A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants: Canadian Edition

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

While it is quantity that brings you to this work, it is quality that
will keep you here, spending hours checking out old favourites, nibbling
at the masses of information, and being drawn in by the glowing photos.

“Massive” is the obvious starting point to describe this work,
which features 15,000 ornamental plants and 6,000 colour photos—nine
pounds of solid information. The amount of content is staggering. It
includes the hardiness zones for all of Canada, detailed botany lessons,
pruning and propagating instructions, outdoor and hothouse cultivation,
and problem solving. And that’s only the introduction.

There are rich illustrated sections on every type of ornamental
plant—trees, shrubs, vines, annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs,
orchids, bromeliads, cacti, succulents, palms, cycads, ferns, water
plants, grasses, bamboos. There’s both a traditional and a visual
glossary, plus an index of common plant names. And we still haven’t
reached the heart of the encyclopedia, an alphabetical description of
the individual plant types. This enormous section of profiles, arranged
by scientific name, is packed with quantities of information, including
common name, description and characteristics, dimensions, hardiness,
pests and diseases, country of origin, cultivation requirements (light,
moisture, soil, temperature, etc.), propagation, and variations.

The quantity of material is exciting. I could not think of even one
ornamental plant that is not included. The quantity of photos is
amazing. For example, there are photos of 310 types of roses, more than
would be expected in a book dedicated to roses. Imagine a general
gardening book with photos of 134 rhododendrons, 40 day lilies, 58
hostas.… Now imagine all that information and all those colour photos
to be absolutely first class, the very best. The drawings (yes, there
are dozens and dozens of those, too), plant “portraits” (whole
plant), and close-ups of blossoms are great for identification purposes
and useful for garden designing.

The encyclopedia is certain to be a much-consulted reference for
gardeners and horticulturists and the only gardening book the average
family will ever need.