Reddit mentions: The best flower gardening books

Well, since you like flowers, you might enjoy growing some houseplants or starting a garden, if you don't have one already. My favorite houseplants are African violets, but I also like orchids and succulents. You can either just do it as a casual hobby and keep a few plants on the windowsill, or you can decide to get more serious about it if you find you like it. My plants do well with whatever amount of care I have time to give them, as long as I remember to water them. They respond best when I treat them like show plants, but they'll be fine if you don't have the time for that. You can show African violets (and probably other types of plants, but I only know about African violets for sure), and there are clubs for this type of thing. They usually sell African violets and other houseplants at the supermarket, Pike Nursery, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. They have a wider selection of varieties on the Internet, and some groups even trade leaves (you can grow African violets from cuttings) so that members can get new varieties. [This] (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/afrviolet/) is my favorite forum for African violets, and there's a subreddit for houseplants [here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/IndoorGarden/). [This] (http://www.amazon.com/African-Violets-Complete-Joan-Hill/dp/1861261500/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374020196&sr=1-4&keywords=african+violets) book should tell you just about everything you need to know about African violets to grow them with some success. Expect to kill at least a couple when you just start out, though. Don't worry; it happens to everyone. Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy growing houseplants, if you decide to. I find it to be relaxing, and taking care of living things might help you to cheer up. At the very least, you'll bring life and beauty into your home and find a pleasant, calming hobby.

Fruit by Stuppy and Kesseler is packed full of gorgeous scanning electron micrographs (and other pictures too) and a lot of very detailed but very readable information. I can not reccomend it highly enough. Seeds and Pollen are also very good. I have not read it (just found it now, going straight on my wishlist) but The Bizzare and Incredible World of Plants, also by Stuppy is almost certainly excellent.

It's a bit technical and dry, but Plant Form, by Adrian Bell is one of my favorite reference books of all time. The information is fascinating, and the diagrams are gorgeous. There's a free online copy available (legal, I think) if you would like to have a look, but I would highly recomend a physical copy, and it's pretty cheap as far as reference books go. Flip through the section on Tree Architecture starting at page 296 for a sample of how cool it is. Read and understand that section and you will be amazed at the things you will start noticing about plants around you.

For plant ID, I can not reccomend Botany in a Day highly enough for a quite comprehensive tutorial in how to recognize plant groups (which makes it orders of magnitude easier to come up with a more specific ID). It's a classic, and is a required text for just about every field botany class.

Getting a good guide to your local plants that is based on dichotomous keys and diagrams rather than photos and learning how to use it is an absolute must if you want to move past the basics for IDing plants in your area. Without knowing your location, it's impossible to give good recomendations, but the Jepson Manual is a good example of what you should be looking for, and by far the best guide to California plants. Unfortunately these sorts of books are usually fairly pricey, and can be pretty impenetrable without practice (helps a lot if you already have a general idea of what it is), so you might hold off on getting one until a much later date. You can get older editions for cheaper, but at least in the case of Jepson's, most of the changes involve more diagrams and easier to use keys, so it might not be worth it.

There are loads of others that are slipping my mind at the moment, I will add them later if I remember.

Thank you very much. African violets can bloom constantly if given the right conditions but I would guess mine bloom every other month. I'm not an expert but I try to get them to bloom often. When they bloom the flowers can last several weeks as well, making them very desirable.

I sometimes rotate mine from my growing area, to my dining table when they bloom, where the lightning is less perfect for them. The right amount of light is crucial to AVs to help them bloom, but I like showing them off and having them in the rest of the house is nice. This way they bloom in my growing area, and then in the rest of my house the blooms fade while I show them off.

About separating them, I'm not sure if you mean offshoot crowns, or multiple plants growing from a leaf. For offshoot crowns, I actually only have one that does that, which I received as a gift very recently, just a few months ago. I decided to take the offshoot and try and plant it as its own plant, so I'll see how that goes.

For multiple plants coming off a leaf you've planted, yes I separate them, once they are sizeable and easy to handle. To me an African violet should have a single crown, otherwise it looks messy.

