ALPINES: THE ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY by Clive Innes. 1995. Timber Press, 133 SW Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-9743, (503) 227-2878; FAX (503) 227-3070. $39.95. 192 pages, 957 color photos, 8 1/2 x 10 3/4 ", hardcover

Reviewed by Charles Hardman

For over twenty years, Timber Press has published gardening and botanical books (Dioscorides Press is the botanical publishing arm of Timber) characterized by their quality, beauty and style. Timber knows how to present good, solid information combined with a flare that tantalizes and teases forcing one want to read on and on as the midnight oil burns and the eyelids droop.

Clive Innes' Alpines, The Illustrated Dictionary is a remarkable book with so many color pictures, informative descriptions, and brief, no-words-wasted gardening and propagating suggestions it's hard to imagine how anyone could work so much useful stuff into "only" 192 pages.

One could be forgiven if at first glance this book were dismissed as merely a beautiful coffee table book. However, a peek between its covers convinces otherwise. Each section of the book is presented alphabetically. Each plant is presented in full color picture. Each botanical plant name has beneath it the name of the plant family from which it springs.

And each brief description, growing instruction and propagation suggestion beneath the plants' pictures is succinct, wasting no words yet providing the reader with plenty of information should he or she wish to include the plant in his/her own garden plans.

Luckily for bulb lovers, many plants considered alpines grow from bulbs, corms, rhizomes or tubers, so you'll find plenty of 'bulbous" plants in this book.

The word "alpine" for most of us probably conjures up an image such as: A small or tiny plant that grows high in the mountains where it is subjected to harsh weather conditions. Well, sort of. Fortunately, the inside fold flap on the front cover breaks the boundaries of that stereotype by informing us: "What constitutes an alpine is less easy to define. Alpines may be found at low altitudes in warm Mediterranean climates, on the mountain slopes of Saudi Arabia, or high in the mountains of the Alps, the Andes, the Sierra Nevada, and most other ranges around the world."

In fact, while most of the plants presented in this book are small or tiny, a very few such as Acanthus molllis at "60 cm (24 in) or more tall", Agapanthus praecox and A. walshii with leaves "60 cm (24 in) or longer" and Boophane disticha "60 cm (24 in) wide", and a brief list of others do not fit into my own definition of "small" or "tiny". However, "small" and "tiny" are not entirely what alpines are all about. Seeing the four species just mentioned included in this book helped me expand my concept of just what "alpine" means. The same can be said of a number of other species included: they're compact giving the appearance that they got that way while adapting to high altitudes or harsh weather conditions. Yet compact, small or tiny plants can originate in low elevations under weather conditions which aren't so bad after all. "High" and "harsh" were two more words I now give less "alpine" credence to after enjoying this book for a few evenings.

You'll see pictures of plants in this book that you'll never grow. Not because you won't want to! The fact is there are so many lovely plants featured in this book that a whole series of gardens would be required to hold them all.

Some readers may find a genera or two lacking from this book that they wish had been included. For instance, I would like to have seen at least one Dudleya from our own Southern California mountains and perhaps a Roscoea or two from the Himalayas. Lest anyone think this is offered as criticism, let me hasten to say that this is merely a personal observation and with the wealth of exquisite pictures and descriptions Clive Innes has included, there is more information within these pages already than any of us will be able to absorb in many nights' worth of midnight oil and drooping eyelids.

Mr. Innes acknowledges Harry Hay, Lancelot Henslow and Peter Stiles for contributing pictures to the completion of this fine work.

I recommend this book to all bulb enthusiasts seeking to expand their gardening horizons and bulb growing enjoyment.

Reviewed by Charles Hardman

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Lilies is one of those must-have books if you are a lily buff. Written by two men who have the authority which can only come from lifetimes of experience with their subject, this book provides answers this reader didn't even know there were questions for.

If you're not exactly a lily buff you may want to try on this book for size anyway. You'll certainly pick up a lot of fascinating information.

I was delighted to learn, for instance, that there is an epiphytic lily, L. arboricola which "grows in the debris collected in the nooks of tree branches in the forests of parts of northern Burma" (currently Myanmar).

