This book is excellent for beginners; it covers all aspects of growing roses, from selection and planting to pruning and disease control. It doesn't assume the reader has any prior knowledge, so it doesn't use obscure phrases or terms, and it explains things in a clear, east-to-understand way. The best "basics" book on roses I've seen.

Although this is primarily a beginner's book, it is also a useful book for more experienced rose growers, in that it's a good review of general growing techniques. It is well illustrated with pictures of how to plant, prune, and care for roses, as well as having many color photographs of rose varieties. A rose grower must always keep in mind the area where he lives and especially the climate. Many roses grow well in some climates or some areas and not in others. Keeping that in mind, the list and photos of rose varieties are highly useful. Most of the "How To" information applies to all areas. This book is a great asset when combined with talking to local people and noticing roses that grow well in one's own area.

This book is just fantastic! I've found that the pictures are quite close to what I've actually produced in my own garden. Not all rose books have such accurate color representation. I also like that each rose photo has the accompanying RIR (roses in review) rating for that rose, and notes the rose's cold hardiness. Often, specific climate zone information can be tough to find. Finally, I especially like the notations regarding pest and disease resistance for each rose. This book notes a rose's flaws (ie, susceptibility to mildew) more often than most other books on my desk, and that has made it indispensable to me.

My only gripe: if you're trying to identify a disease or problem you're experiencing with a given rose, this book only offers drawings, no actual pictures. Based on drawings, novices could have trouble telling the difference between mildew and blackspot, for instance. Otherwise, it's a first rate book. I constantly find myself referring to it for information missing from some of the bigger (and more expensive!) rose books on my desk.

When I ordered the Encyclopedia, I resigned myself to slugging through mountains of information and end up "What did that say again?"

Well, I am pleased to say that there was the mountain of information and more often than not I knew what it was saying. The definitions in were to the point, crisp and relevant to the times. Rev. P. Stravinskas had the insight to include information an ordinary Catholic needed at 7PM Sunday in a mad rush to complete an assignment.

Where the encyclopedia lost me were in some definitions that were necessarily lengthy. Obviously, some white space could have saved me time in re-reading the whole passage. But, with the value of the information included, I believe the Encyclopedia is an excellent resource for those of us who are not scholars in the catechism of the Catholic Church.

Those who know Fr. Stravinskas know that he likes to keep things short and to the point, so that the average person can understand what he's teaching without getting lost in detail. On another note, Our Sunday Visitor has a reputation for printing only the best quality of Catholic books. This collaboration brings out the best traits of both.

It is faithful to the Church's basic teaching since the Second Vatican Council, it fits into one large volume using a print size that will not strain your eyes, it is wonderfully organized to cover a wide variety of topics relevant to the Catholic faith, and its entries are informative while being written at a level the average Catholic can understand.

For these reasons, this is simply one of the best modern Catholic Encyclopedias on the market. Every Catholic family and college student who is interested in their faith should own one.

If you want to know what the Catholic Church teaches this is a great reference book. Father Stravinskas teaches what the Church teaches, and not just his own personal opinion. I'd recommend anything he wrote. It's wonderful to know you won't be misled. Nice book for dipping into, too!

A true classic. Action, suspense, and dog training! With many, many pictures of photo-man! Don't miss it!

Weiss & Tom Rose, his co-author, are American experts in the German dog sport, Schutzhund ("protection dog"). Explaining principles and methods they used in training champion protection dogs, the authors demonstrate how to select and train a dog that will not only protect your home, but also be a friendly compainion to your family and friends. Anyone can go out and find a mean, angry dog that will protect a house just as well as it will bite your guests. Likewise, anyone can find a dog so friendly that it will lick your child's face just as easily as asking an intruder to shake its paw. Finding and training a dog that will protect your home but also romp and play with your freinds and loved ones is far, far more difficult. Let these experts show you the way.

For those who are intrigued with the first hand account of immigrants and their experiences during the Great Depression; there is a new publication of note which should not be overlooked simply because it has been published in the untraditional format of an e book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of early childhood memories, captured from the mind of a girl just coming aware of herself in a family traveling from prosperity to poverty to (in her adult years) prosperity again.

Centering around the story of her Calabrian father; the author, Rose Thomas, tells of his life after he has emigrated to the United States in the beginning of the last century, established a flourishing business, married a bride from the "old country," and together started a family. Trusting that this would be the promised land for them and their children, the ugly reality of how the fleeting American dream really played out in the courts could never have been imagined by these good, real people.

Before finally capturing and recording her family of origin's story in As I Recall - And So It Was, Rose Thomas' dozen true tales of her Italian grocer father's family joys and struggles during her girlhood were often the dinner table delight of friends and family members too young to have been there themselves. Joined by a few memories of her own young family's struggles and then the blessings of her grandchildren, Thomas' stories manage to make the reader of this short memoir fully sense the descriptions of her life centered around the family's store: from the aromas of the roasting coffees and aging cheeses, to the sound of her father singing out the jingles with which he would charm his customers, to the nausea of a first stolen smoke. Traveling back through her memories of the people and places of her childhood, the reader of this firsthand account of one of our nation's most difficult times, the Great Depression, is given an insight only one of it's survivors could offer: it is in the very ordinariness of the cycles of our families' struggles to support and celebrate our lives that history is made.