I also have cut old 'stalky' plants shorter and replanted them with success. I have two plants I did this to just a week or two ago, which are recovering nicely.

For watering, you can easily add your fertilizer to the water you soak your plants in. I would recommend occasionally, maybe 1 in 5 waterings, to use plain unfertilized water. This will help eliminate too much build up of fertilizer. The issue you may have is you're soaking the plant in a large amount of water, you should mix your fertilizer into the water based on that volume. Meaning you'll use/waste more fertilizer faster.

But ultimately for me, a smaller dosage than the recommended amount of fertilizer is more effective for me. I also water from the top with fertilizer mixed in, and occasionally just use plain water.

Edit: also everything I learned about African violets, I learned from this book by Tony Clements.

I really like Putting Food By for preservation guidance.

If you are looking for less how to, Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal Vegetable Miracle is a wonderful read.

This isn't so much of a homesteading book, but Sara Stein's Noah's Garden is one of my favorites. It's about rethinking the way we garden so that we are doing it in harmony with ecology and nature.

I've been a fan of Ben Falk for a long time and he put out his first book not that long ago, The Resilient Farm and Homestead which is awesome particulary if you live in a colder climate. I have a feeling he will be putting out a new edition though soon given how he wrote the first one so you might want to wait on a purchase of that one.

Again, if you are a cold climate person, almost anything by Elliot Coleman is really great. He does a lot of extending the season kind of stuff that is good for shorter season growers.

Edible Landscaping is more for people with yards (as opposed to acreage I guess....) but I think the book is brilliant and well written and very inspirational with lots of resources.

There is a really handy book called "The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden" that shows a systematic way to ensure that a flower garden is continually blooming. It's a really useful and approachable garden design method, and I refer to it a lot. I don't like paying full price for books, but I'm glad I made the purchase. The specific cultivars listed may not be readily available, but the book explains the plants in enough detail that someone relatively familiar with ornamental plants can make substitutions.

As far as a spreadsheet for flowers - there are probably millions of flowering plant cultivars, so you're not going to find a bloom calendar that has that much data on it. If you need suggestions for something specific, though, people here might be able to help you.

If you're also vegetable gardening, I love Smart Gardener. I use it for garden layout. I don't think it's customizable enough when it comes to scheduling and reminders, but they're making big improvements right now, so hopefully it'll have improved functionality in the future. I think it's the most intuitive to use and shows the most promise.

For scheduling, it's fiddly, but I just put things into my google calendar. Here's what it looks like. Here's the detail of one of the "sow indoors" reminders.

Planning out successional vegetables is really helpful. I used to plant a few carrots thinking I'd do more the next week, and then I'd forget for a month. I have ADHD, though, so reminders are more important for me than they are for other people.

Hey thank you for the resources! plants.jstor.org looks to be closer to what I'm looking for, specifically the ability to search by region. Kew looks great as well, but when I search for a broad term like desert, I only get 25 results. I'd love to find something more in depth in the sense of "Plants of the Savanna" or something.

Here's an example of the kind of book I've been looking at, but I could do with less in depth info and variation, and more "international" or "regional" if that makes sense. Best is to have a small image like this book with the real world plant, the scientific name, and location. I'm a total layman when it comes to horticulture. I work as a 3D environment artist, so I'm just trying to collect useful resources to reference when approaching foliage creation :)

https://www.amazon.com/American-Horticultural-Society-Encyclopedia-Practical/dp/0789489937

Maybe we just need a closer picture. I would say do it in sections and when you weed it, plant more low maintenance flowers that go with the style that is there now. Echinacea, rudbeckia, golden alexanders, alliums, columbines and phlox would all look great there. Prairie plants will suffocate weeds after a few years. This book is the best I've read on low maintenance landscaping: Know Maintenance Perennial Gardening and it's got great recommendations for the midwest. You will still need to do some weeding (and probably a lot to begin with) but if you get a dutch hoe like he recommends it doesn't take long and I personally enjoy it. You have a great start already with some healthy looking flowers there already. Mixing in some tall grasses can be cool if you just want to take up some space. Wild geraniums would look awesome on the front border.

