Books recommended by our guest speaker from April, Tara Dillard:
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Here are some old favorites from Sue Laimans you can order from the library or see if you can find on Amazon.
Oldies but goodies were written in the 1930s & 1950’s by author Beverley Nichols. These are just a few of his books, as he has written many. His books have become popular again & have been reprinted. They are based on his buying old homes in England, and fixing them up as well as tending to the gardens.
“Down the Garden Path” is about his problems redoing a Tudor cottage & garden.
Nichols also wrote a fun trilogy about redoing a Georgian Manor House and its gardens. These gardens came with a long employed gardener. The first one is “Merry Hall” and is followed by “Laughter on the Stairs” and the final, “Sunlight on the Lawn”. They are very lighthearted & fun reading. Sue has “ Merry Hall,” and if you would like to borrow it, please contact her.
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Our Board also has a few “favorites” that are enjoyable for reading and using as references:
“Gardening In Iowa,” by Melinda Meyers, is a month-by month guide to a beautiful garden all year around.
“Continuous Color,” by Pam Duthie, is a month-by-month guide to shrubs and small trees for the continuous bloom garden.
“An Encyclopedia of Shade Perennials” by W. George Schmid is self-explanatory and so helpful.
“The Perennial Care Manual” by Nancy J. Ondra.
“A Plant-by Plant Guide: What to Do & When to Do It” by various editors is our last recommendation.
And here is a little more “book talk” by Sue Laimans, who created a list for us of her favorite gardening books:
Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants by Steven M. Still – I use this book a lot. It’s well organized & has all the info on a plant on 1 or 2 pages such as height, width, cultivars, diseases, culture, propagation,how to use it in the landscape & more.
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust – Has lots of info on plants & shows techniques to encourage rebloom, prevent flopping, proper shaping, etc.
Good Planting by Rosemary Verey – This is a beautiful book. I was fortunate to meet her at her home in England & her beautiful garden. She died a few years ago & the new owners don’t open their garden to visitors anymore which is a shame. I have 3 of her books but this is my favorite. Lots of color photos to illustrate combinations of texture & color. Also has some of her garden designs in it.
The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants – A good overall plant book covering all garden plants not just perennials. Has lots of descriptions of cultivars & is well illustrated with color photos. The contents are similar to the Still book but covers a lot more plants.
The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening – This is a really well done book on anything you want to do in your yard like pruning, making a rock garden, drying flowers, building a stone wall or patio & lots more. Well illustrated, too.
If anyone has a particular favorite and wants to add it in, just use the contact us form with the information and we’ll post it.