Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: JPB on October 25, 2010, 02:06:48 PM
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Some time ago I bought the Dutch translation of this book (authors: Pratt & Jefferson-Brown), which was published by Schuyt & Co, Haarlem. While there's a lot of good information in it, the Dutch translation is by far the worst I've ever seen :'( :'( :'(. My eyes hurt every time I start reading and I even spotted some irritating mistakes >:(
Before I throw this one out of the window :o ;D, I'd like to know your opinion on the original English version. Has it the same flaws or is it well written?
Thanks, Hans
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I can say that this is not a book I consult often, Hans. ::)
It is not one I would rush to but again, shall we say......... :-X
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Hans - don't waste any more of your money.
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Thanks for the comments. I presume that the original book is not that good either. But is there a good one on wild Fritillaries?
My junk-book-filter normally works fine, but this one slipped through, apparently...
Do you suggest a proper punishment for this book? Burning comes to mind, but that is so old-fashioned...Toilet paper? Christmas present for my mother in law? Eat it? With chutney, of course... ;D
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I am against book burning on principal .... unless one is freezing to death in the tundra with no firewood......I vote for your mother-in-law ;D
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Compost it and then at least it will fulfil a use full purpose
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But I don't have a mother in law. Divorce solves that problem too ;) Finding a new one to give the book to will take years. Not to mention finding a nice woman ;D
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Then I must concur with Tony! ;)
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I am against book burning on principal .... unless one is freezing to death in the tundra with no firewood......I vote for your mother-in-law ;D
No, no! Hans' mother-in-law cannot deserve this. And I'd be very dubious about compost made from this book. Toilet paper seems most appropriate.
Currently, there is no book on Fritillaries nor, in the near future, is there likely to be one. A general book on bulbs, Brian Mathews The Smaller Bulbs (1987) is quite good on frits & the very old Fritillaries by Christabel Beck (1953) is worth hunting down. The website of the Fritillaria Group of the AGS contains useful information on cultivation.
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I know quite a few mothers in law who should be burned.............
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Hans,
There is also:
Hooker's Icones Plantarum Vol. XXXIX Parts 1 and 2
'Studies in the Genus Fritillaria'
W.B.Turrill and J. Robert Sealy
RBG Kew 1980
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Oh Maggi, don't let your mother-in-law read this. ;) ;) ;)
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Don't forget Phillips & Rix 'Bulbs'. It was available in any discount bookshop in the UK for years and is the best bulb book I have. Scant on cultivation info but practically all the eurasian frits are well illustrated, and with accurate data. Most North Americans too. Practically nothing on the more recently available Chinese ones though.
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Yes, Rix & Phillips The Bulb Book is not bad, though I have the impression that the colour in the first printing (1981) is far superior to that in later printings.
As regards Chinese frits, the only current source I know is the online Flora of China:
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/
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OK, I give up. What is wrong with the TGGTGF? I've found it useful for identification purposes at the very least, although I have spotted mistakes etc in it as well. You can usually find mistakes in pretty much any book though. So what is so dreadful about this one that people suggest burning/throwing out/composting/using it as loo paper?
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Paul - I don't have a copy but I have been told that whilst it is useful for ID purposes it has a somewhat eccentric approach to cultivation techniques, which are not consistent with the usual methods in the UK. But then as I grow frits rather poorly using the accepted methods there is clearly some scope for experimentation!
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Many years ago I went to a talk by one of the authors who having never seen a frit in the wild told us they were all deep growing bulbs at least 18 inches below the surface so deep planting was essential!
From what I understand from a botanical friend the naming was outdated and contains numerous synonyms which are used but not cross referenced and as a reference work quite useless.I cannot comment on this aspect but looking at the present as far as I can see nothing changes there.
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If you appreciate bizarre suggestions on cultivation (e.g., F. pluriflora requires a compost that is "wet & almost like modelling clay in winter") & idiosyncratic nomenclature (e.g., F. bithynica carica) then this is the book for you.
One of the authors had previously produced a little booklet (self-published & showing no evidence of sub-editing) containing equally interesting suggestions, e.g., "avoid clay pots".
