Is the Bloom Still On the Rose?
Booksellers speak out about sales, trends and more within this evergreen category
by Dick Donahue -- Publishers Weekly, 3/18/2002
Back in 1759, Voltaire was clearly onto something when he said, "We must cultivate our garden." Indeed, countless horticulturists, armed with spades and seed packets, have followed his dictum in steadily increasing numbers, much to the delight of publishers and booksellers. Even folksinger Joni Mitchell took up the cry when she claimed (in 1969's "Woodstock"), "We've got to get ourselves back to the garden." 
And getting back we are: according to Harris Poll statistics compiled for the National Gardening Association, Americans last year spent an average of $450 on their lawns and gardens. The overall garden business in 2001--including equipment, lawn care, plants, fertilizer and books--was $37.7 billion.
That's the good news. The even better news, says NGA research director Bruce Butterfield, is that "the business has continued to grow despite the recession." 
Moreover, the number of Americans gardening, he adds, "has increased after three to four years of being flat."
Having talked with several gardening publishers last year at this time, we decided to visit the "front lines"--to check in with retailers and see how, or even if, these optimistic figures are translating into book sales. We asked booksellers what changes have taken place of late, what's hot and what's not these days and what trends might be emerging for one of America's leading pastimes.
Gardening Takes Center Stage
Many of those surveyed noted that despite--perhaps even because of--the recent economic downturn, gardening has become more important in people's lives. In addition, the events of September 11 seem to have driven many Americans back to their gardens.
Butterfield at the NGA says he foresees a significant increase in the number of gardeners when this year's statistics are compiled, as "people are burrowing deeper into their nests after September 11." Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Conn., agrees--"gardening is definitely more important these days. People are cocooning; they're thinking that gardening books are a terrific way to spend money to beautify their surroundings." At Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., marketing director Sarah Costin tells PW, "We seem to be selling more reflective, hands-on, working with design and maintenance books rather than expansive dreams of gardening glory."
| Digging more deeply into the fertile soil of niche publishing, Modern Library launched its Gardening Series last month with four reprinted titles chosen by series editor Michael Pollan: We Made a Garden by Margery Fish (first published in 1956); Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden by Eleanor Perényi (1981); My Summer in a Garden by Charles Dudley Warner (1870); and The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek (1929). "Random House approached me about a year ago, and I jumped at the idea of bringing back books that were either out of print or previously unavailable," says Pollan, whose latest RH book, the bestselling The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, will be released in a Random House trade paper edition in June. "I have a long shelf of garden books, and I knew of several really good ones that were no longer around. I also reached out to friends in the gardening world for ideas." Summing up what really drew him to the project, Pollan says, "I've always been interested in garden books as a literary form." Pollan's own books take similarly large strides through practicality and meditation. Second Nature: A Gardener's Education and A Place of My Own: The Education of an American Builder preceded A Botany of Desire, which looks at the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the potato to discover how each plant has answered particular human needs and longings. "Is Botany of Desire a gardening book or not?" he asks rhetorically. "It starts in the garden, but it goes far afield to open a window on many other things." The windows thrown open by the new Modern Library series look onto even more varied views. "My Summer in a Garden was written by Mark Twain's neighbor in Hartford, who was also his collaborator and the editor of the Hartford Courant. I'd never read it before, and I was astonished at how funny, how well-written it was and how influential it had been," Pollan explains. "It had influenced my own writing and I didn't even know it, in the way it draws on moral, ethical and political issues. That's what American garden writing does. It also has humor and modesty and comes from an amateur's perspective, as opposed to the authoritative voice of much English garden writing." "What distinguishes these books," Pollan suggests, "is that they are all very conversational in tone. We're reaching for a kind of talking-over-the-back-fence feeling. The covers are not all green. They're in different colors and they remind me of old-style seed packets. I think they'll appeal to the armchair gardener as well. I'm actually surprised that something like this hasn't been done before." --ROBERT DAHLIN |
Indeed, the literary aspect of the books is a driving force behind the series. "The garden book shelf is overwhelmed with all the behemoth coffee-table books that I call 'garden porn,' with those gorgeous pictures and green covers," says Pollan. "Books of real writing are cowering on the shelf, and I'm trying to redress the balance. These aren't meant to be practical how-to books, but that's the great thing about garden writing--it blends theory and practice. These don't tell you how to force tulips. They're more reflective." In Seattle, Flora & Fauna Books had, says owner David Hutchinson, "our best year ever in 2001. There always seems to be an abiding interest in gardening that transcends tough times." At Northshire, on the other hand, Costin reports, "During the last two years, gardening sales overall have been flat." There have, she adds, "been a few noticeable increases in sales of books on bonsai, Japanese and Zen gardens, stone in the garden, and container planting."
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
Before examining what's producing the green these days (of the cash register variety), we thought it might be interesting to find out just what, from the retailers' perspective, constitutes a good (read: saleable) gardening title.
Coady can sum it up in three words: "pretty, practical and readable. Two of my favorites to recommend, that meet these criteria, are Margaret Roach's A Way to Garden [Clarkson Potter] and The Well-Tended Perennial Garden [Timber Press]." Costin at Northshire is similarly succinct when she says, "Attention to detail, an eye for beauty and the perception to balance the two." According to Riddle, "Good gardening books should be in equal measure: beautifully illustrated and photographed, clear and informative, enlightening, enriching and inspiring. Above all else, if they are how-to books, they must be immensely helpful."
Helpfulness is only part of a bigger picture, according to Susan Crittenden, manager at Powell's Books for Cooks and Gardeners in Portland, Ore. For her, a good gardening title needs "great photography, writing that isn't precious, practical advice, a sense of wonder and a sharing of failures. Unfortunately, there is a real dearth of great garden writing today. So much is boring and uninspired. Any hack that can spell Latin plant names can put out a book on gardening."
Faith Bell, manager of Bell's Books in Palo Alto, Calif., offers a deceptively simple answer: "A great gardening book is simply one that meets the specific needs of the customer. Someone who has just moved to California from New England is looking for a very different book than someone wanting to prune oak trees."
"Specific" also works for Adrian Newell, book buyer at Warwick's in Palo Alto, Calif. "A great book is one that works in our Zone. It should also be well laid out, with good pictures, clarity of information and written by an author with credentials." Hutchinson at Flora & Fauna also stresses the author's credentials. "For us, it's a book written by someone with particular experience with a group of plants. It's also important that it includes text that offers practical experience in maintenance, not just pictures."
