cover image Taylor's Master Guide to Gardening

Taylor's Master Guide to Gardening

Steve Buchanan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $60 (624pp) ISBN 978-0-395-64995-4

The multivolume Taylor's Guide series is unparalleled for its horticultural authority. This new entry consolidates material within two covers for easy reference for North American gardeners. So for basic information on plant types, garden planning and design, theme gardens, soil, maintenance and lawns, this is the place to look. Buchanan, once an editor of Fine Gardening magazine, and Holmes, that magazine's founding editor, have collaborated on previous Taylor volumes, assembling a raft of contributors and consultants, and bring their expertise to bear on a range of detailed advice. They discuss use of color, not just in flowering plants but ground covers; which annuals to grow in winter (e.g., petunias), where climate permits; urge imagination in suburban settings too often oppressed by a uniformity of vision in design; and explain how to ``plug'' a meadow with seedlings. A large portion of the book examines individual plants and their preferred habitats and cultivation methods. Few gardeners will want to do without this book. Illustrated. 50,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; Garden Book Club main selection; Rodale Book Club selection; BOMC alternate. (Oct.)