Some Book Suggestions

The Big Book of Preserving The Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader Storey Communications, Inc. Pownal, Vermont, 1997 paperback, retail approximately, $18.95 will help answer this question deliciously. The first chapter explains the essentials: choosing only the best and freshest fruits and vegetables to preserve and in later chapters, esc5ibes the various ways to do to. Methods included are canning, drying, freezing, making jams & jellies, pickles, relishes & chutneys, vinegars & seasonings. Each chapter includes clear instructions and numerous illustrations and recipes for each category such as the Green Chie Salsa in the Canning section, Quiet Spirit Tea Blend in the Drying Section and the Green and Gold Squash Casserole in the Freezing section. Makes your mouth water just reading the recipes and eager to save some of the summer goodness to enjoy later.

The Enabling Garden, Creating Barrier-Free Gardens by Gene Rothert, Taylor Publishing, approximately, $13.95. An "enabling garden " is one that eliminates physical barriers to gardening. Rothert writes about ways to make gardening easier, especially for the physically challenged. He writes this book from personal experience. As we get older, it gets more difficult for us to continue gardening, but the book is filled with information that can help us continue our love for gardening.

Flowering Bulbs by Theodore James, jr. Macmillan Books. This book tells you how to grow more than 85 bulbs for color all year round. What the Texas gardener must keep in mind is what bulbs will grow in our climate. With this in mind, the book is very informative. It has pictures and descriptions, the height, the zones it will grow in, moisture and light requirements, time to plant, spacing, bloom times, and length of time for the blooms.

The Garden - Rand McNally Book by Peter Seabrook. This books begins with planning your garden and ends with Pests and Diseases. It contains information on propagation, garden flowers, roses, fruit, greenhouses and a season by season work chart. This book contains an overall look at gardening in the south, but must be used with a gardening guide for Fort Bend County planting.

Gardening Techniques (Taylor's Guide) A complete guide to planning, planting and caring for your garden. This book contains basic information on how to grow plants, propagation, fertilizing, watering, pruning, frost-date map, plant chart, tools suppliers and much more. If you are thinking about a garden, this book is very helpful.

The Herb Bible by Peter McHoy and Pamela Westland, 1994, Barnes & Noble Books. This book is easy to read, and makes it easy to locate the information you are looking for. The book contains chapters from growing herbs, and caring for herbs to home remedies and technical terms. Large colored pictures of each herb with easy charts for suitable soil, uses, and positioning in the garden, etc.

Landscaping With Antique Roses by Liz Druitt and G. Michael Shoup, The Taunton Press. This book has guidelines for integrating Old Roses into your garden, for propagating, planting and protecting your Old Roses as well as an Encyclopedia of Old Garden Roses. The pictures are large and very clear.

Llewellyn's Herbal Almanac for the Year 2000 Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN 1999, approximately, $6.95. The contents include Growing and Gathering Herbs, Culinary Herbs, Herbs for Health, Herbs for Beauty, Herb crafts and Herb History, Myth and Magic. Full of information on all aspects of herbs, culinary and medicinal; it is a collection of essays by 20 writers wise in herbal ways.

Naturalistic Landscaping for the Gulf Coast by Mark Bowen River Bend Company, 2003 The notion of Mark Bowen’s latest book is that “Increasingly, more and more gardeners are becoming interested in the notion of naturalistic gardening. Some people have become interested in this approach to gardening due to a desire to restore natural beauty to their land or due to their concerns about the impact of products on people as well as wildlife, while others have become interested in … the community benefits or the possibilities of preserving natural heritage.” The book includes landscape design tips, installation insights, soil fertility solutions, pest remedies, plant profiles and locator guides (lists of plants suited to conditions categorized by combinations of the amount of light and quality of drainage in a location along with plant water requirements). The range of information is tremendous and Bowen’s respect for the role of nature in our lives and in the lives of future generations is a pleasure to read. This book would be a great addition to any gardener’s library.

Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening second edition, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas. This is an explicit book on landscaping in Texas. Beautiful pictures, information on zones, water sprinklers, layout, fertilizing, preparing beds, vegetables and citrus. A nice addition is Texas Tips, for people who do not know that much about gardening in Texas. Enjoyable book to touch, read and look at.

Perennial Garden Color by Dr. William C. Welch, Taylor Publishing. This is another one of Dr. Welch's beautiful books. Anything you want to know about adding perennials to your landscape is in this book....color, arranging, planting times, bloom times, plant care. He even has a section for companion planting of Old Roses. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. You must see it book to believe it. Add this book to your library.

