Karen Glasgow, who died before this book went into production, accomplished an admirable job by condensing the genus Iris into a book of just over 100 pages. With a knack for simplification, Glasgow divided the genus into two groups, rhizomatous and bulbous, and continued further breakdowns from that point.

The book is generously illustrated with one hundred color photographs of Iris species, varieties and hybrids and landscape shots. Landscape shots should be inspirational, I feel, and many of those which appear throughout this book truly are photos which can get the blood boiling to create similar scenes.

Yet, I doubt this is the book originally envisioned by the author. It is apparent that the author's death in 1994 caused an abrupt shifting of gears and priorities by subsequent contributors. Most noticeable is the fact that there are details lacking.

For instance, while Pests and Diseases and Propagation are chapters and soil and moisture needs are covered under the genera and species' descriptions, the book has insufficient information on fertilizing. As "What kind of fertilizer should I use?" is one of the questions I'm most frequently asked when talking about plants, the nutritional needs of irises could have been explored more fully.

While there are many Iris species pictured, Iris variegata-a species upon which the author places special emphasis by saying, "It is to this gaudy little iris (sic) more than to any other species that we owe the wealth of loveliness that we find in modern Tall Bearded irises"-is not shown. After such glowing praise, the reader deserves to see "this gaudy little iris (sic)".

In addition, there are details overlooked. For instance, the picture of a brilliantly clean lemon-yellow L reichenbachii on page 35, clearly does not match its "muddy yellow" description on the facing page. And, even after reading the two descriptive paragraphs on L unguicularis (syn. L stylosa), I was left wondering why the author refers to it as "the most desirable member of the entire genus." Perhaps because it blooms from autumn throughout winter. But then, I'm not really sure and the two pictures showing varieties of the species on page 78 are unconvincing.

The index is incomplete. Try looking for the words "pests", "diseases" "propagation" or "fertilizer". You won't find them. The first three words do have brief chapters devoted to them, however.

It's obvious that the author was a devoted fan of Iris and her first chapter, "Iris, the year-round flower" (sic), makes it clear that, in most of our gardens, we could, by selecting the proper species, have Iris flowers nearly the whole year through.

A conversion chart (metric to imperial) on page 101 is a good idea and I see that Timber Press is including a similar chart in more of its published works these days. A wise move.

This book will be most helpful to gardeners who want a quick, overall view of the genus Iris.

Charles Hardman