I would recommend trying species from the group Aerangis, Specifically Aerangis hariotiana, hildebrandtii, fastuosa, and citrata as these are low light species from very humid regions that would fit the temperature range you have.


Also try Pleoruothallids, Group includes Masdevallia - Pleurothallis - Dracula - Lepanthes - Restrepia and so on, that are warmer growing. Species from coastal Brazil will work well in your conditions provided they are also miniature in size. Dracula lotax, Pleurothallis tribuloides, and Platystele umbellata are some of the easier to find members from the group that stay fairly small while flowering regularly.


Bulbophyllum nitidum and tingabarinum are two species that are readily available and have very dramatic flowers, Bulbophyllum depressum and laxiflorum are two others with smaller blooms but are just as easy to cultivate.


Gastrochilus species, especially fuscopunctatus and dasypogon, are suited to growing very humid and warm while staying tiny and small respectively. Haraella retrocalla is a close relative and is also quite adaptable to being grown in tanks with lower light levels.


Miniature Orchids by Steven Frowine is a good reference for more commonly cultivated plants that are suitable for beginners.

If you have the willingness to grow rare and very exotic species I recommend A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species by Ron Parsons (2 volumes). It is a very detailed book on growing some of the more unusual varieties with extensive detail on conditions and growing needs for the species described in it. it is, however, quite expensive and would be a better choice for someone intending on amassing a moderate to large collection rather than a small tank of miniatures.

Northen's Home Orchid Growing is dated, but a very good book on cultivation. Bechtel's Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species is excellent- I think there's a newer edition out, but to heck if I can remember when it was published.

Ortho's orchid book is surprisingly good- mainly on cultivation.

Isobyl's New Encyclopedia of Orchids is excellent.

If she likes specific genera- paphiopedilums, phalaenopsis, cattleyas, dendrobiums, etc.- there are specific texts on each of these, and many more.

For slipper orchids, one of the latest is Slipper Orchids of the Americas, a comprehensive and authoritative review of Phragmipedium, Mexipedium, and Selenepedium. It was released last year, so it's very up to date. It has sections on taxonomy, ecology, and evolution. It takes an in-depth look at each species, has lots of amazing full color photos and while it's very technical at times, it's also very readable and understandable.

The Genus Paphiopedilum is another book by Phillip Cribb, and as the title suggests, it's focused entirely on Paphiopedilums. It's a little dated now, and there are at least a dozen or more species that have been discovered since, but it's still a great resource. There are sections on ecology, evolution, hobby care, etc. Similar to above, there is a lot of technical terminology, but even if you aren't well-versed in the terms, it's still very readable.

Cribb has also produced Genus Cypripedium and Hardy Cypripedium: Species, Hybrids and Cultivation. The former is a monograph similar to The Genus Paphiopedilum and Slipper Orchids of the Americas and a very similar format. I read through the entire book several times back after it was first released, but I do not own it. The newer book was a surprise to me since I wasn't aware of its existence until just a few moments ago, but I can only assume it's a great source of information since Werner Frosch and Cribb are involved.

Tropical Slipper Orchids is a book by Harold Koopowitz (another important name in slipper orchid taxonomy and breeding). I don't own this one and have only seen it in passing, but it's perhaps a little more approachable for hobby growers and breeders. It covers Paphs and Phrags, and it differs from the Cribbs books in that it spends more time on breeding and hybridization (there's a short chapter in the Cribbs books, but nothing particularly exhaustive).

Anyway, many (maybe most) of the common genera of orchids have similar resources.

If she is an indoor grower and likes miniatures, Miniature Orchids by Steven Frowine is great. Anything he writes is pretty awesome and easy to understand.

Annuals are quick, colorful, prolific, and cheap if you start from seed. But you're just as likely to get weeds. Annual beds at public gardens can be gorgeous, but they've probably grown each individually and refreshed the bed for each planting. Some annuals might not last for the entire season, and some won't flower until late in the season; this can make annual beds seem messy or unkempt. Annuals tend to need more water than perennials. Also, I don't know about 6a, but in 8a I need two sets of annuals per year, warm-weather and cold-weather (violas, kale).