A Personal Review of Perennial Garden Color by Mary Beth McCaughey, MG - Many of you heard the great talk Dr. Welch gave at the June monthly program. I imagine it’s something of a challenge for him to choose a specific subject when he speaks to gardening organizations – we want to hear about EVERYTHING! We experience something of the same problem when faced with selecting one of the books Dr. Welch has written. Though I’m sure they are all terrific, my favorite is this book, which he first published in 1989. Perennial Garden Color starts by giving the reader an appreciation of how various garden design techniques originated. The descriptions and illustrations take us to each era where we can almost smell the flowers and imagine gardeners (such as ourselves) making plans and enjoying the fruits of their labor. There is also an overview of the many creative ways in which perennials can be used in gardens today. Though each section conveys a wealth of information, the book is enjoyable to read and appeals to gardeners at all levels – from landscape professionals to dedicated home gardeners and complete newcomers. As with the presentations I’ve heard Dr. Welch give, this book presents practical information and helps the reader appreciate the artistry of gardening with perennials. Design principles such as color, line, form, texture and pattern are outlined and beautifully illustrated with photos. The heart of this book is the detailed information about a long list of perennials that are well suited to Southern gardens. Descriptions include growing conditions, blooming cycles, propagation techniques—and pictures, of course! While gardeners in other parts of the country spend winter months pouring over seed catalogs, dreaming of spring planting season, we have the luxury of working with perennials that can provide color and enjoyment throughout the year. Instead of seed catalogs, I peruse this book when it’s too hot or rainy to work outside—or when I want to treat myself to a bit of time dreaming about new specimens I might add to our backyard landscape. Anyone with an interest in old garden roses will find that they are a favorite plant group of Dr. Welch’s. The first time I heard him speak, Dr. Welch noted how many old garden roses can be found still thriving at old home sites and cemeteries. I’d never been very interested in roses myself but when he said “... even dead people can grow them” well, I figured I had to give them a try! The Perennial Garden Color includes thorough reference information on a number of old garden roses as well as companions plants for roses and perennials. This book was published by Taylor Book Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, 1989, ISBN#-87833-621-1. It may be ordered at most book stores as well as Amazon.com and is often available at Dr. Welch's lectures where the proceeds support a student scholarship at Texas A & M University.

The Southern Heirloom Garden by William C. Welch and Greg Grant, Taylor Publishing. This is the history of gardens. The books describes how the gardens from the past...English, French, African-American, Spanish, German, have influenced our Southern Gardens. If you are interested in the history of gardening, this book is wonderful. it is filled with a huge amount information and pictures. Another book to add to your library.

Southern Plants for Landscape Design by Neil Odenwald and James Turner, Claitor's Publishing Division, 3165 S. Acadian at I-10, P.O. Box 261333, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70826-1333. This is the textbook used at Louisiana State University in their Landscape Design Courses. Each plant is described in detail. The foliage, the flower, its landscape value, and special care instructions. If you can't find what you are looking for in this book, you will not be able to find it anywhere.

Simple Pleasures for THE HOLIDAYS, A Treasury of Stories and Suggestions for Creating Meaningful Celebrations by Susannah Seton. Published by Conari Press, Berkley, California,, 1998, approximately, $15.95. The theme of this charming book is simplifying the holidays by redefining those special moments with comfortable and relaxed events, personal rather than commercial and frantic. It's about family, friends, good food and drink. The chapters cover Halloween, Mexican Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Winter solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas Kwanzaa New Year's Eve and Day, Chinese New Year and Kid's and Adults' Birthdays. Each chapter explains the tradition of the holiday and provides many tasty recipes to celebrate the occasion. Numerous home-made gifts feature herbs and spices and other natural items. A delight to read and an inspiration to make some changes for the simpler and better.

Trees of East Texas by Robert A. Vines, University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819. "The purpose of this field guide is to identify by full descriptions and illustrations all the native and naturalized trees of the east Texas zone." This book contains more information than you need to know about the trees in our area. Very informative.

The Lazy Gardener’s Guide by Brenda Beust Smith, The Lazy Gardener River Bend Company, 2003 A new edition of Brenda Beust Smith’s wonderful book on local gardening. Brenda’s motto is (and has been for many years) “If a plant has problems, get rid of it. Get a plant that doesn’t have problems!” We can all appreciate Brenda’s practical approach to managing a home landscape and her enthusiasm for using plants that are hardy for this area and virtually carefree once established. And did you know? Brenda is a Master Gardener! The Revised and Updated Lazy Gardener’s Guide is arranged with month-by-month gardening that includes tips ranging from what should be done each month to what could be done if the reader was really energetic. There are also sample garden designs and plant suggestions each month. This new edition includes more horticultural and design tips and a much more extensive index to assist the reader in finding information, regardless of when the question occurs.