It was fun, too, to learn that some species, among them L. concolor and L. pumilum , have bulbs which are only slightly larger than marbles while the bulbs of other lily species can be as large as an artichoke.

Who could have imagined that lily bulbs would come in five different styles or that the roots, stems and leaves of lilies could be so diverse? There are even two different forms of seed germination in the genus Lilium: epigeal, in which the first leaf is a cotyledon or seed leaf and hypogeal, in which the first leaf is a true leaf, the cotyledon leaf stage having been dispensed with altogether.

Do words like "epigeal" and "hypogeal" annoy you when they're first encountered? Don't worry, you're in comforting hands with Jefferson-Brown and Howland. They explain these and other words and in fact, whole concepts which might be new to the reader, with enough pictures and line drawings to render every subject covered within the grasp of the average reader. (This could have been a difficult book; the genus Lilium is not a simple one.)

Growing lilies in the garden rates an entire chapter along with companion plants which enhance and blend well with lilies.

Lily cultivation has a chapter devoted to this aspect of the Lilium and the fascinating subject of propagation rates a chapter all its own.

Then come the lily species, hybrid lilies, breeding your own lilies, a species checklist, false lilies and an appendix.

This is a grand book with a lot of information, color pictures, drawings and just down-to-earth gardening enjoyment worked into its 160 pages. I recommend it -- and not just to fans of the lily, either. Anyone who loves bulbs can learn and apply much from this book.

Reviewed by Charles Hardman

So reads the charming Haiku poem which, for some, is replete with philosophical and psychological metaphors. One doesn't have to dig any deeper for its meaning, however, than to take it at face value: a child playing with a jar of fireflies under the mosquito netting of a bed.

Or, to elaborate just a bit, it's equally valid to equate the "fireflies" of new ideas gleaned from the minds and hearts of others set loose in one's own mind and kindling one's own emotions to try or do something new. This book, Rock Garden Plants of North America, does just that with 58 articles selected from the fifty year history of the Bulletin of the North American Rock Garden Society.

North America is home to an amazing array of rock garden plants those "tenacious miniatures that are most at home clinging to the rocky faces of alpine slopes", to quote Deborah Garman, Publicity Manager of Timber Press. This diverse group of plants is eloquently written about by writers whose names many readers will recognize. (For the sake of brevity and not wanting to offend any of the book's numerous excellent writers by exclusion we will not include individual writers' names in this review.)

The book is divided into six parts. These are: Far West, Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, Plains States, Northeast, Southeast, and Throughout North America. Fascinating, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, exciting rock garden plants are found in all these regions. Is it any wonder they are such a diversified group?

What does all this have to do with bulbs? While one may come across bulbous, cormous, rhizomatous or tuberous plants throughout this book, there are entire chapters with the following names: Liliaceous Bulbs, Calochortus: Why Not Try Them?, Irises of the Pacific Coast, Trilliums of the West, Some Small Eastern American Irises, Eastern American Trilliums, Anemones in the West, Dodecatheon (yes, Dodecatheons produce long fleshy roots, but some species also produce rice-grain bulblets; see page 390.).

Ferns, Cacti, Penstemons, Arbutus, Shortia, Eritrichium, Dryas, Drabas, and North American native Primulas and Phloxes, all have their own chapters, as do Lewisias. (Lewisias, especially L. rediviva with its ability to revive after years of total dryness, have always struck this reviewer as being more bulb-like than herbaceous.)

There are locale articles, as well: Northern California, the Siskiyous, the Red Buttes, Great Basin, Eastern Cliffs, Pine Barrens, Arizona, Middle Atlantic States, Virginia Shale Barrens, the Carolinas, the list of articles goes on and on with not a boring read among them. Editor Jane McGary has turned what must have been a daunting selectional task -- 50 years worth of published articles to choose from; Whew! -- into an excellent reading adventure.

I would recommend this book for its diversity of subjects alone, but add to that its diversity of writers and you end up with a book that's a double winner.

