As recent years have seen alarming declines of insect and bird populations in many states, more gardeners have discovered the importance of including native plants in order to nurture these pollinators and sustain local ecosystems. But when so many popular landscaping designs involve exotic cultivars and invasive plant species, how can you create a garden that is both aesthetically pleasing and ecologically responsible? In this fully revised second edition of the classic guide Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East, gardening expert Carolyn Summers draws on the most recent research on sustainable landscaping. She is joined in this edition by her daughter, landscape designer Kate Brittenham, offering an intergenerational dialogue about the importance of using indigenous plants that preserve insect and bird habitats. The practical information they provide is equally useful for home gardeners and professionals, including detailed descriptions of keystone trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, and grasses that are native to the eastern United States. Accompanied by entirely new illustrations and updated plant lists, they offer chic yet eco-friendly landscape designs fully customized for different settings, from suburban yards to corporate office parks. The states covered in this book are CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, VA, VT, WI, and WV, as well as southern Quebec and Ontario.

The beautifully illustrated Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East approaches landscape design from an ecological perspective, encouraging professional horticulturalists and backyard enthusiasts alike to intensify their use of indigenous or native plants. These plants, ones that grow naturally in the same place in which they evolved, form the basis of the food web. Wildlife simply cannot continue to survive without them-nor can we. Summers provides guidelines for * The best ways to use exotic and nonindigenous plants responsibly * Easy-to-follow strategies for hosting butterflies, bees, moths, birds, and fish * Designs for traditional gardens using native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, perennials, fruiting plants, and groundcovers as substitutes for exotic plants * How to control plant reproduction, choose cultivars, open-pollinated indigenous plants, and different types of hybrids.

An illustrated study of gardens built on the roofs of buildings traces the history of roof gardens, from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the present; explains how to construct safe, durable gardens; and offers tips on selecting plants, garden maintenance, and planting techniques.

You may never look at a garden in the same way again. Though not a “how-to” book, Beauty By Design is a treasure trove of ideas and enchantment for seasoned gardeners and beginners alike. Eleven inspired artists of the garden share their stories, their secrets, and their passion for gardening. Landscape is the canvas. Foliage, flowers, rocks, water, and other bounties of nature are the materials. With plants, objects, art, and artifice, they create magical spaces, engage our senses, and summon forth pure delight. Travel with Bill Terry and Rosemary Bates to these special places on the Pacific Northwest coast. Visit Dan Hinkley’s enchanted garden, perched above the shore of Puget Sound in Washington State. Close by, beauty explodes in an earthly paradise created by sculptors George and David Lewis and in Linda Cochran’s stunning garden of exotics. Cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island and potter Robin Hopper’s “Anglojapanadian” woodland wonderland. Enjoy the subtle blending of texture and colour in painter Eva Diener’s Sunshine Coast botanical garden. Admire the genius of Robert and Birgit Bateman’s inspiring space on Salt Spring Island, Des and Sandy Kennedy’s fairy-tale forest house and garden on Denman Island, and Kathy Leishman’s garden of refinement for all seasons on Bowen Island. In downtown Vancouver, Glen Patterson indulges his passion for alpines and conifers in his astonishing third-storey roof garden. Elsewhere in the city, Pam Frost’s eye for colour and arrangement transports the viewer out of the urban into the sublime, while on the Saanich Peninsula, writers Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane speak with love and eloquence of their garden, and in verse, too. Accompanied by breathtaking photographs, these gardeners and their stories will inspire all who love to paint with plants.

New England Gardener's Handbook is written by popular gardening experts who include their collective wisdom in one complete guide for New England gardeners. In addition to the hundreds of hardy plants in eleven different plant categories, there are monthly to-do calendars assisting gardeners with the proper care and timing for everything from planting to pruning. Full-color photos for each plant and helpful illustrations and charts make this an easy-to-use resource for all New England gardeners with expert advice for home gardeners in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

As outdoor entertainment venues in American cities, pleasure gardens were public spaces where people could explore what it meant to be American. Stubbs examines how these venues helped form American identity and argues the gardens allowed for the exploration of what it meant to be American through performance, both on and off the stage.

Thanks to the extraordinary color photos and gardening wisdom in this book, the elegant intimacy of the English cottage garden is a practical possibility for amateur gardeners in diverse regions of the United States.