Paul Downs, assistant advertising manager at Teas Nursery in Bellaire, Tex. (with other locations in Houston and Webster, Tex.), concurs. Though he realizes that a good gardening book "needs to be very attractive these days," he's quick to point out that "the content is still the critical factor. Good information always sells better than flashy coffee-table books. More CD-ROMs, DVDs and even audio books could take advantage of these newer media."
Niches That Blossom...
According to Butterfield at the NGA, Americans are doing a much greater variety of gardening these days--"if they flower garden they may now be adding a container garden." With its many niches and subniches, sales of gardening books, more than most categories, are subject to the latest trends; today's hot topic can rapidly become tomorrow's compost. So what, we asked, are the current favorites?
At Brookline Booksmith, says Riddle, "Customers currently seem to be more interested in gardening literature--Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire [Random House], Anna Pavord's The Tulip [Bloomsbury] and Diane Ackerman's Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden [HarperCollins]." She reports increased interest, too, in organic gardening. "Books like the Burpee Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically [Hungry Minds] sold well even in February." The "more serious" Timber Press titles are also strong sellers, "especially the ones with beautiful photos, like Dream Plants for the Natural Garden and Designing with Plants. Books detailing natural gardens, Zen gardens, feng shui gardens, rather than manicured or formal gardens, seem to be the preference."
"Landscaping and water gardening are up," says Coady at R.J. Julia, "and there's a renewed interest in houseplants."
Three categories "on the move" at Powell's, says Crittenden, are books on permaculture, for both vegetable gardening and land use. "It was difficult to locate a permaculture publisher, but once we did--Rodale Institute Press--strong sales followed." Their customers, she adds, are also buying books on gardening with "edge-of-the-zone plants." In addition, sales are benefiting from a new local attraction--Portland's Chinese Classical Garden, Crittenden reports, has created quite an interest in Chinese gardening ("these books sat on the shelves for years, but now they're flying out of the store").
In the past year, says Denise Miller at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, "We've seen an increase in popularity for orchids and water gardens, specifically for ponds and brooks." Orchids are hot, too, at Warwick's, where Newell has observed a steady growth in "anything about orchids or roses. I can pretty much sell any book on those subjects, even expensive coffee-table books with little text."
Among the topics going strong at Flora and Fauna, says Hutchinson, are native plants for the Pacific Northwest, "because they answer the drought-tolerant question." Hutchinson's also noted an increased interest in wildlife habitat gardening. Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City is also doing well with "region- and climate-specific books," says staffer Susan Moore, citing the success of such titles as Heat Zone Gardening (Time-Life), Sunbelt Gardening (Fulcrum) and Oklahoma Gardener's Guide (Cool Springs Press).
...While Others Wilt
According to Hutchinson, "Trends that have come and gone include ornamental grasses and 'tropicalismo'--books that show cold or temperate climate gardeners how to use plants that look like they grow in the tropics."
And while books on water gardens have their advocates, others say they're, well, all wet. In the words of Carol Hellmers at Denver's Tattered Cover, "Last year ponds and water gardens were hot, but they have declined steadily and I don't see them picking up this summer." (Another weakening topic, she adds, is "Asian gardening, including Feng Shui gardening.") Northshire's Costin casts a dissenting vote for water gardening titles, too, and also sees declining sales in flower arranging, cutting and drying.
At the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in the Milwaukee area, it's not only specific topics that are waning--it's the category as a whole. Says trade buyer Daniel Goldin, "We've had flat to declining sales of gardening titles in the past several years." One problem he sees is the lack of 'brand-name' personalities. "Remember when Crockett's Victory Garden was big?" he asks, noting that Jerry Baker and Ken Druse were other well-known figures who once drove the category. These days, says Goldin, "we can't think of a national gardening expert."
In addition to the personality issue, Goldin sees another difficulty. "Most gardening books," he says, "are published as series and, apart from travel, I find that series books aren't taken as seriously by our customers as stand-alone titles. There's always the suspicion that the books were published to fill a slot instead of for their own merits, and that therefore the content might be a bit sloppy."
Today's Customers--Who Are They?
At Powell's (where more than half the customers have been gardening for 10 years or more), the customers are trending younger. One contributing factor, Crittenden believes, is that "a lot of people in their 20s are getting into raising vegetables in Portland's community gardens." She also takes note of Portland's sizable 20-something alternative culture--"they seem to be divided into two groups: the computer geeks and those seeking the close-to-the-earth lifestyle that includes gardening."
At R.J. Julia, too, the typical gardening customer is "younger than before," says Coady--"the young homeowners." Youth is in at Warwick's as well, with Newell noting an increasing number of "30-somethings with families" crowding the gardening section.
Bell's Books plays host to a particularly diverse customer base, from dot.com millionaires to National Park Service rangers. The store's extensive inventory allows them to cater to customers whose knowledge level, says Faith Bell, "is quite high. They like specific information on species or soil type." Customers also tend to be hands-on, adds Bell, noting that her gardening section "is always so full of dirt from customers' boots and shoes that we have to sweep it several times a day."
Unlike Bell's, Flora & Fauna has noticed a drop in "knowledgeable gardeners" coming to the store. The reason, says Hutchinson, is that "they're getting books through specialized horticulture societies and ordering from Great Britain or directly from publishers. Happily, we're welcoming a steady stream of entry-level gardeners."
Brookline Booksmith is seeing more novice gardeners, says Riddle, "people wanting to get their hands in the dirt for the first time, even in the urban environment of Brookline."
...and What Are They Looking For?
Says Costin at Northshire, "Customers are looking for in-depth information. They want the book they choose to tell them specifically how to design it, grow it and/or build it, in an aesthetically pleasing manner. I think overall today's biggest difference is in the demand for intelligence rather than entertainment. They're kicking the tires of the garden cart and ignoring the snazzy chrome handle."
"Our customers are less concerned with do-it-yourself projects and more interested in having quick solutions for gardening challenges," says Downs at Teas Nursery. "They are less likely to plant from seed, join a garden club, and also less likely to read a book, particularly if it is scholarly and obtuse."
