Gardening Book Thread

[Mike Allen]

Two books that are top of my list for gardeners.

1. Readers Digest Encyclopedea of Garden Plants & Flowers.



2. The Royal Horticultural Society's A-Z Encyclopedea of Garden Plants and Flowers.

1. Is my favourite. 2. Is a bit costly if purchased new. However EBay usually have a fine list of pre-owned copies.

 

[Nicolas]

+1 for the RHS Encyclopaedia, an excellent reference book, @Mike Allen.

My current Horticultural bible and the one I refer to daily is 'Gardening For Wildlife' by Adrian Thomas, an RSPB publication. For native British plants, 'Collins Complete Guide To British Wild Flowers'. First books to enthuse me about Horticulture were Monty Don's 'Around The World In 80 Gardens' and 'Gardening At Longmeadow'.

 

[Tetters]

For a jolly good read and a few laughs, try ''Garden flowers from seed'' The authors are Christopher Lloyd, and Graham Rice. A must for an evenings read !

 

[Mike Allen]

My late wife Valerie often said. 'Not another book on, trees, or whatever. OK we have the encyclopedias etc, but it's all those books written by individuals who have taken an interest and write about their experiences and the way they see and appreciate various plants, tree etc.

 

[Tetters]

One book in our house belongs to Zigs. It's a little book called Gardener's Latin - by Bill Neal. It is so useful, it doesn't often see the bookshelf Using the Latin names for plants is so helpful and will explain much about a new variety in an instant.

 

[Nicolas]

@Tetters Don't know how it compares, but I have 'Latin For Gardeners' by Lorraine Harrison. At first I thought it was a tad pricey for what it is, but it's actually quite a useful and interesting reference book. Every gardener should have a book explaining Latin names IMO!

 

[Tetters]

As @Mike Allen mentioned, second hand is the way to go, especially now that the younger generation in particular are depending mostly on the internet for everything. There are so many unwanted books that would have originally cost a fortune. Ziggy's Latin book was £2.00 - so it says inside the cover. The charity shops were full of books too last time I looked (pre covid)

 

[Nicolas]

Yeah, one of my favourite gardening books was purchased for 50p from a charity shop. 'The Cottage Gardeners Companion' from The Cottage Garden Society. Features all the traditional plants and recommends some good selections of their newer cultivars, packs a lot of interesting and useful information into just over 150 pages!

 

[Mike Allen]

Plant names simplified. Their pronunciation,derivation & meaning. is a handy book.

Also for deeper study. Botanical Latin, by Prof. William Stern.

 

[Mike Allen]

Just a Tip when buying new books. Especially specialist subject books. For instance most organisations produce specialist titles. You might well believe that as a member etc, you are getting a good deal by buying direct. Fair so's, perhaps a bit might be added as a contribution to the respective organisation. I belong to the RBG (Kew). A recent publication by KEW. Plants of the World. An illustrated encyclopedea of Vascular Plants. Their pre-published price was £70 I was eager to own a copy, but seventy quid. I have books in my library that I paid £50 plus for. I checked out the internet. Amazon was asking around £40 plus free p/p. Guess where I bought my copy. Sadly most charity shop staff have little idea of book values, so now and then a real bargain can be picked up. Just watch the pennies.

 

[marlingardener]

I love my Botanica, which has both the common names and Latin names of almost any plant in the world! A word of warning---it is very heavy, so if you get the book, you can use it to help both your mind and your muscles!
I also love Madeline Hill's Herbs For Southern Gardens, which has helped me so much in avoiding herbs that don't like Texas, and herbs that do like our area.

 

[Mike Allen]

For many of us. The internet must be something of a god-send. Don't knock it, but I am old enough to remember having to write countless letters requesting details etc of this and that. Now! a couple of clicks at the computer and the world comes alive. In this case, buying books.
I recently purchased . The Readers Digest, gardeneres guide to growing roses. By John Mattock. I know John from way back in the RHS. This book cost me under £4. Post free. Here in the UK, the postage must have been around 2-3 pounds. Trust me. It's a book worth having.

Incidentally. When suggesting this area of the forum. I did have in mind for members to mention books they have read, not just gardening books.

Enjoy your read.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Good thread.