Re: Iris photos, among others-Rix books

Marte asked:

<<... I'm in & out of the  library a lot. I nearly always bring home at least
one gardening book to  confound myself with & this time it was the 2-volume
Random House Book  of Perennials, 1991, text & photos by Roger Phillips &
Martyn Rix, both  of the UK.... Anybody else familiar with these volumes?
Comments, reactions?
 
I have owned the full spectrum of thiis classic series of large format paper
bound books--including the ones on Perennials, Early and Late, as well as
Roses, Bulbs, and Shrubs for several years. I find them very valuable because
of the number of photographs, which are unglamorized, and the photos of
plants in their environments. The next offers information on native habitats
and, occasionally, culture. Those interested in irises will also wish to take
a look at the Bulbs volume for other species, including the Junos. Americans
shopping for bearded cultivars may be a bit frustrated as many of the irises
photographed are British, and hard to come by over here. The same is true of
some of the other perennials, although one can turn up many of these at
specialist nurseries such as Heronswood, Forestfarm, Siskyou, etc. Last time
I was in the bookstore I noticed that they have started reformatting the
perennials books in smaller volumes. The price has now risen to $27.95 per
book. This is getting right pricey for the new size. However, I still prefer
a set of these to all those trite oversized glossy pictorial garden
"encyclopedias" that popped up several years ago around Christmas.
Occasionally these Rix books have been available at Christmas at such venues
as Price Club, Costco, Sam's etc. for about 18 bucks. 

There have been several very interesting threads on bibliography here on the
list and those interested in knowing more about iris books as such might want
to pop over to the Archives and search by topic. You won't be disappointed!

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, VA 
Henry Hall   henryanner@aol.com
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