Best of all is the gardening book that serves as a reference, a book with information, pictures, and advice all in one. Over the years I've gathered quite a collection of gardening reference books. In winter, I pore over them, making plans for the coming seasons outdoors or just feasting on the spectacular photographs; in gardening season, I often find myself trooping indoors to look up an answer to a particular gardening question.
Here are my recommendations for gardening reference books that you may want to give as gifts or splurge and add to your own reference collection:
General
Reader's Digest A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants (1997, Reader's Digest Association of Canada) is a book that I return to frequently; its alphabetical arrangement of profiles of over 15,000 plants (with almost 6,000 colour photographs) makes it easy to find detailed information on whatever plant I'm looking for.
Reader's Digest is also the publisher of the New Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada (2000), which is packed with step-by-step, illustrated instructions for everything from pruning fruit trees through growing plants from seeds. It even includes information on weed and pest control.
Just released is the Canadian Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers edited by Christopher Brickell (2001, Dorling Kindersley). I don't own this one yet, but it too is a lavishly illustrated guide to thousands of trees, shrubs, and flowers.
Botanica: The Illustrated A-Z Guide of Over 10,000 Garden Plants And How To Cultivate Them (1999, Welcome Rain Publishers) is another reference book to drool over. Thorough descriptions and thousands of spectacular photos make this an excellent addition to any reference shelf.
If any of your gardening friends grow roses, they'll love Botanica's Roses: The Encyclopedia of Roses (1999, Raincoast Books). Every page is adorned with color photos and detailed descriptions of each rose's paternity, appearance, and growing characteristics. My copy of this one is already well thumbed.
Topic-Specific Series
If all your gardening friends are crusty types who already have all the fabulous reference books I've mentioned, a reference book on a specific topic may be just the gift they've been hoping for.
One of my favourites is the Expert Series. I've been buying and using these for years; books such as The House Plant Expert and The Bedding Plant Expert have given me a lot of help choosing and caring for some of my favourite plants. The latest releases in this series by Sterling Publishing are The Pocket Garden Troubles Expert, The Pocket Flower Expert and The Pocket Tree and Shrub Expert. All are by D.G. Hessayon (2001).
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