In this category, climactic conditions often influence customers' buying patterns. California's years-long drought, for example, has impacted sales at Bell's. Customers are no longer interested in romantic English cottage gardens, says staffer Barbara Worl, but are looking for titles on drought-resistant plants and Mediterranean gardens. (According to Butterfield at NGA, a prolonged water shortage may play an even larger part in this category's future: looking ahead at 2002, "the drought will continue to haunt us all," he says.) And geography is always a key factor, sometimes causing unusual requests. In Manchester Center, Vt., Costin at Northshire tells PW, "Everyone is always looking for a foolproof way to keep deer out of the garden."
Regional titles, of course, are one of the staples of gardening sections, with several publishers specializing in books targeted to their locales. Regional books are certainly key in the Harry W. Schwartz stores, Goldin reports: "they are, by far, what's driving sales in this category."
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Are today's gardens, in the manner of contrary Mary's, overrun with silver bells, cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row? Are retailers--and their customers--finding too many books on certain topics? Or, like Hutchinson at Flora and Fauna, do they consider the entire category "way overpublished"? According to Hutchinson, "It seems as if every publisher wants a gardening list, be it good, bad or indifferent. We end up only stocking about 20% of what's published every year."
"The most noticeable area of overpublishing," says Costin at Northshire, is the coffee-table books--titles about "other people's inspiring, delightful, photogenic gardens. Generally pricey and light on information, these books may do well in holiday catalogues, but are hard to sell year-round." She also notes an excess of titles on garden stone and Japanese-style gardens and, though water gardening is declining, "the number of books on the topic is not."
Riddle in Brookline sees "way too many books on perennials, with little to set them apart in terms of distinction or excellence or level of helpfulness." Crittenden at Powell's wastes no words on the subject of overpublishing: "Container gardening! There are only so many combinations you can possibly do. And please, no more rose books."
Bell of Bell's Books urges, "No more pretty picture books with little content," while Teas Nursery's Downs remarks, "There always seem to be too many generalized books with little depth or breadth."
Though it's not a category per se, Crittenden feels strongly that there are "way too many books from promotional companies. You're making 'safe,' cookie-cutter gardens with these books; they don't have any imagination. Beginning gardeners don't need to be funneled down this road."
David Schwartz of the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops agrees with Crittenden about "the large amount of remaindering and promotional packaging. In the customer's eyes, these books are interchangeable so they often go for the cheapest possible alternative."
...or Not Enough?
Hutchinson perceives a need for "really good books on plant maintenance, hedges, greenhouse construction, trellises." He's also on the lookout for "field guides to second- and third-world countries--everyone goes to Mexico, but there are no guides to their native plants." At Powell's, the need is for "more books on fruit gardening, organic gardening and specific perennials."
Coady could use more titles on "high-end, sophisticated landscaping," while Miller at Davis-Kidd would like to see more "about natural methods of weed and insect control, more information on ways to use fewer chemicals."
Though some retailers are bemoaning the abundance of coffee-table books, others want still more. Newell, for one, would like to see more titles that target Warwick's upscale customers--"beautiful coffee-table books that aren't specifically how-to." Also, she's mystified by "the dearth of good gardening books after Christmas. People are still in the buying mode in January and that's when so many of our customers are beginning to think about updating existing gardens and landscaping or planning something new."
At Tattered Cover, Hellmer's hoping for "more creative and innovative books on standard topics such as general gardening, vegetable gardening, landscaping, etc." The new titles, she says, are "incredibly niched (urban gardens, Santa Fe gardens, bungalow gardens, etc). These books do well and there is indeed a market for them, but I'm often at a loss to grab a really great book that covers a broader topic."
According to Downs at Teas Nursery, "There need to be specific books for small areas of study, and more with information for local gardeners that deal with conditions unique to their area." Agreed, says Costin at Northshire, who wants more zone-specific guides to gardening and/or resources--"there are very few, and the ones we carry sell steadily year-round."
Digging Up Sales
Promotion, promotion, promotion--what are retailers doing to move gardening titles off the shelves and into their customers' hands? Speaking of those shelves, Coady at R.J. Julia tells PW that "by far the best sales tools are shelf talkers."
Signings help at Teas Nursery, where Downs says, "We have gardening authors--and unpublished experts, too--at our stores for book signings. We often invite local gardening clubs to present answer sessions and demonstrations, and our staff presents programs in-house and in the community."
While Crittenden would like to host more authors at Powell's, publishers aren't contacting her. What usually happens, she says, is that she hears on the local grapevine that an author's speaking to a local garden club or horticulture society so she'll contact them to set up an in-store event.
Not surprisingly, many retailers tie in their promotional efforts with local gardening organizations and activities. In Oklahoma City, Susan Moore reports that Full Circle has received "very high exposure for our store as well as strong sales for garden titles" by providing an on-site store at the Oklahoma Garden Festival. In a similar fashion, Davis-Kidd's Miller tells PW that the store provides books for the lecture series at Nashville's annual Antiques & Garden Show. "The lecturers generally sign their books, and we give 10% of the sales of their books to the Antiques and Garden Center."
Davis-Kidd has also had "great success," Miller adds, with its annual gardening book displays that include sidelines (clay pots, seeds, etc.) and generally highlight a particular title. "We've just been featuring Tennessee Gardener's Guide by Judy Lowe [Cool Springs Press]; we've sold 85 copies in the last two months."
Bell's also sells books at events sponsored by local groups, from the Rock Garden Society to the Heritage Rose Group. In addition, the store has a book sale each spring where all gardening titles are discounted. Also trodding the local PR route is Flora and Fauna, which sells a number of books at local native plant societies, master gardener events and garden clubs.
Getting by with a Little Help...
Could publishers be providing more support to retailers? The answer seems to be a resounding yes.
"Publisher support in this category is almost nonexistent," says Costin at Northshire, "except for books by luminaries such as Martha Stewart. Anything they could do would be helpful." She's quick to note that "there are exceptions. Workman, including Storey, is particularly helpful, and the publicists from Penguin Putnam and its imprints are good at getting what you ask for in a timely manner. Random House and their imprints are also very good. Additionally, I think that the individual publicist has a lot to do with the perception of support. The publicists I've worked with at these houses have all been willing to do the little bit extra that helps an event go smoothly, a display go from good to fantastic, a title sell."
Random House also gets high marks from Newell at Warwick's. Particularly useful, she says, are the bookmarks and sales blads, which she uses to give her regular customers a heads-up on new releases.