I give a thumbs up to this book. It's sure to set gardening fireflies loose in your mind and heart.

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.

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

"Cloning", both the word and the deed, continue their frontal assaults on the world's languages and mores. By now-May, 1997-most of Planet Earth's human population must know that plants and animals-including mammals-can be cloned. In fact, laws are being written even as I write this prohibiting the cloning of people.

Therefore, barring a dramatic change in human nature, we can expect to see human clones popping up all over the place any day now.

But the cloning of plants has been going on by natural means for eons and by micropropagation in laboratories for decades. This book, now in its third edition, continues to inform and amaze us about this wonderful process called micropropagation. Talk about miracles!

There is a lot of basic science in this book. Fortunately, it's science written on the level of the dedicated amateur plant enthusiast.

In fact, the authors encourage tissue culture "gardening" as a perfect hobby for the elderly or the handicapped. If you're thinking

11 small business" along about now, you're right: the authors discuss such a venture. A suitable lab, it seems, can be set up without a great deal of expense or room and valuable plants reproduced for sale. The key to it all is sterilization, from one's equipment right down to the air likely to contact one's plants-in-the-making.

The first section of this book provides an overview and history of its subject, then carefully details items such as the laboratory, media, explants, transfer, growing on, business, etc. Following this section are details of the micropropagation of specific genera.

Many "bulbous" plants are detailed, complete with growing media formulas. Hippeastrum, Arum, Freesia, Iris-two formulas, one for rhizomatous, one for bulbous-Lilies, Hemerocallis, Begonia, they're all here along with many other "bulbous" genera. Contents and index (Why isn't the word "explant" listed in the index? Because it's used so many times throughout the book, maybe?) are here, of course, along with a comprehensive bibliography, a fine glossary, a useful Formula Comparison Chart and four appendices which cover Metric Conversions (metric to imperial), The Microscope..., Professional Organizations and Suppliers.

This is an altogether wonderful book for budding plant scientists or gardeners who seeks to expand their gardening knowledge.

Charles Hardman

This much-needed book finally makes sense of a fascinating group of cormous plants. That this group of plants was so confused is nicely explained in a good historical introduction. The last revision of this group was almost 100 years ago!

The African continent is large-covering an immense area. This book covers the 83 Gladiolus species found in sub-Saharan Africa down to, but not including, the South African species. Nineteen new Gladiolus species are described for the first time.

Peter Goldblatt has studied African bulbs extensively in the Iridaceae and has many great books to his credit, including The Genus Watsonia (1989) and The Moraeas of Southern Africa (1986). Gladiolus in Tropical Africa is a continuation of the detailed study of plants in this diverse plant family.

After a fascinating fourteen pages of historical information the book continues with 24 pages of morphology, 12 pages of relationships, phylogeny and classification, 5 pages on development of garden hybrids, 4 pages on the phytogeographical data on the plants, and an II page key to the species. The line drawings by John C. Manning are excellent. Most species are illustrated by a line drawing.

The 41 color photos are good to excellent and many are of plants in habitat. A major fault of the book is that the 16 pages of color photos have no page numbers, are not keyed to the text, and are not included in the index so as to quickly find the photo of a certain species.

Each species listed includes synonymy, eponymy, distribution map, description (including chromosome number if known), diagnosis & relationships, variations, history and selected specimens.

Some of the Gladiolus species included in this book are very widespread on the African continent yet are not even known in cultivation. Why? The spectacular flowered G. dalenii is seldom seen in cultivation but is an extremely reliable and colorful bloomer-and is now shown to have many color forms.

The author's revision of the genus into only two subgenera (Ophiolyza and Gladiolus) is reasonable and workable.

One species, G. crassifolius, flowers twice a year. This could be used to hybridize future cultivars with a longer flowering season. Another species, G. decoratus, has twice had its chromosome number determined to be triploid-a most unusual situation. Some species would be wonderful to try in cultivation: G. erectiflorus (all color forms), G. verdickii (all color forms), G. sericeovillosus subsp. calvatus, G. watsonioides, G. longispathaceus, G. sudanicus....

