Buried Treasures: Finding and Growing the World's Choicest Bulbs

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Overview


Take a few chapters from a John le Carré spy thriller, add a hefty dose of exotic travelogue, blend with one of the best books on bulb growing ever written, and you've got Buried Treasures. Since launching his first international mail-order catalog in 1991, Latvian nurseryman Janis Ruksans has rapidly gained a reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on rare and unusual bulbs: Juno irises striped like exotic birds; gem-like corydalis; dusky, brooding fritillaries. For decades, Ruksans has been scouring ...
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More About This Book

Overview


Take a few chapters from a John le Carré spy thriller, add a hefty dose of exotic travelogue, blend with one of the best books on bulb growing ever written, and you've got Buried Treasures. Since launching his first international mail-order catalog in 1991, Latvian nurseryman Janis Ruksans has rapidly gained a reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on rare and unusual bulbs: Juno irises striped like exotic birds; gem-like corydalis; dusky, brooding fritillaries. For decades, Ruksans has been scouring remote and dangerous regions of Europe and Asia to bring back seed of the botanical treasures that he offers through his nursery, often contending with corrupt government agents, armed rebels, drunken drivers, and even (before the fall of the Soviet Union) the KGB. Once you read Ruksans' accounts of his extensive travels, you'll never look at a flowering bulb in the same way again. A crocus will take you to the shores of Lake Abant in northwestern Turkey, a tulip to the mountains of Chimgan in Uzbekistan.

Although adventure abounds in Buried Treasures, there's a great deal more for the gardener seeking trustworthy information. As well as being a renowned collector, Ruksans is a grower and propagator of bulbs second to none, and he generously shares his professional knowledge about the care and cultivation of every major and minor genus of bulb-forming plant. As richly diverse as the plants it describes, Buried Treasures will open your eyes to the beauty and fascination of the world of bulbs.

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Editorial Reviews

American Bungalow
"Part garden book, part international thriller, the author literally goes to the ends of the earth to discover and cultivate rare bulbs."
— Kathleen Donohue
Munster Times

“The book contains well-written accounts of the adventures of a modern plant explorer, gorgeous color plates of the author’s discoveries, and perhaps best of all, insider tips on how the grow the plants [Ruksans] worked with for nearly a lifetime.”

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780881928181
  • Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 6/15/2007
  • Pages: 460
  • Product dimensions: 7.75 (w) x 10.64 (h) x 1.55 (d)

Meet the Author

Janis Ruksans has been growing bulbs since age twelve and since 1991 has operated his own bulb nursery in his native Latvia, specializing in rare and unusual bulbs. He has taken part in several expeditions searching for new bulbs throughout Europe and Central Asia. He worked at the Latvian National Botanical Garden and was the editor-in-chief of a horticultural magazine for nearly twenty years. He is the author of five books about growing bulbs. Janis Ruksans lives in Latvia.
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