At Tattered Cover, Hellmers puts it this way: "The publishers from whom I get information send me a lot less for gardening than for other topics, especially cooking. I'd like to see more." Crittenden at Powell's uses the cookbook yardstick, too: publisher support for that category, she says, "outweighs gardening by five to one." Downs in Texas adds, "We haven't seen nearly the amount of promotional materials for books as, say, bulbs, which come with posters, colorful shelf talkers and pamphlets."
"What the publishers do is good," says Coady at R.J. Julia, "but there could be more. I'd love to see brochures for the staff on certain categories or individual titles, and also press releases that are excerpts from particular books. A lot of local papers will publish that sort of thing."
Speaking of publisher support, Crittenden found this spring's lists "particularly disappointing--there was just nothing exceptional or interesting or written by someone in the field who really excites me. That's frustrating to me, as both a bookseller and an avid gardener, because we're in an area with a 10-month growing season and there's a real hunger here for truly good books. I don't know that there's ever been a season when we've had a plethora of great gardening titles, as compared, for example, to the cookbook category."
Get Out the Crystal Ball
With such a variety of responses to these various questions, one might wonder what the gardening-book future looks like at the retail level. According to R.J. Julia's Coady, "It looks pretty good in the short term." (And the long term? "Oh, I don't understand the long term about anything.")
"The future of gardening books and information systems is bright," says Downs. "People are fascinated with plants and nature and they also want to discover the secrets of green thumb gardening at home." "Gardening books," says Newell at Warwick's, "will always do well for us. They offer a simple way to beautify our lives."
Not everybody is quite as sanguine, however. Hellmers at Tattered Cover says, "At this point I think it's fairly status quo. We haven't seen a great increase or decline in the category over the last several years."
But Powell's Crittenden believes that "it's a category with enormous potential," and Miller at Davis-Kidd calls on current demographics when she states, "Today's large baby boomer population will continue to make gardening a very hot section."
At Northshire, Costin's leafy, evergreen crystal ball predicts, "The future looks like that of a garden--with attention it will grow and produce." -- With research by Lucinda Dyer.
Gardening Titles 2002
compiled by Dick Donahue
Abrams
Some 150 color photos by T.K. Hill illustrate Flowers A to Z: A Practical Guide to Buying/Growing/Cutting/Arranging (Mar., $17.95 paper) by Cecelia Heffernan. Vibrant images from the collection of England's Royal Horticultural Society adorn the pages of Mark Griffith's The Orchid (May, $60).
Algonquin Books
William Goodman's rhapsodic tale of his love affair with a garden in the South of France, French Dirt (Apr., $13 paper), is revivified
in a 10th-anniversary edition.
Anness Publishing
From Southwater: Two new paperbacks by Peter McHoy demonstrate the versatility of both indoor and outdoor greenery--Big Ideas for Small Gardens: Step-by-Step Projects for Creating Perfect Outdoor Spaces and How to Have Happy Healthy Houseplants: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Caring for Fabulous Plants Throughout Your Home (Jan., $24.95 each). According to its subtitle, Potted Gardens (Feb., $19.95 paper) by Stephanie Donaldson promises "a practical guide to 100 inspirational containers." Plant catalogues and growers' guides are among the practical features of the just-launched New Plant Library: Herbs (Jan.) by Susie White, Cacti (Apr.) by Terry Hewitt, Succulents (Apr.) by Terry Hewitt, Summer Bulbs (May) by Peter McHoy and Fuchsias (June; $6.95 each) by Andrew Mikolajski.
Antique Collectors' Club
From Frances Lincoln Publishers: Joy Larkcom describes main salad vegetables and provides tips for growing them in The Organic Salad Garden (Mar., $24.95). Beth Chatto's Gravel Gardens (Mar., $25) by Beth Chatto is the first major work in 10 years by this respected gardening expert. In Rosemary Verey's Garden Plans (Mar., $24.95 paper), the noted garden designer shares 25 of her most successful designs. Famous designs are also on view in Sissinghurst (Mar., $19.95 paper) by Tony Lord, an overview of the British garden made famous in the '20s by Vita Sackville-West. Terracotta (Mar., $19.95 paper) by Anthony Noel presents a new perspective on an enduringly popular material. Plots of all shapes and sizes are the province of Robin Williams in The Garden Planner (Mar., $19.95 paper).
Artisan
Cantaloupe, honeydew? Maybe you need Melons: an Heirloom Gallery
(Mar., $25), wherein Amy Goldman, a self-described "melon maniac with a
mission," presents descriptive prose, melon stories, recipes and more.
Bantam Dell
The spaces suggested by E. Barrie Kavasch in The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquility (July, $17.95 paper) can be in the form of gardens, meditation landscapes or altars.
Barron's
In Indoor Water Garden Design (Feb., $24.95), author Yvonne Rees offers a variety of plans that consider such factors as budget constraints, available space, individual interior styles, etc. Those with little or no gardening experience can find a broad range of advice in Indoor Plants for Beginners (Feb., $18.95) by Anja Flehmigstet and Container Plants for Beginners (Mar., $18.95) by Joachim Mayer. Three additions to the Water Garden Handbooks series by Philip Swindells--paperbacks at $9.95 each--are Waterfalls and Fountains (Feb.), Formal Ponds and Water Gardens (May) and Pond Features and Decorations (May).
Beacon Press
Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters (Apr., $24), edited by Emily Herring Wilson, collects the correspondence between Katherine White, New Yorker editor and columnist (and wife of E.B. White), and Southern garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence. Being reprinted in conjunction with that title will be Katherine White's Onward and Upward in the Garden (Apr., $16 paper). Hildegard's Healing Plants: From Her Medieval Classic Physica (May., $14 paper), translated by Bruce W. Hozeski, is a classic natural healing manual with a strong affinity to today's Eastern medicine practices.
Berkley
In The Literary Garden: Recreating Literature's Most Beautiful Gardens in Your Own Backyard (Mar., $14.95 paper), detailed instructions accompany excerpts from such noted writers--and horticulturists--as Louisa May Alcott, Thomas Hardy, Victor Hugo and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
(dist. by Sterling)
New to the 21st-Century Gardening series (all paperbacks at $9.95) are Essential Tools: Equipment and Suppliers for the Home Gardener (Mar.), edited by Karan Davis Cutler; Gourmet Vegetables: Smart Tips and Tasty Picks for Gardeners and Gourmet Cooks (June), edited by Anne Raver; The Sunny Border (Sept.), edited by C. Colston Burrell; Spring-Blooming Bulbs: An A to Z Guide to Classic and Unusual Bulbs for Your Spring Garden (Dec.), edited by Beth Hanson. Being reissued next month is Indoor Bonsai: How to Succeed with Bonsai Grown Inside Your Home ($9.95 paper), edited by Sigmund Dreilinger.