For perennials, I highly recommend The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, by Roy Diblik. IMO this is the book that best describes how to achieve a low-maintenance perennial garden full of interest year-round. Diblik worked with Piet Oudolf (Chicago's Lurie, NYC's High Line, etc.), and IMO this book is more practical than any of the books by Oudolf or Kingsbury. He's not that far from you (southeast Wisconsin), so his plant recommendations should be spot on, and the book has a variety of plans.

Cost may be an issue for a perennial bed of that size; perennials are expensive and in my experience can be difficult to start from seed. Consider starting with a smaller area and propagating using your existing perennials as you expand each year.

Before importing garden soil that may introduce new weeds, consider whether your existing soil may be sufficient. My yard's soil turned out to be ideal for native plants; when I incorporated compost or other amendments they weren't as happy (or in some cases, got too happy). YMMV. I do need amendments for non-natives, though.

ATM I have a small (32 sq ft), highly visible bed reserved for annuals that I grow individually and can vary yearly. This year I'll start testing a few beds of reseeding annuals in less prominent locations. I'm slowly incorporating perennials, but unfortunately DFW is far enough south that Diblik's plant recommendations, and consequently, his plans, don't work for me. The principles are still valid and I've been trying to figure out how to apply them here, but it's been a slow process of trial and error.

Like others have said, learning what characteristics plant families have makes plant I.D. so much easier. If this is something you really want to learn, I'd recommend a book like Wendy B. Zomlefer's Guide to Flowering Plants or Practical Plant Identification by James Cullen. Both of those should give you a rundown on common plant family characteristics and help you narrow it down at least to a family, if not a genus. Being able to accurately I.D. plants quickly is mostly practise, though; the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Though, because you don't think it's a native plant, once you have a rough idea of what it is, you can look at ornamental plants that will grow in your zone.

I agree with /u/whyen0t -- taking a class is really a great start! Beyond that, I would recommend getting a dichotomous key for the flora in your area and starting to familiarize yourself with different plants you see quite a bit. Often, there is a "Guide to the Families" section in the beginning of a floristic guide that can give you a really good sense of the big characteristics that define each family. Just googling a guide to the families brought me to this one: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Flowering-Plant-Families-Zomlefer/dp/0807844705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415690844&sr=8-1&keywords=guide+to+plant+families --I don't know anything about it personally, but it seems to have good reviews!

Yesterday, someone recommended this book to another asking the same question:
Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Indoor Plants https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591866901/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WmloDbNFVEBAD



That book only costs $15, but there are a lot of free "choosing a plant" guides on the internet, too... from sites like "The Sill", "The Spruce", etc.

I like Zomlefer's guide to plant families. The line drawings are beautiful and thorough, and each family description includes distribution, major genera, representatives in North America, economically important taxa, and interesting commentary. A used copy is about $10.

Only pocket identification guides I know of are the Collins ones.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007183070

I'm sure that is a different edition to the one you had but it is pretty good.

OK, I bought myself this a couple of days ago and got around to looking at it just now. Turns out the first plant I want to identify appears to be right at the front of the book on the "How To Use This Book" page ... which would make it Choisya [ternata] (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=427) and the second could well be C. ternata Sundance. Still hunting for the 3rd plant!


I'll post pics @ the weekend anyway as it's always nice to get a second opinion.

Start with choosing non toxic plants. Think about where they will go too. My toxic plants are all hanging away from my kitty.

Then buy a book like Houseplants: The Complete Guide... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591866901?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

My bible. It’s missing toxic plant info and some soil info. But that’s okay I write in mine. Good luck

Two very popular and highly recommended books. Check out the amazon reviews.

Teeming with Microbes to learn about the soil food web: http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

The Well Tended Perennial Garden for ornamental gardening: http://www.amazon.com/The-Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Techniques/dp/0881928038

Just keeping the pyracantha and vine pruned will go a long way towards tidying up this beautiful garden.

Pyracantha are tough plants and can take any amount of pruning. Even taking them right down to the ground won't hurt them, although it may take a few years for them to regrow to the same size. Wear long sleeves and gloves because they have thorns. You can prune them into tree forms by removing small branches at the bottom of the clump.

