PPBOOK The Plant Propagator’s Bible
A Step-by-Step Guide to Propagating Every Plant in Your Garden
Miranda Smith

Paperback, 192 pages, 7 1/2 x 9 3/4, full-color photographs, full-color illustrations, Rodale Press, ISBN 1-59486-448-9

With her reader-friendly, easy-to-follow directions, a veteran horticulture teacher demonstrates all the ways to cultivate new plants—whether from seed or cuttings or with techniques such as layering, grafting, and budding

Creating new plants from existing ones is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. But to many, the idea of propagating plants seems like a feat that only the most experienced gardeners can master. The Plant Propagator’s Bible strips away the mystique and makes multiplying plants easy even for the novice.

Drawing on her many years as a horticulture teacher, Miranda Smith explains the natural process and conditions in which plants grow and reproduce, and shows gardeners how to use these systems to propagate any plant that grows in their garden or greenhouse—or even on their windowsill. The book features:

• an A to Z directory of more than 1,000 individual plant species—with appropriate propagation techniques for aquatics, ornamental plants, houseplants, shrubs, trees, vegetables, and wildflowers

• "What Can Go Wrong" advice for each type of plant, explaining potential problems and how to prevent or fix them

• detailed, step-by-step illustrations and annotated photographs

Including information on essential tools and equipment, this is an indispensable addition to every gardener’s bookshelf.
  $21.95

GSB01 Gardening with Heirloom Seeds
Tried-and-True Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables for a New Generation
Lynn Coulter

Paperback, 316 pages, 8 x 9, full-color photographs, full-color illustrations
University of North Carolina Press, June 2006, ISBN 0-8078-5680-0

Heirloom seeds are more than the promise of next summer's crookneck squash or jewel-colored zinnias. They're living antiques handed down from one generation to the next, a rich inheritance of flavor and beauty from long ago and, often, far away. They are sometimes better adapted to pests and harsh conditions than many modern varieties and often simply smell or taste better. Gardening with Heirloom Seeds serves as a resource for gardeners, cooks, and plant lovers of all levels of expertise who want to know more about finding, sharing, and propagating the seeds of heirloom flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
In these beautifully illustrated pages, Lynn Coulter describes fifty treasured heirloom species, from Frenchman's Darling, a flowering herb whose seeds were pocketed by Napoleon Bonaparte when he invaded Egypt in 1798, to Snow White beets, an old Dutch favorite that will not stain the cook's fingers red. Most of the plants included here will grow all across the United States; a few are best suited for warmer climates.
The text is sprinkled throughout with practical advice from heirloom gardeners and lists sources for finding the seeds of many old varieties. Because it also provides ample room for making notes, Gardening with Heirloom Seeds can be used year after year and can become an heirloom in its own right—a personal journal to pass along to the next generation of gardeners.
About the author: Lynn Coulter is a journalist and writer whose work has appeared in Delta Sky, Family Circle, Southern Living, and other publications. She lives with her husband and son in Georgia.
  $22.50

GSB02 Hands-On Gardener
The Hands-On Gardener: Seeds and Propagation
Susan McClure

Paperback, 160 pages, 5 1/4 x 9, two-color illustrations
Smith & Hawken, ISBN 0-7611-0733-9

These single-subject primers from Smith & Hawken provide basic tutorials for the novice, yet are thorough enough to serve as references for the experienced gardener. Sized perfectly for a back pocket and illustrated throughout, each is ready to offer season after season of practical help.
  $10.50

GSB03 Forcing, etc.
The Indoor Gardener’s Guide to Bringing Bulbs, Seeds, and Branches into Bloom
Katherine Whiteside, Photography by Richard Felber

Paperback, 192 pages, 9 x 9, full-color photographs
Smith & Hawken, ISBN 0-7611-2970-7

Now in paperback, Forcing, etc, with 60,000 copies in print, is the well-received guide to indoor, through-the-winter gardening: "As beautiful as it is instructive," writes Michael Pollan. Town & Country calls it "Inspiration for lightening up the bleak days of winter . . . Forcing, etc will open up a whole new world beyond paper-whites." "After perusing Forcing, etc, even those with the blackest of thumbs will want to try forcing bulbs and spring branches into bloom on a winter windowsill."—Rebecca's Garden
Written by award-winning author Katherine Whiteside, here is the complete guide to indoor gardening, filled with 125 exquisite full-color photographs. Covering pre-chilling to potting up, putting away and water-forcing, Forcing, etc combines hands-on how-to with an artist's passion for detail to show how to grow and/or force dozens of common and exotic plants: hardy bulbs—crocus, narcissus, muscari, and iris; tender bulbs—oxalis, calla lily, clivia; branches—from apple and apricot to forsythia, moosewood, and quince; and tender plants—fuchsia, coleus, clematis, and scented geraniums. In addition, the author focuses on presentation and display, choosing unexpected containers, and orchestrating an indoor garden for balance of bloom and color.
  $16.95

GSB05 Seeds of Fortune
A Gardening Dynasty
Sue Shephard, Foreword by Roy Lancaster

Hardcover, 300 pages + 16 color plates, 6 1/4 x 9 1/2, full-color illustrations, b&w photographs, b&w illustrations
Bloomsbury ISBN 1-58234-256-3

For fans of The Tulip and Orchid Fever, here is a captivating account of big business, adventure, and family intrigue in the horticultural world.
For over a century and across five generations, one Scottish family pioneered the introduction of hundreds of new plants into gardens, conservatories, and houses, and became the foremost European cultivators and hybridizers of their day. The story begins in 1768 when a Scotsman named John Veitch went to England to find his fortune, starting out as a gardener for the aristocracy. Realizing that horticultural mania had begun to spread throughout the population, Veitch and his wife opened a nursery and began to send the first commercial plant collectors to North and South America, Australia, India, Japan, China, and the South Seas. These plant collectors were among the first people allowed into the countries of the Far East and the tales of their travels—many of them perilous and some fatal—are wonderful adventure stories. Combining an historian's eye for detail with a flair for storytelling, Sue Shephard charts the fortunes of one family and through them tells the fascinating story of the modern garden.
  $29.95

GSB06 Take-Along Guides-Berries, Nuts and Seeds
Diane L. Burns, Illustrated by John F. McGee

Paperback, 48 pages, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2, full-color illustrations
NorthWord Books for Young Readers, ISBN 1-55971-573-1

Each book has descriptive text and color illustrations to aid in identification. Basic natural history information is also provided. Blank pages are included to use as a scrapbook of notes and drawings.
  $7.95