Common Seashore Life of Southern California by Joel Hedgpeth and Sam Hinton was first published in 1961. Even though this book is dated, its information is still accurate and of value to the naturalist. The authors discuss the different tide zones with their individual occupants, in addition to sandy beaches, coves, and bay shores . It fascinated me to learn that each of these environments has many creatures or plants unique to that type of ecosystem. Chapters on common birds and mammals are also included. This was an easy to understand book that would be of value in your beach bag. The only drawback to the book is the lack of colored pictures of the creatures discussed. Only 8 animals were pictured on the one color plate. If this book were updated, I would strongly suggest illustrating each creature mentioned with a color photograph that would make identification much easier.
Propagate Your Own Plants by Wilma Roberts James and Arla Lippsmeyer was published in 1990. Part I covers general propagation and care of plants and is written in easily understandable language with accompanying green line drawings of the topic being discussed. A home gardener would find this a quick reference to learn to take cuttings of various types, and learning to use rhizomes, suckers, runners, divisions or layering for propagating plants. A short but quality discussion of the various mediums used for rooting cuttings follows. The physical pot or other item used in the propagation of plants is also discussed. Here you will find a wide selection of ideas from which you can choose the ones most appropriate for your living circumstances. A basic discussion of the plant diseases and pests likely to affect your efforts at propagating is also included.
The second part of the book discusses a wide selection of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants in detail. The origin of each plant is given along with a description of the uses of the plant and how to cultivate that plant. Although this is not a comprehensive listing of all possible plants, the gardener would normally find out how to cultivate a plant in the same family as the one he wants to increase. Normally, the gardener can then generalize the information to include all cabbages, apples, etc. This is a handy book for the casual gardener.
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