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Martyn Rix has been working on a Fritillaria book for many years but there was never any indication of when if ever he would complete it. However, with his recent acceptance of the offer of help from some mebers of the Fritillaria Group, we are more hopeful that it may actually be taking a step towards publication. Having seem some sections of the text I think it will be well worth the long wait
Paul
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Martyn Rix has been working on a Fritillaria book for many years but there was never any indication of when if ever he would complete it. However, with his recent acceptance of the offer of help from some mebers of the Fritillaria Group, we are more hopeful that it may actually be taking a step towards publication. Having seem some sections of the text I think it will be well worth the long wait
Paul
I think the book on frits was initiated at the same time as Brian Mathew's crocus book & the paintings of frits by Joanna Langhorne were completed years ago. So, in principle, that is good news Paul. However, I have to say that I am not holding my breath, not least because in the current economic climate it would be a very brave publisher who would produce such a book with its inevitably limited sales.
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Paul - I don't have a copy but I have been told that whilst it is useful for ID purposes it has a somewhat eccentric approach to cultivation techniques, which are not consistent with the usual methods in the UK. But then as I grow frits rather poorly using the accepted methods there is clearly some scope for experimentation!
Any advice on cultivation techniques must be taken cum grano salis because:
The growers idiosyncrasies as to watering, repotting, topdressing etc. etc. etc. are different.
The climate is different. Temperature and length of winter is different. amount of sunlight and rain is different. temperature and length of summer is different.
the soil ingrediences are different even if the have the same name.
And
And
And.
What works for you wil not necessarily work for me and vice versa.
Göte
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It seems to me that a big problem in gardening books is that the author has personal experience of a limited number of plants but wants the book to be complete. He/she then turns to other books to fill the gap. Unfortunately the authors of these also have no personal experience but have groped back to.....
This way, advice creeps in that is based not on experience but on philosophical ideas about how "MOTHER NATURE works her mysterious ways".
Another source of fallacy is the uncritical adoption of data from natural growing situations.
Hepatica nobilis grows in dark places. True but not because a lighter place is not better but because there is less competition in the dark.
I think there is nothing we can do about this except buying more than one book and by experimenting and by discussing in fora as this one.
Göte
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Göte, very true. It is not even confined to gardening books or the so-called monographs but also many Flora's seem to be enumerations of previous publications. Very few books on specific genera are "complete". The best books usually cover a small genus. I very much doubt we will ever get "complete" books on bigger genera like Lilium, Arisaema, Asarum or Fritrilaria for that matter, at least if it is written by only 1 or 2 people without input from other experts on the genus, simply because it takes several lifetimes to see all species of bigger genera in the wild, study their variation, grow all of them etc.... And yes, cultivation very much depends on the local growing conditions so unless the experiences of other knowledgeable growers are covered in a book and you get a good overview of varying growing techniques, any guideline in a book for growing these plants is of little value.
Most books are best efforts and you have to combine the knowledge of several sources to learn the most about specific genera, fora like the SRGC-forum are usually of more value than the best books simply because it is hands-on experience instead of guesswork by the author because he was not enough familiar with some species the book covers.
Combine all information you can find, books, internet, whatever and make up one's own mind I would say.
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It's a bit like people saying "warm" and "cold", my warm is not the same as yours. The answer is to quote temperatures. But then you come to things like "bright" and "dark" - I've never seen anyone quote a brightness value - lumens? Even then single values are not the whole story. I imagine a small box that attached to a plant will record temperature, brightness and soil humidity for a year - put the results up on the web and we might learn something.
I'd think Ian's bulblogs would be a good place to learn how to grow frits. No one needs a publisher anymore - just stick the document on the web, but Amazon have a scheme that lets you upload your book to their web site and they split the profits with you (for electronic book readers, Kindle etc.).
Then there's the Pacific Bulb Society wiki, everyone is welcome to add information, the web lets expertise be pooled and all that. But the reality is that few people are prepared to join in, one reason is that it is so hard to get even a few words correct.
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I think that the reason Ian's Bulb Log is so popular is that he decribes in detail what he observes of the growth of his bulbs. When one knows what the plant is doing at any given time then it is easier to try to adjust one's regime to accommodate the plant's requirements, whatever your local conditions are.
Diane Clement in her Midland Gardener's Diary does a similar thing.... she shows WHY she does things as well as HOW...... in depth info is always a winner!