The Gardener's Atlas: The Origins, Discovery, and Cultivation of the World's Most Popular Garden Plants

The Gardener's Atlas: The Origins, Discovery, and Cultivation of the World's Most Popular Garden Plants

by Bobby Ward (Author), John Grimshaw (Author)

Synopsis

The flowering plants in your garden, and their variety of color and form, are the result of hundreds of years of tradition, science, skill and intrepid exploration. They may be native plants carefully selected to provide larger blooms or a greater color range, exotic species with origins in far-distant lands, or cultivars which have been painstakingly bred to conform to an ideal of shape and form.

The Gardener's Atlas explores the histories of many of the world's most popular cultivated plants and reveals how and where they grew in the wild. It relates extraordinary and uplifting tales of their discovery in some of the remotest regions on earth -- tales of determination and perseverance, of barter and exchange, and of international friendship struck up between enthusiastic horticulturists from the 1500s onward.

There are insights into how plants that are now simply decorative were once used for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, for food or ritual, and into how they earned their common or Latin names. This is a book which cannot fail to enrich your gardening experience.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd
Published: Nov 1998

ISBN 10: 1552092267
ISBN 13: 9781552092262

Media Reviews
A fascinating reference for almost anything that grows in your garden.--Jennifer Sergent Scripps Howard Service (02/28/2004)
A wealth of information and enjoyment.--Marty Figley Rochester Eccentric (07/01/2004)
Grimshaw has put together one of the most interesting and adventurous books I've seen about our popular plants and their origins ... It's a delightful and informative reference book to own.-- (01/06/2000)
The format and presentation makes an interesting and visually beautiful way to learn about plants and botany!--American Herb Association Quarterly (01/01/2003)
A fascinating reference... tales of intrigue and adventure... avid gardeners might find themselves reading it cover to cover.-- (03/04/2004)
A good garden reference book. This portable, paperback atlas is a fascinating reference for almost anything that grows in your garden. It provides tales of intrigue and adventure behind plants you might merely think of as pretty -- and gives great conversation fodder the next time you host a garden party. ... Each one of the Atlas' 217 pages is rife with such stories. Even though it's a reference book, avid gardeners might find themselves reading it cover to cover.-- (03/05/2004)
Reads like the great adventures of plant hunters... a truly unique publication.... All true plant lovers should have this volume added to their reference library.-- (11/01/2004)
Author Bio

Dr. John Grimshaw has contributed to a number of prestigious horticultural magazines and books. He is a committee member of the U.S., U.K., and Scottish Rock Garden Societies.

Dr. Bobby Ward is co-editor of A Garden of One's Own, a collection of the garden writings of Elizabeth Lawrence and co-author of A Contemplation Upon Flowers: Garden Plants in Myth and Literatures.