more on books, snow

Hello and Happy New Year,

Wherever you are, if you are not in the Northeast you may be able to see 
beauty in the snowfalls of winter.  It has been snowing here for 24 hours on 
top of the two feet of Christmas snow.  There was rain in between and more is 
forecast.  I am tired of that phrase "old fashioned winter."  And, alas, I 
fail to appreciate the mulching aspect. But there are books for winter and I 
thought I would mention three that are not new but are worth owning for 
January days.

There is "The Smaller Perennials" by Jack Elliot.  This is a British book 
with US measurements added for US editions.  It was intended, I think, to 
separate for rock gardeners small perennials which are not difficult to grow 
but look well with Alpines.  Some of the choices are up to 30 inches.  Mr. 
Elliot's book offers a look at some not so common perennials with his 
personal commentary and experience in some places.  I think you can find 
nearly all of the genera listed here to purchase in the US.  If a cultivar is 
not found, one like it might be.  If you keep checking a book for some 
information, it must be a good one.

Also, I remembered "Hardy Perennials" by Graham Rice.  I look in here from 
time to time also because this is a reading pleasure rather than a reference. 
 He selects groups of plants by season and speaks with wide experience.  Rice 
offers opinions and observations plus some suggestions that are new to me and 
welcome.  For example, I turned over the page on Clematis one time and 
yesterday looked to see why I did that.
 
On herbaceous Clematis, this one integrifolia, he suggests you could plant it 
in the same hole with something stronger, a Potentilla perhaps to support it. 
 This clematis flops around the border and it not satisfying surrounded with 
a a picket fence to keep it upright so I have never liked it.  There is just 
one good idea.  This book does not cover the entire perennial world,  it does 
give you reading that is enjoyable.

The same Graham Rice together with Christopher Lloyd have another book 
"Garden Flowers from Seed".  This is 254 pp. of dialogue between the two on 
the germination problems of many common and some not so common plants.  I 
have never understood why this book was not wildly popular.  Here and there 
is ever so slight, maybe disagreement but much politeness while two very good 
seed people talk.  You are in the room with them, a good device in this book. 
 You cannot have two many books on propagation and this one gets right to 
what may go wrong and just exactly how it is all done.  Each of the two is 
identified as to who says what.

All three of these books are now found on the used book sites.  They are also 
found on the comparison price sites.  The two Rice books are discussion style 
and the seed manual is full of information of all kinds beyond germination.

Jack Elliot's book is a Timber Press edition, at least mine is.  The print is 
so small you may need a large hand lens to read it.   Maybe Bill will tell us 
why this book is shrunk into an exercise in eyestrain, it is such a good 
book.

Here is a quote:  (re: summer abundance)

"But it is exactly this abundance which makes the fascination of perennials 
so limitless, our gardens so varied and allows every gardener to develop and 
express a personal taste"

In short you do not need them all, there are so many to please each gardener.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index