Tom Boggs' Green Roses is a sweet tale about Tim, an American high school senior living on a military base in Japan, and a Japanese senior named Satoru who lives in the city outside the gates. The title is significant since roses represents 'gay' in the Japanese culture, and green represents 'being green' as in being young.

Told from Tim's point of view during the early 70s Vietnam era, this story allows us to see what it would be like to live mostly isolated on an American air base during the war. But our protagonist Tim goes off-base on occasion where he meets Satoru. Once their friendship kicks off, Tim feels cheated that he's never bothered to learn much about his world outside the perimeter. As Tim visits his friend more often we get a glimpse of the differences in their upbringings and cultures. We also get to see what happens when their friendship develops into a brief, albeit very hot, sexual encounter.

Despite Tim's bold outlook, he has no idea that events will turn out as they do. While the ending is bittersweet, we're assured that Tim has learned a very valuable lesson, and therein lies the heart and soul of this story.

Considering that some people I know submitted essays in this book, I think everyone should have a copy or two. Someone needs to feed them, starving as they are as professors.

I bought this book several years ago and left it on the shelf. Then one day when I was looking up a particular shrub, I decided to check this book. From that time forth it has been my first choice when deciding on selecting a particular shrub. The auther is a exceptional horticulturist of many years standing with several plants named after him.

Out of the Shadow, by Rose Cohen, is a book about a pious Russian Jewish family that immigrated to America, after leaving Russia, due to strict unbearable laws that were past by the Czar. The father left Russia in pursuit of a better life in America for his family. As he earned somewhat of a living in America, he sends for his eldest daughter, and his sister, to come and help him make more money so that the family doesn't have to stay in Russia for mush longer. As the twelve-year old Rahel, twenty-one year old Masha and tired father work in America, they soon makes enough money to send traveling tickets to Russia for the rest of the family to come to America. They struggle in America to be happy, accepted, healthy, prosperous and become "Americans." Many drastic changes take place in their first years, and continue throughout the book. The family becomes less pious, but don't forget the Jewish religion completely. Losing their piety was a way of fitting in America. They tried to understand the life in America, and saw that it is very different than their lives in Russia. The family of seven (5 kids and the parents) was not really a family anymore because every family member had their own responsibilities. The kids worked so hard and barely spent any time at home, and begged by their mother not to work on the Sabbath. Rahel and her sister worked in sweatshops, and most of the money they earned was not for them, but for the family, and that was the most important thing. With this money they would buy food, and clothing. The mother came with her children to America to live a better life than they had lived in Russia and expected a lot more money, food, clothing, and happiness in America. Instead they survive with barley any food, money and happiness. I feel that all these changes are very hard to live with, or rather get used to because the family had a different view of life in America and are being let down by their expectations. These changes are rather sad, and discouraging, in my opinion because as I had read this book, I really felt their sorrow, and pain. They also had some happy moments, for example when the whole family was finally together (in America), but those happy moments are rare as the reader reads on in the book. The living style that the family had in America was one very different from Russia because in Russia, their home was with more warmth and even though the father went away to America, the house still felt nice and warm. The family itself had each other and everyone took care of everyone. The grandparents were living with the whole family, and the grandma especially had a very warm personality, I noticed as she talked to her grand-children etc. The mother seemed a lot happier too because she seemed like the family is all that she has and she must keep the house alive and happy for everyone, although she too at times was sad. Russia was undergoing many difficulties, and the Czar made the living standards impossible for some people, including the Jews. The mother and if I may add, the father as well, had many other things on their minds, which would cause for some tears of their own. Even though the log house in Russia, in my opinion seemed warmer (affectionately), it was hard for the family to keep a "warm" and comfortable living environment in America. The family didn't even live in a "better" area! They lived in the ghetto, full of poverty! They wanted a better life, and lived in misery in America! The family was always hungry because they couldn't make enough money to buy enough food and there was so much crying! Not knowing how to read and write was also very hard for the parents, and the kids as well. For immigrants lacking education was not good, and it kept them from getting better jobs in America. America was very different than Russia and since the people were different and the living style was different the family had to fit in by looking like Americans! This was also very hard for Jew's for they were not liked among the other people in their neighborhood. The father had to cut off his beard and his ear locks to look American so that nothing would happen to him as he walked in the streets. The mother was persuaded to take off her head covering so that she wouldn't look old fashioned, and this was a sin. Rahel reminds her mother that the father trims his beard and she answers to Rahel, "Is that why...I too must sin" (Cohen p.154)? In my opinion, they should've just stayed in Russia, and kept their Jewish faith because America is changing them in a bad way. I say this because I feel very strongly about the Jewish faith, that it is very important, and no one/nothing can ever take it away from me, or change who I am. The parents became very dependent on the children in the family for they worked most of the time and they too were the ones that brought home the money. The children would work just as hard as the adults did, but earn less money and were treated differently because of their young ages. When Rahel was a servant, she felt inferior to those who lived better than she did. Children (adults too) were the ones that would keep the family alive, I would say, but also lived the worst lives because they had such back-breaking jobs at the sweatshops etc. "Fourteen hours a day you sit on a chair, often without a back, felling coats. Fourteen hours you sit close to the other feller hand feeling the heat of her body against yours, her breathe on your face. Fourteen hours with your back bent, your eyes close to your work you sit stitching in a dull room often gas light. In the winter during all these hours as you sit stitching your body is numb and cold. In the summer, as far as you are concerned, there might be no sun, no green grass, no soft breezes" (Cohen p. 125). Rahel's family lived during a horrible time and being immigrants was the worst. They became less pious, had extremely difficult jobs and were unhappy most of the time. I really enjoyed reading this book because I felt that as a Jew, I can really relate to this story, aside from the fact it took place during the 1800's. This historical period was very hard, and as I read this book, a tear or two fell. The story was a success at the end, I feel, when the eldest of the two sons was on his way to Cornell University, but aside from that, the family did have an extremely difficult time in America. In my opinion they failed to live a better life, than they had anticipated they would live when they were still in Russia. Out Of the Shadow was definitely, one of the best books that I have read.