Chronicle Books
Bonnie Trust Dahan tells how to infuse an apartment, loft or other city dwelling with the spirit of the garden in Garden Home: Creating an Urban Haven (Apr., $27.50)
Clarkson Potter
Marie-Pierre Colle examines lush and exotic gardens south of the border in Paraiso Mexicano: Gardens, Landscapes and Mexican Soul (Mar., $35). The beauty and drama of an especially distinctive plant is captured by Starr Ockenga in Amaryllis (Sept., $20). Some 250 step-by-step photographs illustrate basic "recipes" for the creative arrangements in Flower Power (Nov., $30) by Rebecca Cole. From Maine to California, from the Hamptons to the French Riviera, Alexandra d'Arnoux explores some of the world's most romantic and unusual plots in Gardens by the Sea (Dec., $60), with photos by Erica Lennard.
Peter Collin
(dist. by IPG)
The more than 7,500 entries in Dictionary of Horticulture (Apr., $15.95 paper) cover such varied topics as cultivation techniques, climate zones, pruning, propagation, fertilizers, etc.
Contemporary Books
Fountains and spas and pools, oh my. These and other aquatic topics are covered by Maureen Gilmer and Michael Glassman in Water Works: Creating a Splash in the Garden (Feb., $34.95).
Cool Springs Press
(dist. by Thomas Nelson)
Month-by-Month Gardening in Mississippi and ...Alabama (Mar., $19.99 each paper) by Bob Polomski offer extensive tips on growing and tending all manner of indigenous flora. The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Book¸ Alabama..., Kentucky..., Louisiana..., Mississippi..., North Carolina..., Tennessee... and Virginia... (Mar., $19.99 each paper) by Walter Reeves and Felder Rushing are the newest entries in the publisher's Fruit and Vegetable series. Greening Southern yards should be a snap with the new Perfect Lawn series by Steve Dobbs: The Perfect Tennessee Lawn, ...Alabama..., ...Georgia..., ...Louisiana..., ...Mississippi..., ...North Carolina..., ...South Carolina... and ...Texas... (Aug., $19.99 each paper). Among the revised editions coming next month (paperbacks at $24.99 each) are Florida Gardener's Guide by Georgia Tasker and Tom MacCubbin, North Carolina... by Toby Bost, Michigan... by Tim Boland et al., Pennsylvania... by Liz Ball and Illinois... by James A. Fizzell
Creative Publishing
New to the Black & Decker Outdoor Home series is The Complete Guide to Choosing Landscape Projects: How to Select the Best Flowers, Trees, Shrubs & Groundcovers for Your Yard (June, $24.95 paper) by Robert Dolezal, a comprehensive reference that features more than 600 color photos and illustrations. In Creating Garden Accents (Mar., $16.95 paper), Jerri Farris focuses on ways to decorate, both indoors and out, using gardening as the central theme.
DK
Garden Problem Solver (Jan., $24.95 paper) by Pippa Greenwood addresses a multitude of diverse problems, from garden design disasters to plant diseases and pests. Promising "the perfect plant selection," Roy Lancaster's Perfect Plant, Perfect Place (Feb., $30 paper) is an updated compilation of the author's earlier What Plant Where, What Perennial Where and What Houseplant Where. New titles in the American Horticultural Society Practical Guides series ("the ultimate quick-reference guides," says the publisher) are American Horticultural Society Practical Guides: Grasses and Bamboos and ...Growing from Seed (Feb., $8.95 each paper). Another title backed by the authority of the AHS is American Horticultural Society Plants for Places (Mar., $17.95 paper), which classifies plants according to specific sites and soils and uses. Another noted authority, landscape designer John Brookes, advocates a move from high-maintenance, manicured gardens to a more natural look in John Brookes' Natural Landscapes (Mar., $19.95 paper). Brookes distills his 40 years of gardening experience into the comprehensive John Brookes' Garden Masterclass (Apr., $40).
Down East Books
The Gardens Maine Style Daybook (May, $14.95), a journal featuring 44 photos and informational gardening sidebars, is a follow-up to the publisher's all-time bestselling title, last year's Gardens Maine Style.
M. Evans
Barbara Doyen offers some 150 recipes in her two April titles ($21.95 each) that cover the produce waterfront, or rather, backyard--The Farmer's Wife Guide to Growing a Great Garden and Eating from It, Too!: Storing, Freezing and Cooking Your Own Vegetables and The Farmer's Wife Guide to Fabulous Fruits and Berries: Growing, Storing, and Freezing Your Own Fruits and Berries.
F&W Publications
Even the tiniest space can become a hotbed of horticulture, according to Mike Pilcher in No Garden? No Problem! (Mar., $23.99). The editors at Hamlyn weigh in with larger considerations in The Complete Book of Garden Projects (Mar., $24.99 paper), which offers instructions for planting beds, laying paths and installing such special features as lighting and fountains.
Fairview Press
(dist. by NBN)
Marsha Olson, a grief counselor and avid gardener, advocates planting various types of gardens as living memorials in A Garden of Love and Healing: Living Tributes to Those We Have Loved and Lost (Mar., $18.95).
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
In A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seed (Apr., $16), author James Fenton provides a unique take on a "book of lists," selecting 100 plants he would choose to grow and telling how the budding gardener might acquire and grow them.
Firefly Books
Coming next month are two profusely illustrated flower reference volumes by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix: Perennials: The Definitive Reference with over 2,500 Photographs and Annuals & Biennials: The Definitive Reference with over 1,000 Photographs ($34.95 each). Also due in April are five titles on specific blooms: Lilacs for the Garden ($19.95 paper) by Jennifer Bennett, Magnolias ($16.95 paper) by Rosemary Barrett, Carnations and Pinks ($16.95 paper) by Pamela McGeorge and Keith Hammett, Begonias ($22.95 paper) by Mike Stevens and Brugmansia and Datura: Angel's Trumpets and Thorn Apples (Apr., $19.95) by Ulrike and Hans-Georg Prsissel. Pebble Mosaics: 25 Original Step-by-Step Projects for the Home and Garden (Apr., $19.95 paper) by Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell and Gloria Nicol makes use of everyday materials and easy methods. Adrian Bloom tells how to create structure and balance for visual interest and color in Gardening with Conifers (Apr., $24.95).
