Reviewed by Charles Hardman

With gardeners everywhere returning to increasing the numbers of hardy perennials in their garden planning, we're fortunate to have this new book on just those subjects. Hardy Perennials is full of practical information with the best of the old and the new species, varieties and cultivars included here.

But it would be a mistake to leave the word "practical" hanging in the air without adding a few others. Let's begin the word additions with "risks"; Mr. Rice takes some in the pictures and writing throughout this book. When most of us think of plant or flower pictures, we wait until our plants are in their full glory of leaves or flowers and then snap the photo. There are plenty of those kinds of shots in this book, but you'll also find several pictures of plants taken on frosty mornings when the ice crystals crinkled and etched their leaves into a whole new perspective; look at the pictures of the red-leaved Bergenia 'Eric Smith' and the frost-laced evergreen foliage of Helleborus argutifolius; you'll see what I mean. The bright flowers of yellow skunk cabbage, Lysichiton americanus , never looked more beautiful nor has the plant appeared more stinkily aromatic than in Peter Ray's photo of this species, while the leaves of the normally blue-leaved Hosta 'Halcyon' become a shocking burnished copper in Mr. Rice's autumn photo.

As for Graham Rice's writing and writing style, the words "insightful", "humorous", "interesting" "breezy" when he's relating a favorite anecdote, "down-to-earth" and "scientific" when he wants to bring home a point and, well, yes, "practical", all come to mind. The writing risks taken by Mr. Rice are in his slightly different angle on his subjects -- he calls "Summer -- The Drowning Season" because there is such a plethora of plants putting on their shows at that time -- and on his combinations of words as in "appealingly dumpy" referring to the flowers of Cyclamen coum and "an armed invasion" with a "heady, almost sickly fragrance" referring to Petasites fragrans , the winter heliotrope. A good writer is best enjoyed by reading his or her works, so don't take my word for it: read the book.

But the book's pictures and its writing, while wonderful, are in the long run overshadowed by the real purpose of the book itself: promoting the culture and use of hardy perennials. Here we have a master gardener who also happens to write well. And take good pictures. After reading only a few paragraphs one gets the feeling of being in the hands of a fine gardening teacher, safe and comfortable, but learning all the while.

Taking a seasonal tack, Mr. Rice leads us from Winter Into Spring in the first chapter and from there progresses through all the seasons with perennials. This is a little different format from the A-Z descriptive style he might have used but he carries through well with this approach and the results are commendable.

Of bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers, Mr. Rice has included Allium, Amaryllis belladonna, Anemone, Arum, Corydalis, Cyclamen, Dahlia, Erythronium...the list goes on and while they're scattered throughout the book, a good index makes locating "bulbous" plants easy as long as you know the generic names of what you're looking for. While some of your favorite perennials and perennial "bulbs" might not be in here, let's face it, a writer has to stop somewhere.

I recommend this book especially if you plan a garden redo, especially if you live in a climate which gets cold in the winter and especially if you want to learn more about the wonderful world of perennials. This book is enjoyable, informative, exciting and fun. Readers ought to get a kick out of it while absorbing plenty of good gardening information.