Sandy`s Last Mintue Gardener Gifts

Favorite Garden Books by Sandy Mason University of Illinois Extension Educator Gardening is Americas favorite hobby, so odds are there is a gardener on your gift list. Garden books are always appreciated. These happen to be some of my favorites, at least this week. A drab winter landscape calls out for the color and texture of conifers. Gardening with Conifers by Adrian Bloom should be on your book list to go beyond evergreen windbreaks and hedges. This book is full of beautiful photographs on selection, design, pruning and care of conifers. It includes conifer companions and photographs and information on over 600 conifers. One of my favorite garden authors is Ken Druse. His books always contain lots of useful information and beautiful photographs. He is a prolific writer but some of his most popular books include: The Natural Garden, The Natural Shade Garden, The Collector`s Garden, and Making More Plants: the Science, Art and Joy of Propagation. His most recent book, The Passion for Gardening was awarded the book of the year by The American Horticultural Society. In this book Druse shows how gardening is more than putting plants in the ground. Gardens and gardeners are always evolving. Learn through Kens magnificent photography how inspired gardeners have enriched their homes, hearts, minds and lives. http://www.kendruse.com If you would like to hear Ken Druse in person, he will be speaking at our Garden Day 2005 on March 5 at the Holiday Inn in Urbana. Mark your calendars. For the perennial flower gardener some good authors include Tracy DiSabato-Aust, Janet Macunovich, Allan Armitage and Colston Burrell. I consider The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust as a "must have" for anyone with a perennial garden. She details how to care for specific plants and the basics of planting and dividing perennials. Her additional book, The Well-Designed Mixed Border, guides you on how to put all those wonderful plants together for effective designs. Janet Macunovich has an easy to understand style in both her books - Caring for Perennials and Design your Gardens and Landscapes. Allan Armitage is a plant guru with a southern accent. His books include Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Armitages Annuals, Biennials and Half-Hardy Perennials, Armitages Garden Annuals and Armitages Garden Perennials. For some tips on design Colston Burrell gives specific information in his book Perennial Combinations. Its a great book for those new to garden design. If interests include ornamental grasses, The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses by Rick Darke is a good place to start. For the tree lover in the family look for books by Michael A. Dirr, who was once a professor here at the U of I. His books include Manual of Woody Landscape Plants and Dirrs Hardy Trees and Shrubs. Darke, Dirr and Armitage also offer CDs. For the nature lover, how about Field Guide to Butterflies of Illinois by John Bouseman and James Sternburg. This is one of the field guides published by the Illinois Natural History Survey. All the guides are filled with beautiful photographs and information on the wild things of Illinois. INHS http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/pub/pub-catalog/spring00/index00.html or PH:217-333-6880. U of I publication Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest by C.E. Voigt and J.S. Vandemark is a "must have" for people who prefer to eat their landscapes. https://webstore.aces.uiuc.edu/shopsite/ My favorite bug book is Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw. It truly is the ultimate guide to backyard bugs. Happy Holly Days.