Lois Hole's Rose Favorites

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.

The basics of what to plant, and of when, how, and where to plant it,
make up the content of most gardening books. In Lois Hole’s books,
those “givens” are only the beginning. The core of her work is
always an alphabetical guide to the most popular varieties for Canadian
gardens. In Rose Favorites, this section introduces 148 varieties. In
Trees and Shrubs, it’s a huge 300-species section. For each entry in
this species-by-species catalogue, there are several color photos,
details such as height and spread, light, moisture and soil preferences,
growing tips, interesting lore, and little extras, such as a recipe or
historic tidbit.

Wrapped around this core section is a mass of information, always
clearly and beautifully illustrated in full color. In Rose Favorites,
Hole shares information on buying, watering, fertilizing, and pruning
roses; growing roses in containers; pest control; drying roses; making
potpourris; and cooking with roses. As well, she covers climbing roses,
ground cover roses, tree roses, and even rose hedges. In Trees and
Shrubs, she includes subsections on low-maintenance plantings, pruning,
staking, training, and windbreaks, among other topics.

Another great feature is her lists. For roses, Hole’s lists include
hardy and tender roses, roses by color and by fragrance, roses for
cutting, shrub roses, and even old garden roses. For trees and shrubs,
the lists include recommendations by summer and fall foliage color, by
fragrance, by fruit display, by winter appearance, by size, by
suitability for cut-flower arrangements, and by appeal to wildlife;
there’s even a list of the best shrubs to use either for rock gardens
or as ground covers.

These books are beautiful, informative, fact-packed, and
inspiring—the kind of quality resource that any gardener, beginner or
pro, will cherish.