| Product: |
The Gardeners Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers |
| Date: |
28/06/02 (224 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: well written, beautifully illustrated, loads of info
Disadvantages: expensive
The RHS New Encyclopaedia of Plants & Flowers (3rd Edition).
Editor:Christopher Brickell
Publishers:Dorling Kindersley.
ISBN: 0751308005.
RRP: £30, however you might be able to get it much cheaper if you look around (I got it for £8.99 from a Christian book shop of all places!).
I've got the hardcover version, which is a hefty thing but it is 744 pages of what gardener's dreams are made of!
This encyclopaedia is the dog's ********! If you only invest in one gardening book then this SHOULD be it. It is so well presented, and clearly written that it is suitable for absolute beginners as well as the more green-fingered amongst us.
The best thing about this book is that it divides plants into colour-coded sections such as categories (trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, annuals & biannuals), heights/size, colour and positioning (Dark & moist, full sun, etc). This is invaluable if part of your garden is in full-shade almost all day(for those of us not blessed with a south-facing garden!)because it shows you such a wide variety of plants that are suited to such conditions, and the height/size guide helps you plan the position of your plants in your borders. The colour-coded edging helps you quickly locate what you are looking for.
The other bonus of this book is the wonderful colour photos of the plants. If you're like me and infatuated by certain plants then you'll love this book as it gives you loads of different pictures of types of plants such as orchids, peonies, clematis, lillies, etc., unlike some books that give you two poxy pictures at most!
There is also a Plant Dictionary at the back of the book which gives descriptions, common names and information on growing and looking after over 8,000 plants.
Finally, there is a list of plants that have been given the award of garden merit (one of the highest accolades the RHS gives to a plant after it has satisfied
a group of RHS judges over a period of time, and chosen for it's looks, ease of growing, availability in the trade amongst other things).
And finally, for those of you interested, the editor in chief of this book,Christopher Brickell, was Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society (1985-1993), and is now Chairman of the International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants.
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Daisy Age - 02/07/02 Thanks very much for the welcome Mauri and Shazzy-it's very nice of you both, and I'm glad you liked my review. To answer Shazzy's question, under the Plant selector guide near the front of the book there are lists of plants for sandy soils, clay soils, neutral to acidic soils, alkaline and limestone soils, coastal regions and even rabbit resistant plants!!! Hopefully that's enough coverage for you! And yes, I did realise I'd put finally twice but by the end of it I couldn't be bothered to change anything else! I was also interested to read your review on green rizla, I thought it was just me, but after reading your opinion-you're right, they ARE less sticky!!! And I can totally relate to the perfect rolly-although a nicely rolled jazz cigarette is even better ;) |
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