Friedman-Fairfax
The publisher's Easy Gardens series (published under the Metrobooks imprint), promising down-to-basics, easy-to-follow tips and instructions, launched last month with Easy Gardens: Small Gardens by Becke Davis and Easy Gardens: Container Gardens ($12.98 each) by Daria Price Bowman. Also from Metrobooks comes Water Gardens (Mar., $9.98) by Teri Dunn, with instructions for projects ranging from full-scale, formal aquatic gardens to a simple water container garden.
Fulcrum
Wisdom for creating a garden that sustains both body and soul can be found in Gardens of Use & Delight: Uniting the Practical and Beautiful in an Integrated Landscape (May, $29.95 paper), Jigs and Jo Ann Gardner's story of life on their remote farm on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Robert Irwin Getty Garden (Sept., $40) by Lawrence Weschler chronicles the design and creation of the 134,000-sq.-ft. Central Garden at L.A.'s Getty Center, home of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
HarperCollins
Out in the Garden (Mar., $24.95) is, says the publisher, "part memoir, part gardening tool," in which Dean Riddle, author of the "Dean's Dirt" column in Elle Decor magazine, intersperses discussions of various gardens with his reflections on growing up gay in South Carolina. Elizabeth Schneider has assembled a literal A-Z guide in Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference (Jan., $60), which covers the common veggies (mushrooms) and the uncommon (yautia, anyone?) and provides some 500 recipes along the way.
Harvard Univ. Press
In The Plants That Shaped Our Gardens (Apr., $39.95), botanist David Stuart looks at the evolution of plants and planting (Dutch tulip mania in the 1500s, the 18th-century European passion for American plants, etc.) to answer the question: Why do our gardens look the way they do?
Hearst Books
The Successful Herb Gardener: Growing and Using Herbs Quickly and Easily (Jan., $25) by Sally Roth and the editors of Country Living Gardener magazine provides not only sound gardening advice but also a range of ideas on why to grow herbs and how to use them. Let your yards express the real you with the help of Dreamscaping: 25 Easy Designs for Home Gardens (Jan., $30) by Ruth Rogers Clausen and the editors of Country Living Gardener magazine. In Window Gardens: For Windows, Walls, Decks and Balconies (Mar., $30), the creative projects outlined by Steve Roberts, Jane Forster and the editors of Country Living Gardener magazine demonstrate that gardening needn't be a pane in the glass.
Houghton Mifflin
Originally published by HM in 1894, An Island Garden (Apr., $35) by Celia Thaxter is a slipcased, facsimile edition of Thaxter's chronicle of a year in the life of her garden on the island of Appledore, off the coast of New Hampshire. In Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North American Woody Plants (June, $30), William Cullina references nearly 1,000 plants to point out the benefits of "ecological gardening."
Kodansha
Father-and-son landscape photographers Shinzo and Akira Maeda present an evocative nature album in Intimate Seasons (Apr.,
$37). Landscaping Gardening in Japan (July, $35) by Josiah Conder, originally published in 1893, includes Japanese authoritative texts and photos of famous gardens taken in the 19th century.
Little, Brown
One is never too young to start exploring nature and playing in the dirt--constructively, says Elizabeth St. Cloud in the charming A Child's Garden: Introducing Your Child to the Joys of the Garden (May, $14.95).
Little, Brown/Bulfinch
Water, water, everywhere--another title that addresses a growing gardening niche is The Master Book of the Water Garden: The Ultimate Guide to the Design and Maintenance of the Water Garden (Apr., $29.95) by Philip Swindells.
Lone Pine Publishing
Four handy titles for residents of the Wolverine State and the Golden State are Perennials for Michigan (Feb.) and Annuals for Michigan (Mar.), both by Alison Beck and Nancy Szerlag; and Perennials for Northern California (Mar.) and Annuals for Northern California (Jan. $18.95 each paper) by Don Williamson and Bob Tanem.
Lonestar
(dist. by NBN)
Texas Trees (Apr., $29.95) by Howard Garrett provides descriptions of native trees and details preferred sites, planting and maintenance, propagation, etc.
Louisiana State Univ. Press
The special concerns of gardeners below the Mason-Dixon line are the focus of Gardening in the Humid South (Feb., $34.95) by Edmund O'Rourke Jr. and Leon Standifer.
Lyons Press
The Potting-Shed Papers: From Johnny Appleseed's Apples to Sex and the Single Strawberry--Explorations of Gardens and Gardeners (May, $24.95) by Charles Elliott is billed as "a lush collection" of "funny, pungent and unpredictable essays."
Meredith Books
A pair of January paperbacks targets an old favorite bloom along with a popular newcomer--Better Homes and Gardens Roses: A Complete Guide to Growing and Using Roses and Better Homes and Gardens Herbs: Ideas for Creating Beautiful and Bountiful Herb Gardens ($16.95 each). Whether you're rejuvenating an established yard or starting from scratch, creative ideas can be found in Better Homes and Gardens New Complete Guide to Landscaping (Feb, $24.95 paper). More about keeping your grass from getting gross is available in Scotts Lawns: Your Guide to a Beautiful Yard (Feb., $19.95 paper). A national brand familiar to homeowners lends its name--and expertise--to The Home Depot Flower Gardening 1-2-3 (Feb., $24.95).
Modern Library
The new Modern Library Gardening series will be more literary than practical, says the publisher. The first four titles, out last month (trade paperbacks at $13.95), are We Made a Garden by Margery Fish; Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden by Eleanor Perenyi; My Summer in a Garden by Charles Dudley Warner; and The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek.
Mountain Press
Culinary Herbs for Short-Season Gardeners (Mar., $20 paper) by Ernest Small and Grace Deutsch focuses on annual and perennial herbs in USDA zones 1-5.
Perseus
Anatomy of a Rose: Exploring the Secret Life of Flowers (Apr., $13 paper) by Sharman Apt Russell reflects, in the publisher's words, "a trend away from how-to books and toward books that foster a deeper understanding of gardens."