This book was an interesting compendium of the experiences of the author in looking for and finding old roses. He gives insight into the background of roses, where to find them and practical knowledge of the collecting. I do think it is a scientific work or an index, rather an interesting read about how he approached collecting old roses and what made them interesting to him. I enjoyed it!

For me, Gardening is about feeding my soul with beauty. If you are weary from reading the countless "how-to" gardening books that fill the shelves of the bookstore, then I would highly recommend this book.

Did you know that public parks evolved historically from cemeteries? Read this book to find out more.

And, no doubt, as other reviewers have noted, you will go out and find yourself one of these roses after reading their story.

Great book! :-)

There are few books in my gardening library so excellent I buy extra copies; miserly dealt out only to The Worthy. One of them is In Search Of Lost Roses.

In Search Of Lost Roses is a romp. A detective story. We are outlaws. We skulk through forgotten cemeteries. We drive old dirt roads. We meet eccentric old folks over garden gates, guardian angels of roses whose scent we will remember all our lives; things foreign to hybridizers in white lab coats.

I defy you to read this book and ~not~ acquire at least one of the old roses lauded within. My first choice was 'Aimee Vibert', a climbing noisette from 1828. England and France have an ancient horticultural feud. French nurseryman J.P. Vibert named his fragrant white masterpiece after his daughter. (As an aside: hunt plants with a woman's name. Only the best plants were named after wives, daughters, and mistresses.) Vibert said of his delicate climber "The English when they see her will go down on their knees." As I did and still do. For the three weeks she blooms on the arbor she is the goddess of the garden. She has a magnetizing effect on garden visitors and I tell them the story and say the punchline in my Inspector Clouseau accent. It is a testament to Mlle. Vibert that 200 years later she is still enchanting, passed down gardener to gardener. I never would have known her without In Search Of Lost Roses.

You will never forget this book. But buy it for the rose rustler's cutting recipe alone, if you will. They helped me to root cuttings from a fragrant and summer-long unknown in an ancient cemetery (I gave her the name of the lady she was planted over) after two years of trying other methods. And buy two. Perhaps someone you know is worthy. 5 Stars for Mr. Christopher.

Buy this book - you will not be disappointed. It is a work to look at again and again whether you are a railfan, traveler, or an artist. Some of Rose's paintings are romantic evocations of times and places that were found throughout the country not so long ago. Other pictures in the book have an edgier quality to them. In either case he captures the mood, light, and geographical setting of the never-ending drama of the American railroad. Rose was a painter who had a technical grasp of the nuts and bolts aspects of his subjects. He also had good artistic technique - I have found myself coming back to this book repeatedly and asking "how did he do that?" The quality of printing and binding is excellent and the introductory essay helps to place the paintings in the context of Ted Rose's life. I have bought several copies of this work as gifts for people and they have all been pleased with it.

This is a wonderful book you can read straight through. The life of the author and his relationship to the railroads of the USA is fascinating and the text about the evolution of his art is appealing. The photography is exceptional. This book is a must buy for fanciers of railroads and art. Highly recommended.

A terrific selection of paintings by marvelous railroad artist. Many of Rose's paintings are not on public view, having been done for private commission. So far he markets no prints or lithographs, so either you buy an original or you buy this book. Typical fine job of printing and binding. High value book, likely to be worth lots more when out of print.