Gardening book a must for anyone who gardens in the Pacific Northwest
Credit to Author: Mary Beth Roberts| Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 13:30:07 +0000
(Revised and Updated Third Edition)
By Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott
Greystone Books, $40
The Pacific Northwest is teeming with a wide variety of native plants, and this completely revised edition of Gardening with Native Plants is a comprehensive guide to gardening with the local flora from southern British Columbia to northern California.
Renowned botanist, Art Kruckeberg (1920-2016) came to the Pacific Northwest from California in 1950 to teach botany at the University of Washington. He and his wife bought four acres north of Seattle and set to work growing a wide array of native and exotic plants. They would gather native plant seeds on late-summer collecting expeditions and Kruckeberg became interested in drawing attention to conserving endangered plants.
He also recognized people’s increasing desire to grow native plants so they could create gardens that were sustainable, beautiful to look at and provide shelter and food to butterflies, bees and birds.
Whether your garden is in deep shade, relentlessly sunny or cursed with poor soil, this book contains a wealth of information to address your specific conditions. Imagine a garden where hazel and huckleberry provide fresh spring green, lupin and camassia brighten summer days, and paper birches and serviceberry add glorious fall colour.
Co-author, Linda Chalker-Scott, has a doctorate in horticulture and was asked to help revise this edition. Chalker-Scott, a nature lover who gathered wild dogwood and pressed native flowers as a child, has updated the botanical nomenclature and added more colour photography.
This new edition no longer has information on how to collect or propagate native plants in order to help end this practice, so rare and threatened species continue to exist. Try to buy native plants from a reputable nursery that cultivates and propagates its plants sustainably.
With more than 900 garden-worthy native trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and annuals and a extensive glossary of botanical, horticultural and gardening terms, this well-organized and well-written book is a must for anyone who gardens in the Pacific Northwest.