The fact that Gladiolus dalenii has over 30 synonyms is one indication that the author put an incredible amount of work over a long time into this book. Gladiolus of Tropical Africa is an absolute must for all who study, grow, hybridize or enjoy this fabulous group of flowering plants.

Michael Vassar

As the title indicates, mosses, one of Planet Earth's longest running success stories, are the focus of this book. Around for about 400 million years, mosses are still evolving, even though there are already some 15,000 species spread from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

At first discovery, Moss Gardening appears to be a whimsical approach to gardening. Most of us, not surprisingly, think "flowering plants" when the word "garden" is mentioned.

But moss is more than "just another pretty face" in one's garden. Mosses and their companion cryptograms (tiny plants that reproduce by spores), tiny liverworts, lichens, lycopodiums and certain of the selaginellas, lend an aura of age and stability to a garden. This book, along with expanding your appreciation of these plants, will also enlarge your vision of them, for mosses are not simply junk plants to be weeded out or consigned to throw-away garden corners. Mr. Schenk's 97 color plates dramatically illustrate that mosses should be more widely used even to the point of square yardage as in moss lawns. (Beautiful!)

Moss also can form a lovely frame for bulbs peeking up or bursting out through (Plate 53, pg. 127). Bulbophiles definitely should consider experimenting with this unique approach to groundcover under their bulbous plants.

Bonsai and its derivatives would be the poorer were it not for mosses and Plate 60, page 147 shows the simplest of tiny gardens: moss partially covering a rock "island" sitting in a bowl of water: tiny, tranquil, tender, a perfect focus for just unwinding or deep meditation.

Along with its excellent text, the many photographic representations of mosses and lichens especially-but also liverwort, lycopodium and selaginella-make this book especially useful for those of us who like to "see" as well as "read about" plants. Mr. Schenk has assembled these photos with an eye for both art and function.

I would like to have seen a general index included (an "Index of Mosses and Other Bryophytes" is included). But the book is so well written and so well photographed that perhaps others might find such unnecessary.

Mr. Schenk is to be commended for tackling such a rarely discussed gardening subject and for producing such a practical, beautiful result therefrom. This book rates a thumbs up from me.

Charles Hardman

The opening words to Chapter I set the tone and scope of this book: "All gardeners are pie-in-the-sky visionaries-sanguine optimists who see in every winter storm the moisture to prime a flower-filled spring."

No less an optimist is Mr. Malitz himself, for the speculations in this book frequently provide wonderful stretches for one's imagination. A fair share of them would have seemed like dunderheaded foolishness only a few years ago. But now, the techniques the author relies on to fulfill-eventually-many of his and humanity's hopes for developing the plants of our future are already well established science.

Further on, the author writes, "In the chapters that follow, I will describe various strategies that promise to yield radically new plants." (Pg. 18.) Chapters 2 and 3 provide the reader with some science basic to the remainder of the book.

Lest my readers' eyes glaze over at the mention of the word "science", let me add that this is pretty basic modern plant science explained admirably and simply in only 18 pages.

Then, on page 41, we're already into the chunky part of this magical stew with Chapter 4, called "Engineering New Plants" which discusses techniques available to plant scientists such as tissue culture, cloning devices, cell fusion, chimeras, mutations, in vitro fertilization, embryo rescue, haploidy and gene transfer all explored briefly and in wonderfully simple language.

I couldn't have said it better myself, might be your reaction to Chapter 5. This chapter sums up many of the desirable traits we all wish for in all our plants but only find in varying degrees, usually insufficient, in each.

This completes the book's Part I and by page 65 we're into Section 11, A Wishlist" Oh boy!, does Mr. Malitz have a wishlist! From generalities such as increasing cold tolerance in tropical species to increasing heat tolerance of those from nearer the poles, to salt and pH tolerance to increasing drought tolerance to specifics such as daylilies which deadhead themselves (lose their spent flowers without having to be hand picked) to improving the beauty of currant (Ribes) bushes to improving orchids, poppies, ferns, roses, trees and bushes and, well, you get the picture.

