Favorite Books from Steve and Cathy's Book Shelves

These books are some of our favorites. Most have reviews already posted on our blog and links are provided. All are available at Amazon.com, many are also available at B&N.com, or you can find them at your local bookstore. Books are listed alphabetically by topic (butterflies, herbs, roses).

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 Butterflies and Butterfly Gardens

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The Butterfly Gardener's Guide, edited by Clare Hagen Dole, is one of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's All-Region Guides.

Even if you already have a well-established butterfly garden, the information contained in this 120 page treasure is invaluable. Watch for a review later this fall, and a blog post on the butterfly houses we built following instructions included in the book.

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Cacti and Succulents

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Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays with 350 Easy-Care Plants by Debra Lee Baldwin, isn't just eye candy for the succulent lover. In this guide for gardeners of all skill levels, Ms. Baldwin covers the nuts and bolts of container gardening with succulents and provides design inspiration in a wide range of styles. We'll be publishing a formal review in the spring when we introduce our succulent container garden.

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Designing with Succulents by Debra Lee Baldwin was the first succulent guide that we acquired and is still one of my all time favorite books.  Until I began reading her posts on Gardening Gone Wild, I had little interest in succulents.  And while most of the succulents she describes in this book would not be hardy in our New England garden, the designs she presents can be adapted to any climate with other plants and her dish gardens are universal.  My favorites are the miniature landscapes she creates in terracotta bowls.  Following her instructions, I've made several to give as gifts to condo dwellers.

Hardy Succulents: Tough Plants for Every Climate is collaboration between author Gwen Kelaidis and renowned garden photographer Saxon Holt. A must have for any gardeners of every climate who want to include succulents in their beds and containers. This has been a must have reference for us as we plan our succulent container garden. We'll be publishing a formal review in the spring. 

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Crazy About Cacti and Succulents, edited by Ray Rogers, is one of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's All-Region Guides. We recently received it as a benefit of membership to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  We expect to publish a full review of this book later this year. 

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Succulents Simplified: Growing, Designing and Crafting with 100 Easy-Care Plants is Debra Baldwin's newest book. Y ou can read more about it on Gardening Gone Wild.  As we continue to introduce more succulents into our own garden, you can expect a review to appear on our blog later in the year as well.

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Herb Gardens

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The Complete Herb Gardener by Paul Seitz is an excellent reference for cultivating, harvesting, and using herbs.

We expect to publish a full review of this book later this year.

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Designing an Herb Garden, edited by Beth Hanson, is one of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's All-Region Guides.  Even if you have an established herb garden as we do, the book provides valuable information about different types of herb gardens, recipes, and cultivation. It has totally changed the way we approach our herb garden.

Look for a review of this book and the changes we are making to our herb garden as a result in the spring.

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Herb Mixtures and Spicy Blends, edited by Deborah L. Balmuth, is one of those treasures that never goes out of date. We found this book at a used book store but it is still in print and available from Amazon.com. I've used it as a guide for making my own herb mixtures.

We expect to publish a full review of this book later this year. 

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Houseplants ~ Terrariums

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New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature by Tovah Martin is a wonderful reference for anyone planning to establish a garden under glass.  Watch for a full review later this fall, when we post photographs of our two terrariums, inspired by projects in this book.

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Foliage, Grasses, and Trees

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Foliage by Nancy Ondra instilled in us a new-found appreciation for the foliage in our flower beds. This well-organized guide is the premier foliage compendium that was our inspiration  for the dedicated foliage bed we built in our garden.

You can read our review of this book here on our blog.

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Perennials

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The Perennial Care Manual by Nancy Ondra is the best reference we've found for year round care of the perennials that grow in our hardiness zone. It's the most bookmarked, highlighted, and well-thumbed book on the shelf. I often take it with me to the nursery when I am shopping for plants for the garden.

You can read our review of this book here on our blog.

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We highly recommend Tried and True Perennials by Nancy Ondra. It is available in both digital and paperback editions.

If, like me, you prefer the version you can hold in your hand and page through, you can get a copy from Amazon.com. If you would like a more economical electronic version, you can purchase it here on Nancy Ondra's blog, Hayefield.

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Roses

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We each have our "favorite" rose books and Jackson and Perkins' Beautiful Roses Made Easy is one of Steve's.  Jackson and Perkins publishes guides that are region specific, and this book is the Mid-atlantic and New England Edition. 

You will see a review of this book on our blog in the future.

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We love Pink Ladies and Crimson Gents by Molly and Don Glentzer is a well researched collection of stories behind the names of fifty exquisite roses. 

I recently reviewed this book for the New England Rose Society's quarterly newsletter and my review will be posted on the blog later this year.

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If you love the Victorian era and especially if you love roses, you'll want to track down a copy of Rose Recipes from Olden Times by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde.  

We'll be reviewing the book and sharing our experiences in trying some the recipes and hints included in this book.

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In their book, Roses for New England,  A Guide for Sustainable Rose Gardening, Mike and Angie Chute define "sustainable" roses as those roses that are winter hardy and resistant to common fungal diseases.  The book is an excellent guide for anyone growing these wonderful shrubs in a four-season climate.

Purchase a copy at Mike and Angie's website here.

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Pruning and General Plant Care

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Steve's bible for pruning all of the plants, shrubs, trees, and roses in our gardens is  The Pruning Answer Book. He gives it 5 stars for excellent descriptions, easy to read instructions, and comprehensive overall information.

We'll be posting a detailed review later this year. In the meantime, if you are looking for the definitive guide for pruning, you won't go wrong with this book.

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Weeds

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Our "go to" source for weed identification is Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso

This comprehensive encyclopedia of plants considered to be weeds by most gardeners is a great reference that includes photographs of each plant in all stages of growth as well as written descriptions. Read the full review here on our blog.

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Wild Flowers

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 The Ultimate Guide to Wild Flowers of North America by Joan Barker is subtitled, "Fact and Photo Filled Practical Guide" and we found the book to be just that. 

While we would have liked more photographs of the entire plant so that the foliage was included along with the blooms, there is no question that the book shows the flowers of each selection included to its best advantage. 

This book covers wild flowers throughout North America and each includes a map showing its geographic distribution. It's an excellent adjunct to a more regionally specific reference.

Acquired on a discounted bargain shelf, we felt that it was a good value for the money. We'll probably post a review next year.

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Miscellaneous, Inspiration

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Not your typical gardening book, Digging Deep is the penultimate motivational book for gardeners.  

In this collection of inspirational exercises and life lessons, Fran Sorin provides gardeners with unique tools to help them to connect with their garden on a much deeper level and to explore their own creativity in ways that transcend the garden to other aspects of their world.

 

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Fiction and Fun Stuff

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The first serial soap opera dedicated to gardeners has hit the cyberwaves.  Dr. Noel Kingsbury's brainchild is everything a soap opera should be minus the commercial interruptions.   

There are characters that gardeners the world over can identify with, intrigue, and cliff hanging endings to each installment.  Best of all, you can tune in whenever you want.  Available at Amazon for Kindle and Kindle-cloud compatible electronic reading.

Read my review here.