as a l;andscape designer, this book shows not only when plants flower, their silouhette and height, but the width, which no other resource book gives. I use it for all my design classes and my students love how clear and precise everything is. Wonderful garden book.

I love this book because it is so comprehensive and very useful for planning a new garden. Plants are grouped by season and color. Very helpful for landscaping. Shapes sizes etc are all very accessible.

In one volume, the AHS Encyclopedia manages to cover 8000 plant varieties, 4000 of them with color photos. This is by far the best way of getting a comprehensive directory of garden plants at a reasonable price. For each plant, it gives basic information such as size, color, season of bloom, cold tolerance, etc. and often considerably more information about cultural conditions, propagation, and the like.

It is not perfect. For instance, its information on shade, water, and pH requirements is sketchy and sometimes conflicts with other sources I've consulted. But it is very good.

In all, this is a far better deal than getting multiple volumes of the Taylor's Guides, although for those who want more information the RHS Dictionary ($800) is more complete and those who want more photos of each plant the Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix series (Random House) is richer.

Perhaps someday soon the RHS Dictionary and the AHS Encyclopedia (which is based on the RHS Encyclopedia) will be available in CD-ROM. Until then, this paper volume has far broader coverage than any CD-ROM collection I've seen so far.

I cannot begin to describe how helpful this book was to me... I'm a beginner gardener, and wasn't sure exactly WHAT I should begin with in my flower garden, but once I bought this excelent manual for annual flowers, it all seemed so easy! With great pictures and definitions of each of these 100 annuals, it made deciding what I wanted to start with a LOT easier... Please buy this great book if you need ANY sort of help with annuals, for you will definitely find your answers in here!

This is surprisingly a great book. It is a shame that it is out of print. Tasha Tudor is of course the queen of all gardeners, but Ms. Guest's book is quite good and she does have some marvelous tips and hints on gardening from her massively wealthy Tempelton estate, in Old Westbury, Long Island. And on top of this, she has good taste and style which we can all learn from. To bad that her publishers didn't do a good job in promoting her, but perhaps there is another book in the works and she will reach the stardom that she rightfully deserves in the gardening world. As Ms. Guest constantly reminds us, Plan Plan and Plan ahead for a successful garden. Take this book out of the library, if you can't buy it. You will greatly enjoy it.

This is the definitive houseplant book. It is comprehensive, well-researched and based on many, many years of practical experience in growing plants in the home. On top of all that, it is a great pleasure to read as Mr. McDonald is a natural writer. His love for living greenery is combined with a scrupulous interest in learning about the ever-expanding world of houseplants and in sharing what he has learned with gardeners, amateur and professional alike. If you are longing for a houseplant book, this is the one to get: it will whet your appetite to acquire more plants that can be brought into bloom in any home. It will also teach you everything handy about plants best suited for indoor culture. And thanks to its unpretentious design, layout and beautiful photographs, this is a most handsome volume.

Helen Van Pelt Wilson writes about her perennial gardens in such a way as to make one want to be out in the garden even as one reads the book. Read from cover to cover, or jump around the chapters - any way at all, it is the best reference book for gardeners I have ever found. And it reads so well - my friends always ask to borrow it again.

This book may seem an extravagance, especially if you have the wonderful "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques" (1998), by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, but it is the perfect reference that pays for itself over the years. In contrast to the plant list in the DiSabato-Aust book, this book has full color pix of all plants (perennials & shrubs). The index is useful!

It teaches you to recognize specific plant forms to which you apply the 9 pruning techniques that cover all bases. This book makes it simple to prune any plant, and the other book will tell you that almost all plants benefit from pruning.

As an example, red-twig (or yellow-twig) dogwood should be pruned by completely taking out the oldest 1/3 of branches each year in late winter. This keeps color strong and the bush uncrowded.

Lavender should have 1/3 of last year's new growth pruned off at end of winter, and you have to start this when the plant is young. (I didn't, and you can kill it by cutting back to hard wood.)

It also tells you the difference among all the types of roses (critical, because some bloom on second-year wood) in a 6-pg section copiously illustrated.

I expect that the new version deals with new plants, but have not seen it.

I bought a copy of this book 20 years ago and still refer to it. Of all the houseplant books I've seen, this is the one book that covers almost any houseplant available, including some I've never seen. Within its 318 pages you'll find the plant descriptions are sufficient, but not overwhelming, the care instructions clear, and the photos and drawings (mostly drawings) very helpful. Recently, I was able to locate an old hardcover copy to replace my deteriorating paperback copy.

This book is head and shoulders above the rest of its type. It is a superb "how-to" gardening book, which provides detailed information on general techniques as well as specific instructions for various types of plants. It also presents extensive information on landscape/garden design

I found this book to be amazingly helpful. I love being able to look up a plant, bulb, or seeds I just bought and finding the right conditions for raizing them. There is information about every aspect of gardening. There's even a basic Bontony section. The only thing I find a little distracting is that it uses the latin names for plants so I always have to start at the index. It has been a great addition to my home library.

