Previously illustrated with black and white photographs, this reference now provides professionals with a colorful guide to the production of commercial foliage crops. Featuring updated and expanded information, including cultural changes, new technological advances, and eight new foliage crops, the guide now covers more than 70 species of foliage appropriate to commercial environments--anthuriums, bromeliads, ferns, bamboos, birds-of-paradise, and African violets. In addition to exploring each plant's natural habitat, varieties, and propagation, this reference also counsels growers on uses, nutrition, pests, disorders, interior care, and the most common problems affecting these types of foliage. Tables also list leaf analysis rating standards for nutrients for many of the crops discussed.

Author Nellie Neal explains how to best use tropical plants both indoors and out.

This practical reference provides professional growers with the tools necessary to make in-the-field identifications of tropical foliage disorders. Listing more than 70 varieties of foliage plants, this guide covers a broad range of disorders, including pest damage, disease, phytotoxicity, and environmental problems. Each disorder listing includes a visual identification, brief description of damage, and solution for treatment, including ecologically benign applications whenever possible. Timely recognition can save a crop or landscape, and this guide is ideal for foliage growers, interior landscapers, educators, and plant retailers.

Enjoy fresh java brewed from your own coffee beans or juice from the orange tree growing in a sunny corner of your living room. Laurelynn G. Martin and Byron E. Martin show you how to successfully plant, grow, and harvest 47 varieties of tropical fruiting plants — in any climate! This straightforward, easy-to-use guide brings papaya, passionfruit, pepper, pineapples, and more out of the tropics and into your home. With plenty of gorgeous foliage, entrancing fragrances, and luscious fruits, local food has never been more exotic.

Adventurous Gardener seeks relationship with Tropical Plant… Tropical plants are energizing. They awaken a tired summer garden with lush, sensuous foliage and fascinating flowers and turn a suburban patio into a sophisticated, late-night paradise. But if you garden in a temperate climate and have been reluctant to commit to what you’re sure will be too much work, it’s time to let Tropical Plants and How to Love Them author Marianne Willburn act as your tropical matchmaker. Using five relationship types to help you understand the different levels of care required for many common (and uncommon!) tropicals, Marianne introduces you to an impressive array of outstanding tropical plants by providing care instructions, easy tips for seeing these tropical beauties safely through the winter, and advice for designing a tropical paradise of your own. Tropical Plants and How to Love Them gives you permission to jump headfirst into: A summer romance that ends with the first frost. A long-term commitment to beautify indoor and outdoor spaces. A friends-with-benefits relationship that yields exotic flavors and fragrances. A breakup with that high-maintenance beauty. A best friend relationship that lasts a lifetime. From the striking red leaves of the Abyssinian banana to the unusual flowers and healing powers of turmeric, there are hundreds of tropical plants worth loving. Find your new sweetheart in the pages of Tropical Plants and How to Love Them.

This book incorporates several new developments since the publication of the first edition. Use this reference as a guide to the identification and control of tropical plant diseases. Includes special emphasis on molecular biology, genetic engineering, and integrated pest management. Includes new coverage of: Rice, Maize, Sorghum, Root Crops, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes, Legumes, Soybeans, Peanuts, Bananas, Coffee, Fruit and Nuts, Sugarcane, Vegetables, Cotton, Spices, Tobacco, among others.

The idea of mixing tropical plants with perennials and hardy annuals has been around since Victorian times. It is now enjoying a newfound popularity because tropical plants are more widely available. Gardeners who want to bring the lush beauty of tropicals to an existing garden, or who want to create an authentic vintage garden, will delight in The Exotic Garden. Although tropicals are novelties in temperate climates, they can successfully be grown anywhere. Iversen shows how tropicals can easily be used as annuals to perk up a garden with color during non-blooming seasons. The author's expert advice shows how to grow tropicals in beds, borders, and containers, select and combine plants, and use the tools of color, texture, and form. Plus, there are special overwintering tips and a full color glossary of more than 100 plants.

The floricultural industry has been undergoing an unprecedented revolu tion in terms of the type of commodity produced and the production and marketing technology in both developed and developing countries. As a result of this revolution, as we know today, there is a flower for every purpose and for every person in the world, as is evident from the slogan of the Society for American Florists: "say it with flowers". In re cent years, the Latin American and European countries have become sizeable competitors for the North American fresh flower markets and the trend continues growing. Like any other crop production, floricultural production can be divided into three basic factors: (1) production costs (2) quality (3) transportation costs. All these must be optimum for this area or industry to be safe from competition. With increasing consumer awareness and the current recession, the pressure from the artificial floral products in dustry and also of neighbouring countries on the American fresh flower industry, and continued competition even amongst the growers, whole salers and retailers, quality in floricultural industry is becoming increas ingly important to all those concerned with handling these products. The visual quality aspects of the product are the sole determiner of consumer acceptability in this industry and, unlike fruits and vegetables, flowers cannot be marketed by just discarding the damaged portion.

Sumptuous photos show off more than 250 dazzling tropical species from the lush terrain of Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa...everywhere the climate nurtures seductively fragrant blossoms and luxuriant foliage. The in-depth information on palms, shrubs, vines, herbs, ferns, water plants, and of course, magnificent, vibrant blooms will prove invaluable to gardeners wanting something special.

Passionate gardeners in cooler climates struggle year after year to overwinter their gorgeous tropical plants. Our new paperback edition is the answer to their problem — practical advice for achieving the tropical look in a temperate garden. The authors, who both live and garden on Long Island, New York, reveal the secrets to creating a lush, flamboyant landscape. Separate chapters cover such topics as principles of design and maintenance, proper plant selection, container gardening, and overwintering. Fantastic color photography throughout will inspire gardeners in even the hardiest zones. With the help of this book, an impressive tropical garden is within any gardener's reach.