I can think of no finer gift for a young person with an interest in plants or even the makings of a plant scientist. As for those of us who are older and just want to keep up, there's no finer gift you can give yourself than these speculations on the future of plants, some of which, no doubt eventually will come true.

Charles Hardman

What is this fascination with things subterranean which many gardeners experience? Bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers are plant structures not normally seen, yet, many a gardener, including myself, will turn up their noses at plants which lack them. Brian Mathew, not being a psychiatrist, wisely has avoided a psychological analysis of such behavior in his book, GROWING BULBS. It is the only omission in his wonderful book. It is a book for bulb lovers from a bulb lover.

Rather than emphasizing a description of the bulbs themselves, GROWING BULBS is a practical guide to the cultivation of bulbs. The scope is broad, encompassing hardy and tender bulbs, summer and winter growers, as well as tropical species. There is something for everybody, for the beginner and for the accomplished grower.

The introductory chapter on understanding bulbs is a masterpiece of lucid writing, avoiding scientific jargon, yet providing the reader with a deep understanding of the nature of bulbous plants. It is followed by chapters on the cultivation of bulbs and bulbs in the garden. Both of these chapters will satisfy the needs of serious gardeners as well as apartment dwellers with postage-stamp size plots.

In other chapters Brian Mathew has distilled his wisdom and guides the reader on topics such as labeling and recording data, smoke treatment and sowing seeds; topics rarely covered in other bulb books.

An informative description of pests and diseases of bulbs prepares the reader to deal with common and unusual causes of bulb loss. It is knowledge gleaned from personal experience. The advice is practical, clear and concise.

Approximately one third of the book is dedicated to the basics of bulb growing. It is followed by a major listing of some 100 genera, providing basic culture for each. It is here that Brain Mathew clearly stands above all those who previously wrote about bulbs. It is a guide gleaned from Mathew's own collection. The pages are filled with invaluable advice. I wish I had had this book when I first started growing bulbs. It would have prevented many disappointments.

GROWING BULBS is a must-have book for the serious bulb grower. It also will satisfy the beginner and set him on a proper course. The book is well illustrated and wonderfully written. If you thought that bulbs were simply lumps of plant tissue growing below the garden surface, prepare yourself for a rare treat. Brian Mathew writes with wit and a love of the subject.

Charles Gorenstein

Propagation of plants is not only fun, it's sheer magic, as anyone who has ever rooted a cutting or taken bulblets off a gladiolus bulb knows. To multiply one's plants is to multiply one's wealth. So learning how to increase favorite plants is a must for any gardener.

The first part of this book explains with detailed text and ample illustrations the topics of seed propagation, vegetative propagation and special techniques such as the various forms of bulb, corm, rhizome and tuber reproduction. Cutting, coring, scooping, scoring, scaling, twin scaling, they're all here and detailed with just the right combination of simple language, adequate descriptions, time tested techniques and good illustrations.

The second part of the book is an A to Z listing of plants titled, appropriately enough, "A-Z Listing of Plants", a nearly comprehensive listing of genera available for growing in the alpine or rock gardens with a brief description of each plant listed.

Three good appendices entitled "Societies", Sources of Plants and Seed" and "Conversion Tables" (metric to imperial), a bibliography and an index round out this worthwhile and helpful addition to any gardener's library.

This book is a must for serious alpine propagators and a useful addition to the library of any dedicated bulbophile. While published in 1992, the book contains timeless information. However, a call to the publisher informed me that there are only about 150 copies remaining. At present, there are no plans to republish. So if you want your copy, get it now.

Charles Hardman

The introduction aptly sets the tone and purpose of this book: it is designed primarily to be a practical guide on cultivating fritillaries, to give some background on the genus and to inspire us to grow and to develop and enthusiasm for these lovely and varied flowers. In the course of this book, Kevin Pratt, nurseryman and holder of the British National Collection of over 100 species of Fritillaria, and Michael Jefferson-Brown, a garden writer, gardener and Royal Horticultural Society judge, fill the bill on all three counts.