Pineapple Press
Guide to the Gardens of South Carolina (Mar., $12.95 paper) by Lilly Pinkas tours spectacular gardens and historic homes throughout the state.
Random House
It's not often that a gardening title hits the national bestseller lists, but The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (June, $13.95 paper) by Michael Pollan proved a happy exception; it also appeared on several best books lists for 2001.
Reader's Digest
Gardeners short on time can consult the hassle-free how-tos in Care-Free Plants: A Guide to Growing the 200 Hardiest, Low-Maintenance, Long-Living Beauties (Mar., $35) by the editors of Reader's Digest; for those working 10-hour days at the office, there's The Weekend Gardener: Simple Weekend Projects for a Great Garden (Feb., $18.95 paper) by Susanna Longley. If your garden's producing growth you can't identify, it might be time for Weeds: Friend or Foe? An Illustrated Guide to Identifying, Taming, and Using Weeds (Mar., $24.95) by Sally Roth. Some 750 perennials are spotlighted by Graham Rust in The Complete Book of Perennials: A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing, Planting, and Cultivating a Perennial Garden in Any Part of the Country (Feb., $19.95 paper).
Rizzoli
Rows of roses not practical? Try Roses for Smaller Gardens (Jan., $45), in which Mark Mattock delineates species and designs for growing in confined landscapes. Paula Pryke's easy-to-follow flower-arranging recipes are accompanied by some 300 color photos in Living Color (Jan., $39.95). A guide to contemporary garden tools, The Essential Garden (Feb., $29.95) by Liz Dobbs distinguishes the essential items from the gadgets. From contemporary to vintage: The Old-Time, Blue-Ribbon Gardener's Handbook ((Mar., $45) by Susan Waggoner illustrates its up-to-date tips and projects with authentic vintage art--historical seed packets, catalogues, advertising, etc. Estate Gardens of California (June, $50) by Karen Dardick, photos by Melba Levick, meanders through 15 opulent sites.
Rodale
In Gardener to Gardener: A Month-by-Month Guide for Planning, Planting, and Tending Your Organic Garden (Jan., $14.95 paper) by the editors of Organic Gardening, the magazine's readers swap tips, techniques and gadget ideas. Readers might be seeing red after perusing You Bet Your Tomatoes: Fun Facts, Tall Tales, and a Handful of Useful Gardening Tips (Feb., $12.95 paper) by Mike McGrath. Our fine feathered friends (and other winged critters) are the focus of Natural Gardening for Birds: Simple Ways to Create a Bird Haven (Jan., $16.95 paper) by Julie Zickefoose and the editors and writers of Bird Watcher's Digest; and Attracting Butterflies and Hummingbirds to Your Backyard (Sept., $16.95 paper) by Sally Roth. Mamma mia! Patricia Lanza takes a pasta cue for her Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces: A Layering System for Big Garden Results in Small Gardens and Containers (Feb., $15.95 paper), the follow-up to her Lasagna Gardening. Selection, selection, selection--the three keys to Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (Mar., $29.95) by Larry Hodgson.
Running Press
Burpee Gardening Cyclopedia: A Concise, Up-to-Date Reference for Gardeners at All Levels (Feb., $9.95 paper) is derived from the bestselling gardening reference and includes more than 250 profiles of popular plant types along with sections on design, equipment, bulbs and more.
Ryland Peters & Small
Three March titles join the Step-by-Step Project Workbook series--spiral-bound hardcovers with pages that lie conveniently flat. A Sweet Pea Obelisk and a Honeysuckle Porch are just two of the enticing Projects for Small Gardens: 56 Projects on Fold-out Pages with Step-by-Step Instructions ($19.95) by Richard Bird and George Carter. Richard Bird offers 20 projects to transform a garden in Beds and Borders, and another 20 to subdivide your plots in Fences and Hedges and Other Garden Dividers ($14.95 each). Hankering for a striking but low-maintenance bit of greenery? Check out New Decorated Garden: Transform Your Garden with Contemporary Elements (Apr., $27.95) by Elspeth Thompson and Melanie Eclare.
Sasquatch
Plant Life: Growing a Garden in the Pacific Northwest (Jan., $19.95 paper) by Valerie Easton is drawn from her column of the same name in the Seattle Times's Pacific Northwest Magazine. Keeyla Meadows uses her own fanciful garden to illustrate key artistic concepts in Making Gardens Works of Art: Creating Your Own Personal Paradise (Feb, $21.95 paper). The ninth edition of The Northwest Gardener's Resource Directory (Mar., $24.95 paper) by Stephanie Feeney, ed. by Debra Prinzing, now contains Web site addresses, along with many other new features.
Simon & Schuster
Susie Coehlo's Everyday Styling: Easy Tips for Home and Garden (Feb., $30) is by the host of HGTV's Surprise Gardener and lifestyle contributor on NBC's Today.
Sterling
A planter's guide is one of the many helpful features in Houseplant Basics: Selection, Care, Propagation (Mar., $12.95 paper) by David Squire and Margaret Crowther. Ellen Zachos demystifies a notably "difficult" bloom in Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "I Wish I Could Do That" Gardener (Apr., $17.95 paper). Beautiful Bonsai by Bruno Delmer illustrates the time-tested techniques for "taming" these trees into their distinctive shapes, while Marie Hélène Loaëc imparts abundant information on growing and tending Beautiful Roses (May, $19.95 each); both books feature striking photography by Jacques Boulay. Get your outdoor spaces to really rock with Simple Stonescaping: Gardens, Walls, Paths & Waterfalls (May, $24.95) by Philip Raines.
From Cassell: Advice literally from the ground up is offered by M. Lombardi and C. Serra Zanetti in Pruning Made Easy: Your Complete Guide to Pruning--The Tools, Techniques and Secrets (Apr., $17.95 paper).
From Chapelle: Ann and Scot Zimmerman show how to create your own private nirvana in The Comfortable Garden: Designs for Harmonious Living (Apr., $29.95).
From Expert: New to the Pocket Expert Series by Dr. D.G. Hessayon are The Pocket House Plant Expert and The Pocket Vegetable Expert (Apr., $9.95 each paper).
