The Encyclopedia Of Grasses For Livable Landscapes

"Rick Darke combines a deep horticultural knowledge with extraordinary perceptions as a photographer... through his remarkable tutorage (we)... can see these glorious plants afresh - providing a new appreciation of their many garden uses and values." - John Patrick. This book provides a huge range of grasses in encyclopedic form as well as covering botanical characteristics and how grasses can be used for garden design, and ecological and cultural landscapes. He is one of the world's great botanical photographers and in the 484 pages, there are over 1000 brilliant images of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part.

A comprehensive reference combines an alphabetical listing of hundreds of species of grasses and grass lookalikes, with detailed descriptions of each that includes information on appearance, height, spread, behavior, and hardiness, as well as more than one thousand full-color photographs and guidelines for using such plants in a variety of landscapes.

Revised and expanded version of book by the same title, with search software and footnote and bookmark functions, and nearly two dozen new plants and more than 200 new color photographs not found in the book.

Shows and describes hundreds of species of ornamental grasses, including ways to use them

This encyclopedia by a distinguished American horticulturist is the most authoritative and best-illustrated reference ever published on ornamental grasses. At the heart of the book is the illustrated alphabetical encyclopedia of important ornamental grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, cat-tails, and selected bamboos. Many of the most important plants are illustrated in more than one season. This book is intended for gardeners in a wide range of situations and climates, and draws from the experience and creativity of great gardens and gardeners around the world. It is an invaluable tool for landscape architects, garden designers, nursery professionals, and home gardeners who seek to extend their knowledge of these beautiful and useful plants.

Once covered by wild grasses, America's heartland is by nature a grassland, populated with plants whose ecological importance, practical value, and subtle beauty we are only now beginning to comprehend. Of the 3,000 species of wild plants in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, in the heart of the heartland, only two of every ten are grasses, and in some prairies just one or two of these can account for 80 to 90 percent of the ground cover. It is these major wild grasses, the native and the naturalized, that this field guide covers, as well as some not found in such large numbers but nonetheless widespread and easily noticed. From the more familiar (like big bluestem, little bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, buffalograss, sideoats grama, and blue grama) to the less recognized (such as ticklegrass, rice cutgrass, and prairie wedgegrass), from the weedy to the desirable, each of the seventy species profiled in these pages appears in full-color, its fundamental characteristics clearly identifiable by novice and expert alike: flowers and seed heads, leaf details with size comparisons, and whole mature plant pictures. Though of ever broadening interest--to ranchers, gardeners, naturalists, and restorers of prairies and native landscapes--grasses are notoriously tricky to identify. A number of features of this guide make the task considerably easier. A handy system of "finding lists," allows a user to navigate quickly to identification of an unknown grass. Descriptions, written in clear and easily understood terms, focus on the primary characteristics of each species and are accompanied by distribution maps. And an illustrated glossary, leaf comparison section, and table of grass flowering dates provide additional information and opportunities for recognizing and appreciating various species. Putting these plants into ecological and cultural context, botanist and grass specialist Iralee Barnard gives readers, whether curious amateur, passionate naturalist, or professional, a new way of understanding the grasses of America's prairies and plains, including their plant structures and adaptations, their natural history, ecological associations, and cultural importance.

Plant selection and garden style are deeply influenced by where we are gardening. To successfully grow a range of beautiful ornamental plants, every gardener has to know the specifics of the region’s climate, soil, and geography. Growing the Midwest Garden, by Edward Lyon, the director of Wisconsin’s Allen Centennial Gardens, offers an enthusiastic and comprehensive approach to ornamental gardening in the heartland. This guide features in-depth chapters on climate, soil, pests, and maintenance, along with plant profiles of the best perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, and bulbs.

Gardening with Native Grasses in Cold Climates, is written for inexperienced as well as seasoned gardeners, landscape designers, garden center employees, and anyone interested in native grasses that grow well in cold climates. New information on the benefits of native grasses including their importance as host plants for native Lepidoptera is included. Combinations of specific grasses used by larvae and perennials that the adult butterflies feed on is new and timely information.