Schmid book on shade

I have George Schmid's "An Encyclopedia of Shade Perennials" to look and 
offer comment for a group discussion.  I am taking a pass on this book.

Anybody else have a good look at this 49.95 book?

It is heavy on Hosta and ferns.  It is primarily a book aimed at states below 
the Mason-Dixon line.  The illustrations are nearly all plants known to 
gardeners who would shell out 50 dollars for a reference with the less well 
known plants not in the pix section.  Missing entirely are all woodland 
phlox, digitalis, species hems, lilies that ARE perennial, many other plants 
that bloom.  Schmid calls lilies annuals.  Good old feverfew, a plant that 
will help out any shaded area is entirely bypassed.  Many other common plants 
are there.  Not being a shade gardener exclusively, it seems to me that books 
on this subject usually make an effort to get some color into the garden.  
Failing that, they make an effort at composure of foliage plants in the 
garden,  a very good subject.

I did not expect low rainfall areas to be represented but 90% of the book 
buying public live on one coast or the other and one half the East Coast is 
cold.  Tropical or Gulf coasts are not there either.  Maybe this book should 
have been My Georgia Shade Garden. He often says this condition or that 
plague is "reported" but never seen by him in his garden.  For instance the 
Pulmonaria are all fine in George while they in much cooler New York collapse 
from mildew regularly.  That one species never does is not mentioned.  There 
are many issues in this book that are not explored when the issue is a common 
problem with a described plant.  Dr. Schmid has not seen the catalog of 
insect life that plagues my area.  The Japanese beetle does virtually no 
damage in the shade for instance, not known to him.

Schmid also states that some of the plants he deals with are summer dormant. 
Some of those are absolutely not summer dormant in the Northeast.  He, 
obviously good gardener that he is, admits in several places that he has 
pinched, removed in part and appropriated plants from public places.  I would 
not comment on a snipped cutting here and there, the best of us (Christopher 
Lloyd for one) have shyly admitted to this but not in a book intended to be 
reference on your keeper shelf.

Another point which rankled me is his explanation that he will not be using 
Latinate terminology.  The example given is that cordate will not be found as 
heart shaped is easier on the ear for most of us.  The use of a glossary is 
not offered and does not appear in this book.  

Now those who love this book can give me differing point of view.  I tried to 
find a better reason to spend fifty dollars (much less already on many seller 
sites) but could not.  There is a smaller paperbound shade gardening book for 
those of practical nature that is a filled with practical information for 
less than ten dollars, "Easy Care Shade Flowers" by Patricia A. Taylor.  
Beyond that I would spend my money on a monograph for a genus I liked.  

This is a Timber Press book.  That would be the same Timber Press that has 
been announcing annually that an update of Dr. Schmid's Hosta book is on the 
way.  Nearly ten years now.

I should add that I have Schmid's book on Hosta and the two do not compare.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

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