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Rating: 
Summary: Nice little reference book for the price
Review: My mid-size suburban yard encompases everthing from full shade to full sun and everything in between. I often have problems finding some plants for the drier shady spots in my garden. I enjoy colour, not only foliage and was happy to see that most of the plants in this book were flowering shade plants. The colour picture of each variety was very helpful, even if most people cannot plant perennials en masse like the pictures illustrated. Some plants I had not heard of and would like to try. As with all gardening and despite recommendations in books, sometimes the plants grow for you and sometimes they don't. Try something else. All in all a nice little reference book for the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Short & Sweet!
Review: Perfect! It was exactly what I needed. It gives a nice picture with a quick description of all the essential information on the side and then more, if desired. None of this, "a wonder in your garden... incredibly fragrant and blah, blah, blah.... " Here's the common name, scientific name, partial shade, height, color, etc. I have a big garden and I know what type of light I get and what type of soil I have and what type of flower beds I want. I just need to know what will do well with my situation and skimming through books that do not tell you the gist up front I find incredibly annoying. The best thing about this book is that it gives you a quick description of the flower and then, if you want more information, it gives you the type of family it belongs to, a more in-depth description AND other flowers that would work well and look good with it! What more could you ask for? Maybe more than 50? I wish there were more of these Taylor books.
Rating:
Summary: Short & Sweet!
Review: Perfect! It was exactly what I needed. It gives a nice picture with a quick description of all the essential information on the side and then more, if desired. None of this, "a wonder in your garden... incredibly fragrant and blah, blah, blah.... " Here's the common name, scientific name, partial shade, height, color, etc. I have a big garden and I know what type of light I get and what type of soil I have and what type of flower beds I want. I just need to know what will do well with my situation and skimming through books that do not tell you the gist up front I find incredibly annoying. The best thing about this book is that it gives you a quick description of the flower and then, if you want more information, it gives you the type of family it belongs to, a more in-depth description AND other flowers that would work well and look good with it! What more could you ask for? Maybe more than 50? I wish there were more of these Taylor books.
Rating:
Summary: it is what it says .... and a bit more
Review: Subtitled 'Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens', this book is a pithy reference for gardeners in urban and suburban areas who are trying to fill shady spots with attractive blooms and foliage. I've had the book for a year and got good results this year using plants I chose, based on this author's advice, last year. The book starts with a short chapter on the basics: soil, hardiness zones, mulching, planting, watering and pests -- one paragraph each. Each of fifty plants then gets one-and-a-half pages (and the print is big) -- a photo, a paragraph of introduction to the plant followed by how and where to grow instructions, a mention of varieties, and a chart that gives zone hardiness, bloom time, light, height and interest. Also of value are sidebars on a wide variety of topics, e.g. planting under trees, winter protection, wildflowers from seeds, propagating by division, woodland planting, coordinating strong color, controlling slugs. These sidebars are made more valuable by their inclusion in the index. There is also a glossary and a hardiness zone map. This is an enjoyable and informative book, but if you are a neophyte you might also want to get a companion book that covers basics more thoroughly, and if you are a truly devoted gardener you might want to get a book that devotes more time to each species and/or discusses more plants.
Rating:
Summary: it is what it says .... and a bit more
Review: Subtitled 'Easy Plants for More Beautiful Gardens', this book is a pithy reference for gardeners in urban and suburban areas who are trying to fill shady spots with attractive blooms and foliage. I've had the book for a year and got good results this year using plants I chose, based on this author's advice, last year. The book starts with a short chapter on the basics: soil, hardiness zones, mulching, planting, watering and pests -- one paragraph each. Each of fifty plants then gets one-and-a-half pages (and the print is big) -- a photo, a paragraph of introduction to the plant followed by how and where to grow instructions, a mention of varieties, and a chart that gives zone hardiness, bloom time, light, height and interest. Also of value are sidebars on a wide variety of topics, e.g. planting under trees, winter protection, wildflowers from seeds, propagating by division, woodland planting, coordinating strong color, controlling slugs. These sidebars are made more valuable by their inclusion in the index. There is also a glossary and a hardiness zone map. This is an enjoyable and informative book, but if you are a neophyte you might also want to get a companion book that covers basics more thoroughly, and if you are a truly devoted gardener you might want to get a book that devotes more time to each species and/or discusses more plants.
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