Books you may like to hear about

[Pauli]

I am happy with the pulsatilla book - lots of pictures of species I have not heard before.
Distribution in Austria of vulgaris, grandis and pratensis nigricans is not correct - literature for Pulsatillas in Austria was not fully checked. So what about other countries

Today arrives also mountain flower walks - The Pyrenees from the AGS. Picture quality is far superior to the last volume (Eastern Alps), which was inferior. Mouth watering plants and landscapes - perhaps one day I go there

[Maggi Young]

I am not surprised you have good words to say about the Mountain Flower Walks: The Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa book by Margaret and Henry Taylor for the AGS, Herbert - Margaret and Henry Taylor are very experienced travellers, great photographers and remarkable communicators. We are very lucky to have these people in our club.

[John Kitt]

A short time ago I came across a listing in a catalogue of an Antiquarian Bookshop – “The Romance of Gardening” by F Kingdon Ward (Jonathon Cape, LONDON 1935).  Having parted with the princely sum of AU$10.00 I have had the pleasure of reading one of FKW’s books NOT on plant hunting.  (My first such experience).
I don’t want to provide a full critique of this publication, doubtless others in the past more qualified than I have done so, but I was fascinated by some of the statements made. Perhaps it is just the passage of time that make them so striking.
“Nowadays gardens, even English gardens, are becoming horribly utilitarian places. The grown-ups have taken charge of them for the propagation or rare plants, the shaping of scenic effects or – vilest Philistinism –the cult of lawn tennis”
“Men grew tired of beds and herbaceous borders; anyone can grow plants in a bed. But it takes some skill to make a plant grow on a rock.  So rock gardening became popular.  The rock garden is essentially English. ……. The rock garden is distinctly the English contribution to garden architecture; it is a feature, and an important feature, of many modern English gardens”
On Flower Shows he writes,
“What the layman does not quite realize is that these ‘improved’ plants are really sick plants – sick from the plant’s point of view and from nature’s.  Their natural functions are in abeyance, and though the plant exists, it can only be kept alive and increased by artificial means. Such plants have been sterilized not because they are unfit, but because we regard the freak as an improvement on the normal.     But this must not blind us to the fact that these plants are sick – not diseased but just sick.”
And there are many more interesting quotes.  I have to say that I found the much of the book “bloodless” in spite of the somewhat interesting views. 
And then I came to the Chapter “On Top of the World” and read,
“So we scramble on up the scree, our feet sliding and sinking in as the gravel gets finer, until it is just sand.  At last we reach the bare cliffs, from the crevice of which peep a few bold rock plants……Golden buttons of Ranunculus stud vast interstellar spaces between violet constellations of Primula bella; orange spotted Saxifrages fleck the screes, and fill like metal lodes the joints in the granite face…….Close by a giant thistle is bursting its way through a muff of cotton wool. At the moment all one sees is a snow-white dome a foot high, with heads of dusky purple flowers peeping out of the breaking cloud.  Later as the plant stretches and expands, the clouds are torn asunder leaving cobwebs trailing from every part of the massive inflorescence.       Dotted about the alpine desert, these queer vegetables, like wooly Saussureas and giant Sorrels at once attract attention.  We might be on another planet.”
And so I felt churlish for my previous opinion.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if today’s horticultural journalists wrote with such passion and knowledge and facility with language?

[Tim Ingram]

He also wrote a great guide to rock gardening which starts with the line 'Rock gardening is great fun'. He is not afraid of pulling punches so what about this description of rock gardens at the Chelsea Show: 'You will see many different designs at Chelsea, which is patronized by the rich, the very rich, the idol rich, as well as by the idolatrous who would like to be rich, or who like to appear rich...'. This was probably especially true when he was writing - but on the other hand it would be great to see outdoor rock gardens once more at Chelsea, on a smaller and more personal scale, and certainly more writing on a par with Frank Kingdon Ward's, which came from huge experience of studying plants in nature.

[John85]

About the new book published by Timber Press : Sedums
It is a best seller but how good is it?
Is it not too basic?
May be some American members have bought it?

