Books for Michigan Gardeners


Caring for roses has always seemed difficult to me. The majority wound up with no blooms and black-spotted leaves before the summer was half over. Therefore, the chapter called "Caring for Roses" is valuable for me. It covers everything from watering and fertilizing to pruning your roses.

If you are new to roses, the section called "Problems & Pests" could make you reluctant to try these plants. The list of suggested easy-to-grow, shade-tolerant, drought-tolerant, and disease-resistant roses gives you some choices that may not suffer from all the pests and diseases mentioned.

The heart of the book is a description of 144 roses suitable for Michigan gardeners. These are divided into 9 groups: species, old garden roses, modern shrubs, ground covers, ramblers and climbers, tea roses, floribunda roses, grandiflora roses, and miniature roses. Detailed descriptions and general comments on each rose are provided.

Tim Wood and Alison Beck. Gardening Month by Month in Michigan. Lone Pine Publishing. 2004.

Wood and Beck present several charts illustrating temperature ranges and precipitation (including snow fall) averages for both normal Michigan weather and extreme Michigan weather in the start of the book. This introduction with a general description of the various types of gardens found in Michigan is followed by a month by month calendar with suggested garden tips printed in the date boxes. The next page describes possible gardening projects and illustrates them with colorful pictures. This book has the potential to be useful as a garden journal although many readers won't want to mark up the book. I am glad to have this book because of the suggestions given for each month of the year. It will definitely guide my pre-season preparations and my end-of-season activities. Tips given for Michigan's gardening months will be used as appropriate.

Recommendation

I must freely admit my bias towards this series of books. As with others in the series, Roses for Michigan is well written and amply illustrated. If you reside in Michigan, add this book to your collection this gardening season. You will also want the Gardening Month by Month in Michigan book for its valuable suggestions and projects. If you are from another State, check at Lone Pine Publishing's website to see if these books are now available for your State.

The copyright of the article Books for Michigan Gardeners in Gardening Techniques is owned by Diana Pederson. Permission to republish Books for Michigan Gardeners in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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