By George! A New Book
October 14th, 2014
My decades-old effort to keep you from wasting money on killed plants has led this week to a new resource – a book filled with the 170 top plants I’d recommend for Pennsylvania landscapes.
My first gardening book — on the 170 best plants for Pennsylvania yards — is hot off presses.
That’s right. My first gardening book is just off the press, and it’s called the “Pennsylvania Getting Started Garden Guide.”
The 240-page paperback is our region’s version of a nationwide series that Cool Springs Press does to help gardeners zero in on the best choices for their particular area.
(Get an autographed copy directly from George at his Buy Helpful Info page.)
Locally targeted advice is hugely important, I think, which is what attracted me to saying yes when Cool Springs’ editor Billie Brownell asked me to write the Pennsylvania edition.
What works in New England or Florida or even Baltimore may not work very well in our shale, clay and erratic weather. The more local the plant selection, the better. And when you stack the odds in your favor by knowing and buying the plants most likely to be happy in your yard, you save yourself a lot of work, money and aggravation.
Philadelphia garden writer Liz Ball did the original version of what was then called the “Pennsylvania Gardener’s Guide” back in 2002. She updated it in 2007 and since then has mostly retired from garden-writing.
So when Cool Springs decided it was time for another fresh look, Liz passed along my name. Isn’t she nice? (Answer: Yes, and her husband, Rick Ray, is a retired Barnes Foundation Arboretum School hort instructor with an encyclopedic knowledge of anything containing chlorophyll.)
Tons of great new plants and varieties have come along these past 5 to 10 years, so not only did I get to pick my tried-and-true favorites, I could incorporate the latest-and-greatest.
The bulk of the book consists of one-page profiles of the 170 best-for-Pennsylvania plants, arranged in chapters by plant type (annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, etc.)
The profiles include specific tips on when, where and how to plant each plant; advice on caring for them afterward; how best to use each selection in the landscape, and probably the most overlooked tidbit, which varieties are the best of the best. Knowing the highest-performing varieties is a key bit of information that separates the average gardener from the skilled plant geek.
Each profile includes a plant photo and lead-ins with graphics that tell you each plant’s size, preferred light conditions and special benefits, such as attractiveness to birds and butterflies, drought-tolerance and anti-deer qualities. Each plant that’s a U.S. native is also marked.
Besides the plant-by-plant rundowns, the whole first chapter focuses on the intricacies of gardening around here, including how to fix your lousy soil, how to roll with our weather’s punches, and how to deal with weeds.
Other chapters offer advice on what to do when things go wrong (including a list of plants that weren’t picked for the book and why), 20 excellent Pennsylvania public gardens where you can see the selected plants in action before deciding, and a list of plants that have won Pennsylvania awards.
I’m happy with it. And I think it can make a marked difference in how your landscape performs.
“Pennsylvania Getting Started Garden Guide” is available at bookstores, home centers (Lowe’s carries it), and some garden centers and public-garden gift shops for $24.95, as well as through online sellers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
You can also get a copy directly from me, which is the only way I’ll make a few bucks since I wrote it as a no-royalty “work-for-hire” deal.
I’ll pay the sales tax and autograph your mailed-out copy if you order one through my Buy Helpful Info page. Just let me know to whom you’d like it autographed.
This would also make a nice gift for the plant geek on your list (hint, hint)…