Iris: The Classic Bearded Varieties

Rating:
Summary: Truly superb, very informative.
Review: This book was a lot more than I expected, and I loved the thoughtful cross-reference guide included with each photo. The photography itself is superb, and it is wonderful to see the spots, stripes, and colors on these garden queens. It was nice to see some of the more common irises included and that even though a grower, the author didn't turn this gem of a book into a mere catalog. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Truly superb, very informative.
Review: This book was a lot more than I expected, and I loved the thoughtful cross-reference guide included with each photo. The photography itself is superb, and it is wonderful to see the spots, stripes, and colors on these garden queens. It was nice to see some of the more common irises included and that even though a grower, the author didn't turn this gem of a book into a mere catalog. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Iris lovers...save your money!!
Review: Wow, how disappointing. I am a grower/lover of bearded irises and automatically purchase any newly published book on the subject. This book is just set up poorly to read, the varieties depicted are from the author's garden(I assume) are bland, boring, and non representative of some of the finest varieties of bearded irises out there. I really didn't appreciate most of the photography either...a lot of that artsy "looking into the center of the flower" stuff. The only reason it got even two stars is that I appreciate the author's text in some areas and that she's endeavored to create a book to showcase and promote the iris. Unfortunately, the overall effort seems to fall short.

Rating:
Summary: Iris lovers...save your money!!
Review: Wow, how disappointing. I am a grower/lover of bearded irises and automatically purchase any newly published book on the subject. This book is just set up poorly to read, the varieties depicted are from the author's garden(I assume) are bland, boring, and non representative of some of the finest varieties of bearded irises out there. I really didn't appreciate most of the photography either...a lot of that artsy "looking into the center of the flower" stuff. The only reason it got even two stars is that I appreciate the author's text in some areas and that she's endeavored to create a book to showcase and promote the iris. Unfortunately, the overall effort seems to fall short.