Those who don't already grow fritillaries may be unaware of the diversity of flower colors, patterns, species variability and plant sizes (from mere centimeters to I meter tall) so we get a glimpse of these beguiling features in the first chapter, "The Fascination of Fritillaries". The increasing availability of species after World War 11 has made plants more accessible in greater variety than before and in this chapter the authors set forth a list of candidate species for a "starter collection".

The second chapter covers Fritillaria botany and distribution, the distribution being rather generally described as the "temperate parts of the northern hemisphere", and "into the drier, harsher areas of Asia Minor and California". A map providing an overview of distribution would be appreciated, as would a discussion of the origins of the genus name and a whirlwind synopsis of early species discoveries. The introduction to the botany of the genus covers several key points, including the importance of nectaries as diagnostic aids, and the variety of shapes, openness and reflextion of tepals, the role of style and bulb type and shape in identification, habitat and factors that set the genus apart from Lilium and other somewhat similar genera. Those readers already thoroughly familiar with the distribution, habit and growth of a range of Lilium will get the most out of this chapter, as the authors make frequent references to various aspects of lily botany. The importance of nectaries and bulb type to Fritillaria identification reminds me of Calochortus, and in a future update of this book I would love to see a key to the sections and species, including notes on and diagrams of nectaries.

In chapter two, three pages of useful drawings of style forms, bulb forms and seed pods illustrate some key points, and they augment the paragraph on factors of greatest importance in classifying species. The genus Fritillaria is divided into six sections and the authors provide a handy table of species in each section.

Chapter three, "Buying and Cultivating Fritillaries", is filled not only with lovely color plates of blooms of many species, but also with sound advice on seeking out bulbs at small nurseries, horticultural shows, botanic gardens and through plant societies. Pratt and Jefferson-Brown cover how to select the best bulbs from available stock, when to buy, what care to take in handling and storing the bulbs, and where to place your treasures in the harden. This chapter thoroughly covers soil preparation, pH, drainage, planting time and depth and mulching or topdressing. The authors also briefly but competently cover care, division and dormancy issues, but the best part of this chapter is the excellent and thorough treatment of basic pot culture of fritillaries. A detailed section on forming raised bulb beds and bulb frames for greater drainage, moisture, rodent and climate control includes tips on using screening, wire and plastic mesh for a variety of purposes including containing very small "rice grain" offsets.

The recurring emphasis on using common sense and adjusting instructions to suit your particular climate, soil and landscaping is refreshing. This approach to culture should prove encouraging to new growers and gardeners outside Britain.

The fourth chapter, "Plant Associations", covers choices of companion plants to consider when landscaping with fritillaries. It contains suggestions for planting fritillaries in temperate pasture or meadow-like gardens, at edges of woods, in rock gardens and beds, interplanting with heathers and dwarf deciduous or very open evergreen shrubs, among drier-growing ferns or in a Mediterranean planting. Pratt and Jefferson-Brown mention not only specific taxa but also general plant categories (such as sub-shrubby plants, smaller lilies, deciduous trees) and contrasts in plant form and habit, which allows the reader greater freedom of imagination when adapting landscaping suggestions to local conditions and plant material availability.

A competent discussion of the practical and philosophical pros and cons of propagation by seed and by vegetative means leads off chapter five, "Propagation and Breeding". The authors describe physical appearance, harvesting and viability of seeds, brief storage and sanitation tips and pollination methods. They give good instructions on seed sowing from post-harvest timing to soil mixes, moisture and the first two to three years of care and transplanting young bulbs. Gardeners outside England may wish to refer to Charles Hardman's article, "The Famed John Innes Composts Revealed at Last" (The Underground1:1, Autumn 1995), for more background on the John Innes mixes used in this chapter. The chapter contains a short, sensible guide to propagation, care and feeding of bulblets and bulb scales. It closes with a section on breeding which covers basic hybridizing technique and lists nine species crosses and their results.