From Hamlyn: Bigger isn't necessarily better, according to the tips found in Small Gardens for Modern Living: Making the Most of Your Outdoor Space (May, $27.95). Wet, on the other hand, might just be better than dry, says Richard Bird in Ponds and Water Features: Expert Answers to All Your Questions; also by Bird, in the Garden Answers series, is Pruning: Expert Answers to All Your Questions (May,
$19.95 each).
Stewart Tabori & Chang
Several of the country's most talented indoor gardeners share their secrets in Glorious Indoor Gardens (Mar., $35) by Michele Driscoll Alioto, photos by John M. Hall.
Storey
Barbara Pleasant combines imaginative ideas and down-to-earth advice in Garden Stone: Creative Ideas, Practical Projects, and Inspiration for Purely Decorative Uses (Feb., $29.95). Looking for handsome foliage, fascinating flowers and eye-catching fall color? Try Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design (Mar., $19.95 paper) by Nancy Ondra. Voted one of PW's best books of the year back in 1995, The City Gardener's Handbook (Apr., $19.95 paper) by erstwhile New York Times garden columnist Linda Yang is returning to print with updated information.
Sunset
Four January paperback releases from the Sunset editors are: Midwestern Landscaping ($29.95), billed as the first comprehensive guide that reflects the region's climatic, soil and topographic challenges; Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses ($14.95), which describes how to integrate grasses into a variety of climatic situations; Hillside Landscaping ($14.95), which presents a new, er, slant on a popular topic; and Annuals & Perennials ($19.95), in which some 350 photos illustrate ways to combine these species for year-round garden displays.
Taunton
One of the most popular blooms of all is thoroughly examined in Landscape with Roses--Gardens, Walkways, Arbors, Containers (Jan. $27.95 paper) by Jeff Cox, host of HGTV's Grow It!, and photographer Jerry Pavia. Compiled from the pages of Fine Gardening magazine, the Fine Gardening Design Guides series (all paperbacks at $17.95) aims to present "creative ideas from America's best gardeners." Last month two new titles, Gardening in Containers and Accent Your Garden, joined the original foursome, released at the end of last year--Landscaping Your Home, Creating Beds and Borders, Exploring Garden Style and Designing with Plants.
Ten Speed Press
Out this month in a sixth edition, How to Grow More Vegetables (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ($17.95 paper) by John Jeavons has more than 600,000 copies in print worldwide.
Timber Press
Michael A. Dirr follows his Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs with Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates (Mar., $69.95), an extensive photographic encyclopedia that targets gardeners in the USDA "warm temperate" zones three to six. Returning to print after nearly 40 years is Garden Open Today (Mar., $24.95), in which urbane Britisher Beverley Nichols (1898-1983) departed from his previous gardening titles and sought to distill 30 years of gardening experience in an entertaining fashion. A wide variety of plants long valued for their herbal and decorative uses is the subject of Mints: A Family of Herbs and Ornamentals (Mar., $27.95) by Barbara Perry Lawton. A Field Guide to Tropical Plants of Asia (Mar., $19.95) by David H. Engel and Suchart Phummai can be equally useful in Indonesian rain forests or an American botanical garden. Newly revised, Hardy Geraniums: The Complete Guide to the Genus, Second Edition (Mar., $34.95) describes more than 140 types of geranium. Also coming in revised editions are Bulbs (Apr., $89.95) by John Bryan, first published in 1989; and Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada (May, $39.95) by Donald Schnell. Among the publisher's spring trade paper reprints are Lilacs: The Genus Syringa (Mar., $34.95) by Fr. John L. Fiala; The Complete Shade Gardener (Apr., $22.95) by George Schenk; and The Evening Garden: Flowers and Fragrance from Dusk till Dawn (Apr., $17.95) by Peter Loewer.
Trafalgar Square
Hanging Baskets: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide (Mar., $22.95) by Jenny Hendy suggests creative plantings for every season. Guy Cooper and Gordon Taylor guide readers to the grand and the eccentric alike in The Curious Gardeners: Obsession and Diversity in 45 British Gardens (Mar., $35, published by Headline). Time-tested advice is the provenance of The Natural Garden: Common Sense Lore Passed Down Through Generations (Mar., $13.95 paper, published by Kyle Cathie) by Rosamond Richardson.
Universe
The Origins of Fruit and Vegetables (Jan., $22.50) by Jonathan Roberts includes biblical and literary references as it traces the history of some 40 types of fruits and vegetables.
Univ. of Minnesota
Gardening with Prairie Plants: How to Create Beautiful Native Landscapes (Feb., $29.95 paper) by Sally Wasowski covers a broad area--from New York to Colorado, and from Canada to Texas.
University Press of Florida
Not your garden-variety greenery is the subject of Gardening with Carnivores: Sarracenia Pitcher Plants in Cultivation and in the Wild (Mar., $29.95 paper), in which Nick Romanowski covers the essentials and then some, from natural history to practical applications (gulp).
University Press of Virginia
An American Cutting Garden: A Primer for Growing Cut Flowers Where Summers Are Hot and Winters Are Cold (Feb., $29.95) is by Suzanne McIntire, whose helpful advice could, we suppose, be referred to as cutting remarks.
Voyageur Press
Uninvited garden guests can be easily dispatched, promises author Dan "The Critter Man" Hershey in The Critter Control Handbook: Pro Secrets to Stop Sneaky Squirrels & Other Crafty Critters in Their Tracks (Apr., $15.95 paper).
Whitecap Books
(dist. by Graphic Arts Center)
How to Garden: The Only Gardening Book You Will Ever Need (Feb., $19.95 paper) by John Cushnie shares many tips and secrets of expert gardeners. Not got a lot of plot? Check out the plans in these two February paperbacks--Colourful Hanging Baskets and Other Containers ($12.95) by Tessa Evelegh and Debbie Patterson and Really Small Gardens: A Practical Guide to Gardening in a Truly Small Space ($19.95). West Coast gardeners might want to consult the revised edition of Native Plants in the Coastal Garden (Apr., $19.95 paper) by April Pettinger and Brenda Costanzo.
Willow Creek Press
The title says it all in Logee's Greenhouses Spectacular Container Plants: How to Grow Dramatic Flowers for Your Patio, Sunroom, Windowsill, and Outdoor Spaces (Feb., $35) by Byron E. Martin and Laurelyn G. Martin.
Workman
Kitchen garden meets container garden with the broad array of theme concepts found in McGee & Stuckey's The Bountiful Container: How to Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers (Feb., $16.95 paper) by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey.
