The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer

by Stephanie Cohen, Nancy J. Ondra

Overview

Put Perennials in Their Place!

Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra are both thoroughly obsessed with everything about gardens and gardening — with digging, planting ,designing, and creating great canvases of living color and texture. In this book they generously share both their passion and their knowledge about garden design. Their encouraging words, based on practical experience and the belief that there is more than one right way to createa garden, boost confidence and promote experimentation. After all, Stephanie builds her garden combinations around harmonious colors and contrasting flower forms, whereas Nan's love for colorful foliage leads her to feature dramatically contrasting leaf colors and textures. Along with design basics, they present 20 garden plans, as well as the before-and-after stories of gardens they've created for themselves and their families.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580175432
Publisher:	Storey Books
Publication date:	02/15/2005
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	613,439
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.88(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Stephanie Cohen, “The Perennial Diva,” has received awards from the Philadelphia Horticulture Society, was elected a fellow of the Garden Writer’s of America, and was named a Garden Communicator of the Year by American Nursery and Landscape Association. Cohen founded the aboredum at Temple University and served as the director for five years. She has written for Country Living Gardener, Blooms of Bressingham Perennial Program, American Beauties Program, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Magazine, Organic Gardening, Fine Gardening, and Green Profit. 


Nancy J. Ondra, author of Container Theme Gardens, is a garden writer and editor as well as the former owner and operator of a small rare-plant nursery. She is the author or co-author of a dozen gardening books, including Foliage (winner of the 2008 Book Award from the American Horticultural Society), The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer (winner of a 2006 Silver Award from the Garden Writers Association), Five-Plant Gardens, The Perennial Care Manual, Fallscaping, and Grasses. She currently gardens in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and blogs at www.hayefield.com.

Table of Contents

Part One: Perennial Design Demystified

1 Getting Started

2 Selecting Your Perennials

3 Exploring Perennial Partners

4 From Dream to Reality

5 It's All in the Details

Part Two: Putting Perennials to Work

6 Problem-Solving with Perennials

7 Creative Color Effects

8 A Year of Perennials

9 Gardens for Special Effects

Part Three: From Theory to Practice

10 Building a Border from Scratch

11 Expanding an Existing Garden

12 Reworking an Old Garden

Appendix: USDA Hardiness Zone Map, Planning Chart, Recommended Reading, Please Don't Eat the Delphiniums!, Acknowledgments, Photo and Garden Design Credits

Index

Editorial Reviews

Garden design is less rule-bound than it once was, but many novices approach it with trepidation. By bringing a refreshingly relaxed attitude to a well-worn topic, Cohen and Ondra give it friendly appeal. Both are professional designers and private enthusiasts who believe "you don't really know a plant until you've killed it." Readers who follow their ample, practical advice are much more likely to create beautiful gardens than to kill many plants, and even experienced gardeners will pick up some tips. First, the authors "demystify" perennial design, explaining how to approach a project, choose plants, plan the design and add details for extra appeal. They then explain how to "put perennials to work," focusing on specific designs and including handsome color sketches, schematic plans and lush photographs. Each of their designs accomplishes a goal-solving a problem with site conditions (e.g., excessive shade or sun), achieving a desired color effect, maximizing seasonal impact-and comes with a detailed list of recommended plants and alternate selections. Finally, in the "From Theory to Practice" section, they document the two-year histories of a new border, a major expansion and a garden renovation. The conversational text and photographs comparing early plantings with second-year results are great confidence builders for neophytes. Helpful appendixes include a zone map, a comprehensive plant list in an easy-to-use chart format and a reading list. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

What sets this book apart from similar titles is its pure popular appeal, all but guaranteed by its chatty style, profuse illustrations, and enthusiastic emphasis on the practical. Cohen and Ondra-both highly accomplished garden writers, teachers, and practitioners-divide the text into three sections. Part 1 deals with design principles like color, form, scale, and texture, while Part 2 tackles problems originating with site conditions and contains detailed plans and pictures for 20 different theme gardens. Part 3 is for "reality gardening," in which the authors document three of their own projects, along with their hopes, worries, and disappointments. The authors' goal of instilling readers with "the confidence to experiment and explore" will be, no doubt, fully realized by any patron who checks out this book. From its hot pink cover to its bright yellow back flap, it is nothing if not exciting. Although indexes were not seen, one hopes that a common plant name index will be included. Another quibble: plant lists contain little for extreme growing zones. Still, warmly recommended for most gardening collections.-Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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