A complete guide to perennial plants for the garden furnishes an A-to-Z listing of more than 460 plants and their blooming cycles and explains how to design a perennial garden that makes maximum use of color over the course of the seasons, taking into consideration bloom times, flower groupings, seasonal development, and more.

Using full-color photos, the author shows you 272 perennials -- arranged according to month of bloom -- to grow in your garden so you can have wonderful color and texture from March through November -- and even winter interest throughout the coldest months of the year.

Describes more than four hundred perennials and grasses, providing information on each plant's origins, preferred conditions, and planting zones.

While gardeners may be happy enough with their gardens in spring and early summer, few feel so confident about prolonging the display. In Late Summer Flowers Marina Christopher, co-founder of the celebrated Green Farm Nursery, shows how, by choosing plants that have a late flowering season, or offer such bonuses as attractive foliage, seedheads or berries, you can get the best from the garden in late summer and autumn.

Bursting with vivid color—like the midsummer garden of your dreams—Essential Perennials for Every Garden will inspire and inform gardeners from coast to coast. This expertly written, eye-catching guide to choosing and maintaining perennials covers a vast array of plants from dainty ground huggers and wafting soft grasses to dramatic skyscrapers with unearthly blooms. Selected by authors and master gardeners Sally Roth and Jane Courtier, over 110 of the very best perennials are beautifully photographed and described, giving readers recommendations about the most reliable performers and exciting new varieties and hybrids. Whether readers are beginning a new perennial garden or perfecting an existing one, Essential Perennials for Every Garden can assist them in creating that dream garden that will add color and joy to their lives for years to come. -A fully-illustrated alphabetically arranged directory of the hardiest and most colorful perennials -Description, growing conditions, and propagation for over 110 superb perennials -Advice on inexpensive, easy methods to develop a new garden or expand an existing one -Time-saving tips on maintaining perennials, feeding plants, and warding off pests -Sidebars offer “green-thumb” tips and plant-partnering recommendations

Originally published: Lincolnwood, Ill.: Contemporary Books, c1998.

With literally hundreds of choices, it can be overwhelming to decide which perennials to plant in your garden. Nancy J. Ondra takes the stressful guesswork out of perennial garden planning by offering 52 vibrant designs, each made up of only five plants. Ondra tailors each simple design to a specific set of growing conditions, with plenty of tips to help your planting mature. Enjoy gardens full of sun-drenched blooming flowers and shade-loving greenery for years to come.