Flower Gardening : A Practical Guide to Creating Colorful Gardens in Every Yard

Americans love flowers. We grow them with a passion and are always on the lookout for new varieties and for better ways to plan, nurture, and display them. This comprehensive compendium is the ultimate garden reference, providing readers both in aspiration and practical techniques for planting and displaying every type of flowering plant in their yards, decks, patios, balconies, and paths. Written for the beginner as well as the experienced gardener, this is a perfect introduction to the concept of creating successions of flowers by plant selection according to bloom season and planting cycles.

This reference contains:
• Beautiful designs for beds and borders, including geometric and natural plant arrangements, spacing considerations, and planning for year-round color displays
• An overview of the basics that affect success for every gardener, from selection of a site to planting and caring for a flower garden
• Everything a gardener needs to plan for and plant bulbs, nursery starts, seeds, bedding plants, and containers, with special features that show how to create multiple-plant displays using wall hangers, suspended containers, and plant supports
• Complete care instructions, with step-by-step photo-illustrated demonstrations of watering, fertilizing organically, cultivating, mulching, staking, and pruning, including tips on protecting plants from frost
• A complete review of the essentials of the USDA-approved integrated pest management system for identification, prevention, control, and care of the most common flower pest and disease conditions
• An A-to-Z plant listing with timely, factual descriptive text, full-color close-up photographs, including color, shape, and soil type for every USDA plant hardiness zone

Better than anything else out there, this up-to-date reference includes the newest flower species, plus the latest trends in flower gardening, including butterfly gardens, wedding bouquets, and dwarf and miniature gardens.

Julie Bawden-Davis has written a weekly gardening column for the Times Syndicate for 10 years. In addition, she has written more than 200 articles for the San Francisco Chronicle's gardening section and has contributed numerous articles to Organic Gardening, National Gardening, and Parenting magazines. Bawden-Davis lives in Orange, California.