Book Reviews: 10 “Must Reads” for 2010

Posted in Shop/Book Reviews on January 13 2010, by Plant Talk

Check Out These New Titles on Plants and Gardening

John Suskewich is Book Manager for Shop in the Garden.

Will these 10 books stop me from ordering seeds I probably won’t get around to sowing until 2018? Will they prevent me from having a six-foot-tall Panicum come up in front of an eight-inch-tall Catananche? Will they convince me not to try growing Rhododendron yakushimanum for the third time in 10 years in my yard with heavy clay soil and a high water table? Probably not; but here are 10 new books—on plants and gardens and nature and why it all matters—that were recently published or are coming out later this year and that I’ll be reading anyway, no matter what benefit I may or may not get from them!

A Landscape Manifesto,
by Diana Balmori
Innovative and influential landscape architect Diana Balmori writes on the theory, practice, and future of her profession.

Ken Smith Landscape Architect,
by Ken Smith
This imaginative practitioner, who has changed our idea of what landscape architecture can be, looks at his most important projects.

Garden Guide: New York City,
by Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry
From Gotham’s horticultural Baedeker comes a new edition—it’s always amazing to see how many gardens you can visit here in NYC!

The Japanese Tea Garden, by Marc Peter Keane
No American interprets Japanese garden history and practice better than our colleague Marc Peter Keane.

The Gardener’s Color Palette, by Tom Fischer
Garden writer and editor Tom Fischer takes a unique approach to examining the use of color in the garden.

Armitage’s Vines and Climbers, by Allan M. Armitage
Anything by Dr. Armitage is going to be authoritative and amusing, and I hope he can tell me how to get rid of that pesky ‘Grandpa Ott’ morning glory from my front garden.

Botanical Drawing in Color,
by Wendy Hollender
Our great NYBG instructor’s work is soon to be in book form!

The Sustainable Rose Garden, edited by Pat Shanley and Peter Kukielski
NYBG’s rosarian-in-chief Peter Kukielski co-edited this new, revised, enlarged book of essays on green rose gardening, one of which he wrote. Is it really possible without spending all of July picking off leaves with black spot?

Food Rules, by Michael Pollan
This is a field guide-sized version of the notable author’s “eat mostly plants” philosophy.

Garden Bouquets and Beyond, by Suzy Bales
Suzy Bales’ books are always a treat, and here she brings her sense of style to flower arranging and the cutting garden.