United States
£ GBP
This illustrated reference covers 515 genera of herbaceous temperate plants, including annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs and aquatic plants. All are described in complete detail, including how plants are related and their origins and uses. Previously imprecise classifications are corrected. Listings are organized in evolutionary order, from the ancient plants - sphagnum moss and ferns - to the modern irises, hostas and sedges.
Sphagnum moss and polytricum; ferns; thalictrum, buttercup and hellebore; poppy and corydalis; silene and carnation; polygonum and fallopia; saxifrage, astilbe and heuchera; geranium and pelargonium; bean, lupin and lathyrus; stock and aubrieta; primrose and cyclamen; tobacco and petunia; pulmonaria; mullein and figwort; mint, origanum and sage; campanula; doronicum, rudbeckia, sunflower and aster; nymphaea; butomus; lilium, fritillaria and tulip; orchis; iris, gladiolus and crocus; daylily, daffodil and snowdrop; hyacinth, muscari and hosta; sedges and grasses.
Roger Phillips pioneered the use of colour photography to reliably identify natural history subjects. He has 30 books to his credit and has won numerous awards, including three for the best designed books. He wrote and presented two major television series: BBC's Quest for the Rose and C4's 3000 Mile Garden. Martyn Rix is a botanist, plant collector and gardener. He has produced 17 books and numerous scientific papers and collaborated with Roger Phillips to producing 23 illustrated titles for the Pan/Macmillan gardening series. He was recently awarded the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society for his services to horticulture.
The ultimate Christmas gift for garden lovers, this is as valuable an addition to a gardener's library as the RHS Guide to Garden Plants. Published in two volumes, they are divided into trees and shrubs and perennials and annuals, ordered to reflect new developments in DNA identification and classification. "A photographic record of the genera of trees and shrubs/herbaceous plants of interest to the gardener" is an understatement. It is a visual feast of garden plants, gloriously illustrated with the pioneering botanical-drawing style photographs of Roger Phillips. The accompanying text by Martyn Rix is of the standard expected by someone so highly regarded in the horticultural world and holder of a Gold Veitch Memorial medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. He gives descriptions, key recognition features, ecology and geography and a personal comment for each genus making this a comprehensive guide to today's horticultural offerings. The author's partnership of nearly 30 years has resulted in a work totally in tune with and complemented by each other: a work of beauty and botanical fact combined making this an important new definitive work on the subject of garden plants. - Lucy Watson
