Gardening is now the favorite leisure pastime in America. Homeowners are realizing the health benefits derived from gardening and the increase in their home's property value. This book contains easy-to-use advice on the top landscape plant choices. It also recommends specific varieties, and provides advice on how to plant, how to grow and how to care for the best plants.

DIVWith over 100 years of combined gardening experience, renowned California horticulturalists Bruce and Sharon Asakawa bring you the perfect when-to, how-to, and what-to plant guide for gardening in the Golden State./divDIV/divDIVPerhaps you’ve always entertained the idea of cultivating a garden in your California landscape, but have never quite known where to begin. Perhaps you’ve stood helplessly by as your once-beautiful calico flowers withered beneath the persistent western sun. Don’t despair! Fortunately, there’s a specialized gardening guide to the rescue, tailored exclusively to the needs of California residents./divDIV/divDIVIn California Gardener’s Handbook, beloved California gardening duo Bruce and Sharon Asakawa walk you through 350 plant species destined to flourish amid the varied climates and environmental challenges of California. With the help of gorgeous photography and foolproof instructions, they’ll teach you how to plant, prune, water, control pests, and care for your personal outdoor oasis. Fifteen plant categories give you hundreds of choices, letting you find the flora that best fit your microclimate. Even better, the Asakawas provide twelve full months of when-to advice for each plant category, allowing you to successfully enjoy this peaceful pastime all year round. Whether you’re craving the sweetness of the dragon fruit or longing for the cheery visual splendor of the blue marguerite daisy, California Gardener’s Handbook will equip you to confidently awaken your inner gardening enthusiast./div

Each of the 169 specially selected plants featured in this book is showcased in glorious full color. Valuable information on planting, caring, and protection is included for each plant and a map designates each plant's preferred growing zones.

Since it was first published in 2002, the California Master Gardener Handbook has been the definitive guide to best practices and advice for gardeners throughout the West. Now the much-anticipated 2nd Edition to the Handbook is here—completely redesigned, with updated tables, graphics, and color photos throughout. Whether you're a beginner double digging your first bed or a University of California Master Gardener, this handbook will be your go-to source for the practical, science-based information you need to sustainably maintain your landscape and garden and become an effective problem solver. Chapters cover soil, fertilizer, and water management, plant propagation, plant physiology; weeds and pests; home vegetable gardening; specific garden crops including grapes, berries temperate fruits and nuts, citrus, and avocados. Also included is information on lawns, woody landscape plants, and landscape design. New to the 2nd Edition is information on invasive plants and principles of designing and maintaining landscapes for fire protection. Inside are updates to the technical information found in each chapter, reorganization of information for better ease of use, and new content on important emerging topics. Useful conversions for many units of measure found in the Handbook or needed in caring for gardens and landscapes are located in Appendix A. A glossary of important technical terms used and an extensive index round out the book.

Beloved perennial of the green-thumbed in the golden state, and now revised and sporting a gorgeous new cover, Northern California Gardening is a comprehensive, illustrated guide for both novice and expert gardeners. San Francisco Chronicle garden columnist Katherine Grace Endicott maps out the rewards of reaping what you sow from flowers and fruits to herbs and vegetables throughout Northern California. The unique month-by-month format helps readers find answers when they need them, while detailed information on native and nonnative species and basic planting and pruning techniques make carefree gardening easier than ever. Add to that a completely new and updated source list, and finding just the right plants and seeds is as simple as watching them grow.

“Eye-popping proof that water-wise gardens are bold, beautiful and brilliantly hued.” —San Diego Home and Garden Dry weather defines the southwest, and it's getting dryer. As water becomes more precious, our gardens suffer. If we want to keep gardening, we must revolutionize our plant choices and garden practices. Hot Color, Dry Garden provides a joyful, color-filled way to exuberantly garden in low-water conditions. Garden expert Nan Sterman highlights inspiring examples of brilliant gardens filled with water-smart plants. You'll find information about designing for color using plants, architecture, and accessories, along with a plant directory that features drought-tolerant plants that dazzle.

“Here is the southern California gardener’s calendar laid out with clarity and zest; no weasel words, no ifs and buts.” —Pacific Horticulture In this completely revised and updated classic, beloved garden expert Pat Welsh shares how to garden the organic way. This edition includes forty color photographs; a simple month-by-month format that shows gardeners exactly what to do throughout the year; terrific advice on gardening with drought-tolerant and fire-resistant plants; and plenty of fresh information on organic soils, fertilizers, and pest control. Useful for newbies and seasoned green thumbs alike, Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening is the indispensable guide for every Southern California gardener.

String beans, bush beans, pole beans, they are all the same species and have similar needs in the garden. Abe’s Guide to Growing Green Beans covers all the green beans. It is an excellent vegetable garden guide for the garden beginner as well as the veteran gardener.

Horticulture has remained far behind in understanding of botanical principles. Recent phylogenetic (DNA-based) reorganization of higher plants has revolutionized taxonomic treatments of all biological entities, even when morphology does not completely agree with their organization. This book is an example of applying principals of botanical phylogenetic taxonomy to assemble genera, species, and cultivars of 200 vascular plant families of ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms that are cultivated for enhancement of human living space; homes, gardens, and parks. The emphases are on cultivated species but examples of some plants are often shown in the wild and in landscapes. In providing descriptions, it is assumed that students and other interested individuals have no background in general botany (plant characteristics), or nomenclature. Fundamental features of all plant groups discussed are fully illustrated by original watercolor drawings or photographs. Discussion of the families is grounded on recent botanical phylogenetic treatments, which is based on common ancestry (monophyly). Of course, phylogenetic taxonomy is not a new concept, and was originally based on morphological characteristics; it is the DNA-based phylogeny that has revolutionized modern biological classifications. In practical terms, this book represents the horticultural treatment that corresponds to phylogenetic-based botanical taxonomy, to which is added cultigens and cultivated genera and species. Hence, the harmony between horticultural and botanical taxonomy. This book covers phylogenetic-based taxonomy of Angiosperms (Eudicots). A companion volume covers Ferns, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms (Monocots).