Chapter six, "Fritillaries in the Wild", defines four general categories of habitats/growing conditions where fritillaries are native. It gives an overview of several areas and some of the typical species found there. Note that "Great Valley of California" probably is a reference to California's Central Valley or San Joaquin Valley. "People and Their Plants", the seventh chapter, introduces three Fritillaria growers: an alpine and bulb grower, a plant explorer who has visited wild populations of fritillaries in several countries, and an enthusiast/nurseryman. These three aficionados share cultural advice, habitat background and species descriptions.

In contrast to much of the first part of this book, chapter eight, "Fritillaries in North America", is slightly more technical in nature, discussing and describing at least 15 of the 19 North American species, their habits and similarities to other species. It includes a diagram on proposed relationships between 23 taxa. "Showing Fritillaries" (chapter nine) covers the rewards, requirements and strategies of entering pots of fritillaries in flower shows and discusses how to grow and transport winning entries.

The largest chapter, "A-Z List of Fritillaries", encompasses an alphabetical list of many Fritillaria taxa, their sections, style types, geographical origins, descriptions and specific cultivation and landscaping notes.

The authors thoughtfully included a one-page glossary of basic botanical terms, an index and six appendices indispensable to gardeners: A-"Where to See Fritillaries" (in Great Britain), B-"Where to Buy" (bulbs and seeds), C-a list of common synonyms, D-"Fritillaries for Specific Locations" (lists of species for various landscaping uses), E-"Country of Origin" (lists species by region of origin, e.g. Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, Asia and North America), and F-"Plant Characteristics and Requirements" (a table of species listed alphabetically, their flowering periods, height, color, ease of culture and soil condition in summer). I hope that when this book is updated the authors will include a list of recommended papers, reference works and other literature for those wishing to do further study on this remarkable group.

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Fritillaries is a lovely, practical book packed with notes on culture and landscaping that both bulb enthusiasts and general gardeners will enjoy. The culture chapter alone is worth the price of admission. Though I cannot grow many temperate species in my Mediterranean climate garden, this book has rekindled my desire to rediscover the odd and beautiful fritillaries from California and the Middle East.

Elisabeth Lassanyi

The genus Cyclamen has yielded one of the world's most important tuberous crops loved by professional and amateur growers alike. With only twenty currently recognized species, the genus is still a tricky one fraught with missteps for the unwary plant scientist. It's not surprising that so few people have been willing to tackle this genus in recent years. Yet Christopher Grey-Wilson has written and published two books on cyclamen within the last decade. Both have been occasions to be celebrated and this new book is, in many ways, an improvement over his 1988 book.

The earlier work focused on the botany, taxonomy, cytology, history, culture and geography of the species. The current book includes that information (sometimes in a different arrangement) and much more.

As the two books are on the same subject and by the same author, some comparisons are in order. The earlier book contained 147 pages, 12 color plates (paintings), 27 line drawings and 11 maps. The current book contains more pages, much more text, more line drawings and 12 even better maps.

The current volume also contains a plus the previous volume did not have: 140 color photographs; there were no photos in the previous book. These pictures are a real treat, showing leaf and flower color variations you'll never see in your local general plant nursery but which are sure to make you want to order some new varieties' seeds or plants forthwith. Locating so many good photos of cyclamen over such a broad spectrum of leaf and flower types and including them in one book amounts to a triumph in itself. While I admire the charm of the paintings and drawings in the older work, I can't deny the dazzling effects produced by the color photos in this version. Truly wonderful beauty is here shown, making one wish for acres to set aside simply for the culture and enjoyment of this diverse genus in which the flowers, often enough, are simply a bonus-admittedly an important bonus-to the incredible beauty of the leaves.

In fact, because the leaf markings and leaf shapes of some species can be so diverse and their flowers so ornamental there are individual species of Cyclamen one could concentrate on for a lifetime and therein find great satisfaction, C. coum, C. hederifolium and C. graecum for instance. Mr. Grey-Wilson pictures many variations within these species and describes even more.

But the so-called florist's cyclamen, C. persicum is the queen of the genus. Lovely and graceful in its wild forms, spectacular and bodacious in its numerous cultivated forms this species has accommodated itself wonderfully well to the hybridizer's brush. Mr. GreyWilson acknowledges this fact by devoting considerable space to this species and its (mostly intraspecific) hybrids.

