted L. Petit
Timber Press $29.95

If Washington gardeners had to compile a list of the most hardy, drought and disease resistant, truly reliable perennial, the daylily would be on the list. In fact, “few perennials are as tough and versatile as daylilies. If appropriately chosen, they typically require no sprays and can survive floods and droughts. Even fewer perennials offer daylilies' enormous range of colors, shapes and growing characteristics." The biggest challenge a first time daylily owner will encounter will be in choosing the plants that will start their collection. In fact each year there are over a thousand new introductions registered.

Where to start? This reference book is one of the most comprehensive works on the subject of daylily growing. The authors, daylily enthusiasts and growers, discuss all aspects of history, culture and proprogation. This book is the perfect choice for everyone, from the beginning daylily grower to the gardener who wonders how to fit one more daylily into his or her garden next year. 

Grasses And Bamboos
A practical guide
Ian Cooke
Ball $19.95

What a great book. The author has succeeded in putting together a wonderful guide to growing grasses and bamboos. Mr. Cooke begins his tour into the world of grasses and bamboos with a lesson in botany; a tour that will give you the information to make intelligent choices when choosing a grass or bamboo for your garden. He then intelligently guides you through the culture and prorogation of many popular types of grasses and bamboos.

The illustrations are wonderfully executed. There are also many helpful designs throughout the book that will assist you when landscaping with these wonderful plants in your garden. This book is a must-have for anyone who has ever stared with fascination at a stand of grasses swaying magically in the brisk winds of an autumn day.

Continuous Bloom
A Month by Month guide to Nonstop color in the Perennial Garden
Pam Duthie
Ball $39.95

This monthly guide lists the perennials every gardener should consider when seeking continuous color in their garden or border bed. Its concise format is straight forward, plant-per-page and fully illustrated; and the pictures are clear and will help with identifying plants that you may have seen but did not know their name. The information on each plant is precise and listed in outline form. This is a book that every gardener will turn to often. A book filled with easy-to-use, straight forward information on what to plant to achieve a garden that gives you a non-stop show from season-to-season and creates your dream of continuous bloom.