Random House Book of Roses (Random House Book of ... (Garden Plants))

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Summary: The Random House Book of Roses
Review: Excellent illustrations, but not in alphabetical order within groups. The index will direct you if you are looking for a particular rose. Not as informative or comprehensive as the Ultimate Rose Book, which is my preference. But it would be a nice addition to your library.

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Summary: Absolutely essential for a meaningful rose library!
Review: Learning about roses from what's available in your local garden centers or through the major rose suppliers' catalogues doesn't even HINT at the incredible diversity of types of roses. This is a book to fire the imagination and open the eyes to extraordinary possibilities. The 1400 rose photographs are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The book uses a seldom seen and tremendously useful technique, in some cases, to show you roses of a certain category all laid out in a single perfect photograph. If you want, for example, a yellow rose, then its so useful to see them all together to compare and contrast their blooms. If appearance is a strong criteria in your rose selection and you'd like something besides the frequently average roses the commercial rose people are pushing, take a look at this book!

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Summary: Review amendment from East Bay grower
Review: When I first got this book I wasn't impressed with its layout. However, after using it and other reference books for 9 months I find it has the BEST photography for clarity when identifying a rose and it has roses listed that are not in other reference books. I've been able to identify some "mystery roses" because of the excellent and very natural appearance of the roses photographed. It's been an excellent reference source and I highly recommend it.