Mr. Grey-Wilson recognizes a new species since writing his 1988 book-Cyclamen colchicum-raising the total species count from 19 to 20. Also, he recognizes three more interspecific hybrids since his previous cyclamen book raising this count from 4 to 7. (Two additional interspecific hybrids are mentioned but they remain unconfirmed, and therefore, as yet, unnamed.)

While this new book contains at least twice as much information as its ancestor, the type font has been reduced to make room for all that additional information. This may make the book a little hard to read for some people. To compensate partially for that disadvantage the book is printed on a good coated paper stock, another sign of its overall improved quality over its predecessor.

The current volume contains extensive information on cyclamen species, varieties and cultivars as well as sources for seeds and plants, information which no doubt will be met with cheers by growers and hybridizers who need such information or who just enjoy reading about the numerous diverse variations on a theme which have been wrought over the millennia by Nature and over the last (at least) 17 decades by people. But the hybridizer's brush is not always necessary in order to acquire new cyclamen types. So generous is Nature with leaf and flower variations within this genus that, often, simple observation and selection from among growing batches of wind- or insect-pollinated seedlings or the collection of seeds from new types discovered growing in the wild-and the raising and selection of their seedlings-are sufficient to bring fine new forms into cultivation.

This is a grand book on a Mediterranean genus now grown and loved throughout the world. For those of us who are cyclamen enthusiasts, it's a must-have.

Charles Hardman

This book is not a comprehensive daffodil listing, rather it is an excellent book for gardeners on how to grow daffodils successfully.

The introduction includes a history of the daffodil industry in the U.S.A. Then follows daffodil anatomy, 22 pages on culture, including regional advice, naturalizing daffodils, companion plantings of annuals and perennials, forcing flowers out of season, hybridizing, using cut flowers, daffodil shows and exhibitions, sources, societies and a USDA hardiness map. Display gardens in the U.S. that feature daffodils in season are listed.

Twenty-seven pages of daffodil cultivars are included. Basic information such as flower color, fragrance, height and flowering season are included. Each cultivar is shown in a small color photo. The color photos are excellent.

Daffodils can be grown in almost all areas of the U.S. and this book should inspire more people to plant, grow and enjoy these wonderful flowers. The keys to success are all here.

Michael Vassar

I still remember the first Trillium species I ever saw when, as a youngster, I observed colonies of Trillium ovatum in the moss-covered forest floor under large Douglas Fir trees in western Oregon.

The showy flowers were not really spectacular but were strangely different from any other flower I had ever seen. Trilliums are like that-odd enough to be remembered.

The Case's have produced a beautiful book, the result of over 45 years of growing, studying and searching out trilliums. Other than the fact that some names will be disputed, changed or added, everything else one needs to know about trilliums is included in this book.

The well written, easy-to-read chapters include an introduction, plant structure, biology, horticulture, conservation, taxonomy, a key to the species and a complete species listing. The keys have useful small drawings to help quickly distinguish one from another.

Each species listing includes the botanical name, synonymy, common names, plant habit, growth season, distribution (including a distribution map), varieties, forms and hybrids along with many other useful comments.

All thirty-eight North American species and five Asian species are covered. The 78 color photographs are superb.

The chapter on horticulture is the best I have seen for any group of plants in a long time. The authors have extensive experience growing and propagating trilliums, plus the additional advantage of knowing and sharing information with other trillium enthusiasts world-wide, thus providing up-to-date information from many parts of the world.

Many of the most beautiful selections of species have been slow to propagate and often expensive when available. Many years ago I saw a bed of a spectacular double white-flowered trillium at a nursery in southern Oregon. The owners had been propagating that clone for many years and still did not have adequate stock to distribute. It is good to read that tissue culture techniques are just starting to show successful results in propagating this genus.

TRILLIUMS should be in the library of every person interested in bulbs and native wildflowers. This relatively small book is a most useful field guide for identification and successful culture of nursery propagated stock. It is well worth the reasonable price.

Michael Vassar