This book as a reference is great. It provides me, the novice and working my way up gardener, with a great source for understanding the fundamentals of gardening. However, I think I'm going to purchase one of its sister books, American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. The A-Z provides more details about specifc varieties which can be helpful when you're selecting plants for your garden or simply trying to learn more about a specific plant. I believe the A-Z also contains much of the information contained in this one altough it is not as encompassing from a general perspective.

I received my first orchid as a gift, not knowing what to do with it a went out and bought this book. I have since accumulated about a half dozen different orchids. This book is an excellant beginners book. It walks you through what to expect with each general orchid type and many 'how to' details to get you started. The only reason I went looking for another book was that I bought a new dendrobium and this Ortho book did not have the information on that specific type of dendrobium due to the vast genus of dendrobiums.
I would recomend this book to anyone interested in starting out with orchids. It has lasted me years, without needing another reference.

The book contains about 92 pages. 13 pages are on general growing instructions (light, temperature, humidity, and air circulation). This section includes an excellent tip on how to measure light using a photometer in a camera, and they include a handy chart for converting camera aperature "f-stops" into "footcandles" of light. They also include more handy charts like the ideal light ranges for 19 genera, adjusting day length, and ideal night temperature ranges. 24 pages on buying orchids, potting orchids, fertilizing, dividing, and propagation. 6 pages on problems and disease. 8 pages on orchid botany and breeding. 36 pages on 18 common orchid genera. Each genera is described in about 12 paragraphs with comments about specific growing needs, species and hybrids, tips for success, and about 5 photographs of representative plants. 1 page on orchid suppliers and a 4 page index.

When I bought my first orchid, I purchased it with an excellent book called "Easy Orchids" by Mimi Luebbermann. The Luebbermann book got me through the first several months (and the first 6 orchids). The Ortho book adds to the excellent information that you obtained with Luebbermann. Ortho gives you that vital information necessary to take your orchid addiction ... er, I mean, your orchid hobby to the next level (and another 6 orchids).

Ortho's All About Orchids contains excellent information for the beginner. It is a must have book for the first time orchid grower.

As a beginning orchid grower with no experience and no previous knowledge, I found this book very helpful and inspiring. There are lots and lots of good photos of healthy orchids, as well as photos of not so healthy orchids in case you're not sure what you're looking at. The chapters are relatively short, and it's easy to find a certain section when you need it. I also really liked that this book includes some pronunciation guides in the sections about certain species of orchids, since I had never talked to anyone about orchids, and would otherwise have no idea how to pronounce "phalaenopsis." I definitely recommend this book to beginning hobby growers.

Book contains about 425 pages divided into 4 major sections: Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Trees & Shrubs. Each section describes 100 plants (hence the title, "400 Best Garden Plants").

Each plant is described by habit, leaves, flowers, light, soil, fertilizer, pruning, propagation, uses, etc. The information is fairly meager, about one sentence per item. Many of the sentences are repetitive and extremely general. For example, "fertilize with 5-10-5", is listed as advice for 97 out of 100 annuals. I'm not saying the advice is wrong, I just wonder why it must be repeated 97 times. At the beginning of the annual section, couldn't they say "fertilize most annual with 5-10-5", then go into details about the three plants that get treated differently. (By the way, the 3 special case plants are Amaranthus, Basil, and Flowering Maple).

The photography is a high point. Images are crisp and clear, most pictures are large (6 inches height). Unfortunately, the species or variety in the photograph is never identified.

The information is very general. For example, one of the 100 Best Perennials is listed as Anemone (Windflower, European Pasqueflower, Japanese Anemone). Egads! There is an extreme difference between two inch tall Windflower and three feet tall Japanese Anemone. Then they list uses as "cut flowers". Yeah, right! I can just see them now, on their hands and knees, harvesting the tiny flowers from the two inch tall plant. Listing characteristics of Windflower, European Pasqueflower, and Japanese Anemone in the same discussion is not useful gardening advice.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a great beginner's guide, but not a complete encyclopedia. Expert gardeners will find little of value in the book. For beginners, it's a 5 star book. For garden experts, it's only a 3 star.

This book is very good for it's price. Some of the photos are a little close, so it's hard to picture how the plant will look mixed into your garden. There are also some plants that I've looked up and this book doesn't cover. Also, there aren't a lot of ideas for shadey areas. However, I would honestly recommend this book. There are hundreds (400 to be exact) great plants in it. It also gives detailed information on how to care for the plants both before and after planting. This book is great for beginning and seasoned gardners alike!

This is a great book for the novice as well as the expert. Itis divided into 4 categories and contains many excellent pictures ofthe plants listed. For each plant, there is a description including height/habit, leaves, and flower; detailed instructions on how and when to plant and propagate; light, soil and fertilizer needs; and pruning requirements. The plants are listed with their scientific and common names and indexed accordingly. Overall, it is one of the best reference books I've seen.