[Maggi Young]

Until you mentioned this, the only Sedum book I knew about was ' Sedum: Cultivated Stonecrops' by Ray Stephenson from 1994 - it was also from Timber Press. I confess I have not read this book though others here must have done, I'm sure.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sedum-Cultivated-Stonecrops-Ray-Stephenson/dp/0881922382/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400343388&sr=1-1&keywords=Sedum%3A+Cultivated+Stonecrops+Ray+Stephenson   - is this the one you mean John?

Now I see that soon a new title is expected in October  from Timber Press :The Plant Lover's Guide to Sedums
by Brent Horvath   -  http://www.timberpress.co.uk/books/?search=9781604693928

[John85]

The new book will be available in the UK in october but it is already available in the USA
And yes Maggi,Stevenson's book is my sedum bible but I have only the reprinted thing that is more a bundle of poor black and white photocopies

[Maggi Young]

The Genus Erythronium by Chris Clennett (Kew Publishing 2014)
ISBN 978 84246 492 2



Ian reviews Chris Clennett's Erythronium monograph in this week's Bulb Log 25 18th June 2014 :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Jun181403082722BULB_LOG_2514.pdf


Erythronium montanum- which is in cultivation.

[ikizzeki]

Here is a book from Turkey..I am very empressed very much. She is not a botanist nor writer but  book is full of rare and endemic plants pictures..

I only wanted to share it

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/q79/s720x720/10463062_10202923408181097_5366991183940567412_n.jpg?oh=278617419c29019935c30b80c5f89ef8&oe=541598FE

[Maggi Young]

Looks a very good book   - I share this other link to it http://www.wildflowertours.com/wildflowers_of_turkey_book.html

[Maggi Young]

A recent review from Graham Rice, author, broadcaster  also known as "The Transatlantic Plantsman" really caught my attention because the subject of erroneous passed down "wisdom" in the field of gardening is something that has been raised quite often in this forum.

So, with Graham's kind permission, here is his review of     "Coffee For Roses" by C. L. Fornari 
 
Thank you, Graham, for your agreement to allow this use of your review.

[Tim Ingram]

Ann Zwinger

I've mentioned the N. American naturalist Ann Zwinger several times on the AGS website after reading her book 'Land Above the Trees' (recommended by Anne Spiegel). There is a wonderful interview with her on U-tube here:-



She is written about in the same way as John Muir and Thoreau and her vision of the Natural World shines out in this interview. I will certainly be reading more of her books.

[Maggi Young]

Note re SRGC  - Book Sale  - from SRGC Secretary's Pages, Summer  2014
 From David Shaw :
"It is with mixed feelings that I announce that the SRGC Publications section is
closing down. For the last couple of years there has been a steady decline in the
interest in the books and sales are now very low. When I became Publications
Manager there were always a lot of members browsing the books on offer and we
made a decent number of sales. Nowadays few stop by to look at the new titles and
a very small number of books get sold. Mail order services fell by the wayside a
couple of years ago as the price of postage increased at a dramatic rate.
In the beginning I was frustrated by visitors to the stand browsing a book then
taking out pen and paper to write down its details and ISBN number so that they
could go and buy it from Amazon – all this directly in front of the stall holder,
which I thought rather rude. As the years went by the camera on their mobile phone
replaced pen and paper! Now however, even this practice has ceased indicating that
gardeners now have little interest in the printed word; the Internet reigns!
I am sorry to be leaving this post but, at the same time, I have been wasting my
own time in trying to provide a redundant service. On behalf of all the previous
Publications Managers and myself I would like to thank all members who have
supported us in the past. I trust that you have had many happy hours reading your
books.
I am not buying in any more stock and am selling the remainder off at 25%
discount to members. The diminishing stock will be available at the rest of this
year’s SRGC events. If anyone wishes to buy by mail order please email me with
your request from the list in the January Secretary’s Pages and I will let you know
if it is still available and the cost of postage to you.
Many thanks to all my past customers.
David Shaw (delftdavid@gmail.com)

[Maggi Young]

Timber Press has a sale at the moment, too -Save 30% on all books End of Summer Sale -
http://www.timberpress.com/?twitter&utm_content=bufferd787d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[Chris Johnson]

Timber Press has a sale at the moment, too -Save 30% on all books End of Summer Sale -
http://www.timberpress.com/?twitter&utm_content=bufferd787d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Maggi, this is the American site with books priced in Dollars. I haven't noticed a sale on the British site?

Chris