These 2 handbooks--organized by seasonal flowering periods--feature over 3,000 color photos, as well as practical advice on selection, planting and cultivation. Some 5,000 of the world's favorite flowering plants are depicted.

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

From New York Times bestselling author Julie Cantrell comes a story of family and the Southern roots that call us home. “If Julie Cantrell isn’t on your reading list, she should be.” —Lisa Wingate Years ago, Lovey chose to leave her family and the South far behind. But now that she’s returned, she’s realizing things at home were not always what they seemed. Eva Sutherland—known to all as Lovey—grew up safe and secure in Oxford, Mississippi, surrounded by a rich literary history and her mother’s stunning flower gardens. But a shed fire, and the injuries it caused, changed everything. Her older sister, Bitsy, blamed Lovey for the irreparable damage. Bitsy became the homecoming queen and the perfect Southern belle who could do no wrong. All the while, Lovey served as the family scapegoat, always bearing the brunt when Bitsy threw blame her way. At eighteen, suffocating in her sister’s shadow, Lovey turned down a marriage proposal and fled to Arizona. Free from Bitsy’s vicious lies, she became a successful advertising executive and a weekend yoga instructor, carving a satisfying life for herself. But at forty-five, Lovey is feeling more alone than ever and questioning the choices that led her here. When her father calls insisting she come home three weeks early for her parents’ 50th anniversary, Lovey is at her wits’ end. She’s about to close the biggest contract of her career, and there’s a lot on the line. But despite the risks, her father’s words, “Family First,” draw her back to the red-dirt roads of Mississippi. Lovey is quickly engrossed in a secret project—a memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise. But the landscaper who’s also working on it is none other than Fisher, the first boy she ever loved. As she helps create this sacred space, Lovey begins to rediscover her roots, the power of second chances, and how to live perennially in spite of life’s many trials and tragedies.

The third edition of the comprehensive—and entertaining—gardening reference by the master horticulturalist. This is the long-awaited third edition of Allan Armitage’s masterpiece on garden perennials. Armitage’s extensive traveling, teaching, and trialing experiences provide a depth of understanding of the best ornamental perennials for North American gardens unparalleled by any other garden writer. One of the most definitive and conclusive books written about perennials, the first edition was designated as one of the best seventy-five books written in the last seventy-five years by the American Horticulture Society. Now the third edition of “The Big Perennial Book” (as it is fondly referred to by many practitioners) describes 3,600 species in 1224 pages. More than three hundred color photos complement detailed text filled with the author’s pointed observations of plant performance, cultivar selection, and current taxonomy. In addition, his trademark wit and passion are both in abundance, making reading as pleasurable as it is informative.

Gardeners of all abilities will delight in Allan Armitage's thorough, user-friendly volume of over 1250 classic and new perennials, with over 1,300 photos. This guide is an essential reference for the casual or dedicated gardener.

From the "Galloping Gourmet" of the garden world comes a guide to perennials to fit every gardener's needs. 300 color photos. 7 color garden layouts.

A man who is quickly becoming one of the best-known gardening personalities in the United States is coauthor of this colorful and authoritative guide to the perennials of the Upper Midwest. Don Engebretson, also known as the Renegade Gardener, has teamed