[Tree pyracantha] (http://a4.pbase.com/o6/34/494634/1/131721016.GgrjA1Cc.W18Pyracntha2.jpg)

Article about pyracantha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyracantha

A basic book on pruning (available at your local library or used on Amazon) will help you maintain your beautiful garden.

[The Pruning Book] (https://www.amazon.com/Pruning-Book-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1600850952)

The (SAS Survival Guide)[https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAS-Survival-Guide-Survive-Collins/dp/0008133786/] has some good survival information whilst not taking up much room in a bag. I also have this one for foraging and this for identifying mushrooms. In an emergency situation I'd say knowing what is and isn't edible around you is important. When I'm out I often use my phone to identify anything I am not familiar with and have a reasonable knowledge now but having the books to be sure seems sensible.

I have an air rifle which will take birds and rabbits if it comes to it too and whilst they have made it harder to get one these days (you have to order it to a licensed shop to pick it up and can't just order it to your address any more... and these stores are often few and far between) it does seem like a sensible thing to have. Not for self defence but for having access to a food source that most people would not have.

Besides that I don't think the information varies too much from what you find on US sites. Though the prices often do so you have to economise more than they would... likewise of course with the size of houses here compared to there. I don't have the same kind of space for stockpiling food and water as I would in the US.

Cutting them back periodically through July keeps a more compact form. Find a good garden maintenance book like: The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by DiSabato-Aust. https://www.amazon.com/Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Planting-Techniques/dp/0881928038
Her book teaches a lot about things just like this.

Very lovely, if you want that look you better learn to propagate plants or you're going to be spending a few boatloads of cash for it. Learn what is native to your area and plant that, that's what they did here. There are a bunch of plants here I recognize from the book 'Know Maintenance Perennial Garden' which I recommend (somewhat Illinois/midwest specific but maybe not too bad)

a great place to start:
Plant Form

and if you get more into mathematical modeling...
Phyllotaxis

Ok... I'm gonna try and look exclusively on amazon, because it seems pretty representative of prices elsewhere and it would take too long to look everywhere. I'll work in UK money, since that's where I live, and I'll convert it to USD at the end.

• Archery - £23
  
  
• Hatchet - £10
  
  
• Bowie Knife - £80
  
  
• Slingshot - £3
  
  
• Small and large BBs - £11
  
  
• Flint and Steel - £1
  
  
• Collapsible Fishing Rod - £10
  
  
• First Aid Kit - £17
  
  
• E-Tool - £60
  
  
• Hiking Boots - £65
  
  
• Socks x 5 - £10 x 2 = £20
  
  
• Underpants - £25
  
  
• T-Shirt x 10 - £3 x 10 = £30
  
  
• Climbing Rope - £37
  
  
• Twine - £8
  
  
• Jeans x 3 - £20 x 3 = £60
  
  
• Duct Tape - £6
  
  
• Matches - £3
  
  
• Water Purification Tablets - £4
  
  
• Toothbrush x 30 - £3 x 30 = £90
  
  
• Gloves - £10
  
  
• Plant ID Book - £23
  
  
• Guille Suit - £39
  
  
• Beef Jerky isn't on Amazon, but I'd hazard a guess at around £20 for enough to keep you going.
  
  
• Also not on amazon, but 50 smokes would add up to around £25.
  
  
• Snare Wire - £24
  
  
• Hiking Stick - £16
  
  
• Compass - £2
  
  

• Magniying Glass - £8
  

  
  

  All of these items add up to £730, or $1040, so, unfortunately, just over $1000.
  

  
  

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This is really specific stuff. I'm not an expert on apples (don't really like them), but I think an essential book for every gardener that changed my perspective and expanded my understanding greatly was:

https://www.amazon.com/Pruning-Book-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1600850952

As an aside you should know that many people into permaculture "don't believe" in pruning, making various appeals to "nature knowing best" and such. In this particular subject i find this way of thinking to be absurd and demonstrably wrong, but i thought you should know.

The Pruning Book

This one is really good

The Bible
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Plants-Flowers-Christopher-Brickell/dp/1405354232