Short-listed for the Garden Writers Guild Awards in 2000, Discovering Annuals at last shows that annuals and bedding plants really do have style.
The fresh approach, lively text and contemporary ideas quickly dispel the unfashionable image which has hampered annuals for so long, and reveals them as key plants for creative gardeners. Carefully colour co-ordinated plantings demonstrate that familiar plants can take on new lives in thoughtful combinations and that unusual annuals have their place alongside the old favourites.
The book has been prepared in two editions: the original British edition has been comprehensively adapted for American readers with the help of award winning American garden writer judywhite and features varieties, techniques and planting ideas specially chosen for American gardeners. Rarely has a British gardening book been adapted so thoroughly.
The book features over 200 colour photographs - many showing colour co-ordinated plantings in Graham's own garden.
The contents
What are Annuals?
Introduction - Catching the Wave
Plant Chapters:
Ageratum
Alcea
Amaranthus
Antirrhinum
Aquilegia
Begonia
Bellis
Brachyscome
Brassica
Calendula
Callistephus
Campanula
Centaurea
Cerinthe
Chrysanthemum
Clarkia
Cleome
Cobaea
Convolvulus
Coreopsis
Cosmos
Delphinium
Dianthus
Digitalis
Eccremocarpus
Eryngium
Erysimum
Eschscholzia
Eucalyptus
Gazania
Godetia
Helianthus
Helichrysum
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Hesperis
Impatiens
Ipomoea
Lathyrus
Lavatera
Linaria
Lobelia
Lobularia
Lunaria
Matthiola
Mimulus
Myosotis
Nemesia
Nicotiana
Nigella
Papaver
Pelargonium
Petunia
Phlox
Primula
Ricinus
Rudbeckia
Salpiglossis
Salvia
Tagetes
Tanacetum
Tithonia
Tropaeolum
Verbena
Viola
Zinnia
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Practicalities
Glossary
The Problem of Names
Where to See Annuals
Sources of Seed Supply
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Selections from the Reviews
"Contemporary combinations and fresh ideas show how to make annuals, both modern introductions and old varieties, work well together and practical information tells you how to put this to good effect. Graham Rice's chatty informative text makes this book a pleasure to read and, on a serious note, it is refreshing to read a book written by someone prepared to express his opinions."
The English Garden
"Graham Rice is one of my very favorite garden writers, always personal, funny and extraordinarily knowledgable, and in this new, gorgeously illustrated book about annual plants, he absolutely shines.
Rice makes me agree that I too hate dumpy boring marigolds, for instance, and then hands me wonderful information about using the old-fashioned striped Victorian heirloom types instead. Banished also is the lump-style plantings that usually go hand in hand with annual flowers; Rice shows me how to combine looser, more lovely kinds so that they intermingle and entwine intimately. (His prose is almost purple on this point, and I love it!)"
amazon.com customer
"The book provides comprehensive guidance on growing and planting annuals, but its real strength lies in its wealth of inspirational planting ideas. Graham Rice has set out to dispel the unfashionable image that has been fostered by crude and garish bedding schemes... I suspect that many gardeners who know their annuals well, will find they are looking at them with a different, more creative eye after reading the author's authoritative yet lively text. Discovering Annuals is lavishly illustrated with excellent photographs."
The Kitchen Garden
The gorgeously-illustrated and inspiring volume should finally convince any doubting gardeners that this obliging group of short-lived plants has a versatility unmatched by any other growing thing.... What I like about this book is that it stretches the brain, suggesting uses for annuals that wouldn't immediately occur to you.
The Irish Times
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