This easy-to-follow guide features planting, care, and harvesting information for more than 60 edibles; popular vegetable selections from artichokes to turnips; a variety of common and unusual fruits, nuts, and herbs; and advice on garden planning, creating the perfect soil, watering, and more.

It may be the Golden State, but your garden can be any color you want it to be. California is already famous as one of the world's leading fruit and vegetable producers--but a glance at a valley oak or California buckwheat is just a small glimpse of the native plants the state has to offer the home gardener. Written by Alameda resident and longtime gardening journalist Claire Splan, California Month-by-Month Gardening is the sister manual to our California Getting Started Garden Guide. Inside, Splan dedicates a thoroughly detailed chapter to each month of the year, telling you what species you should consider planting, precisely when you should plant them, and how to care for them for maximum health. Within each month are recommendations for annuals, bulbs, lawns (and lawn alternatives), natives, perennials, roses, shrubs, trees, vines, and groundcovers. An introductory overview of California's microclimates and soil types, along with a primer on general gardening techniques and a color-coded USDA zone map, prepares you to make your best effort as a gardener in California. Splan's instructions go much further than just the basics, as you learn how to plan, plant, care for, water, fertilize, and troubleshoot your diverse garden spaces during every single month of the year. Fully illustrated with beautiful color photography of the "how to" steps and plants, California Month-by-Month Gardening keeps your garden prosperous through all types of California weather and terrain. For our full introduction to gardening in California, we also recommend companion books California Getting Started Garden Guide and California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening.

Grow your own food in the Golden State! There is nothing more regionally specific than vegetable gardening—what to plant, when to plant it, and when to harvest are decisions based on climate, weather, and first frost. The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Southern California, by regional expert Geri Miller, focuses on the unique eccentricities of California’s gardening calendar, which include extreme temperatures and low rainfall. The month-by-month format makes it perfect for beginners and accessible to everyone—gardeners can start gardening the month they pick it up.

Beloved perennial of the green-thumbed in the golden state, and now revised and sporting a gorgeous new cover, Northern California Gardening is a comprehensive, illustrated guide for both novice and expert gardeners. San Francisco Chronicle garden columnist Katherine Grace Endicott maps out the rewards of reaping what you sow from flowers and fruits to herbs and vegetables throughout Northern California. The unique month-by-month format helps readers find answers when they need them, while detailed information on native and nonnative species and basic planting and pruning techniques make carefree gardening easier than ever. Add to that a completely new and updated source list, and finding just the right plants and seeds is as simple as watching them grow.

DIVWith over 100 years of combined gardening experience, renowned California horticulturalists Bruce and Sharon Asakawa bring you the perfect when-to, how-to, and what-to plant guide for gardening in the Golden State./divDIV/divDIVPerhaps you’ve always entertained the idea of cultivating a garden in your California landscape, but have never quite known where to begin. Perhaps you’ve stood helplessly by as your once-beautiful calico flowers withered beneath the persistent western sun. Don’t despair! Fortunately, there’s a specialized gardening guide to the rescue, tailored exclusively to the needs of California residents./divDIV/divDIVIn California Gardener’s Handbook, beloved California gardening duo Bruce and Sharon Asakawa walk you through 350 plant species destined to flourish amid the varied climates and environmental challenges of California. With the help of gorgeous photography and foolproof instructions, they’ll teach you how to plant, prune, water, control pests, and care for your personal outdoor oasis. Fifteen plant categories give you hundreds of choices, letting you find the flora that best fit your microclimate. Even better, the Asakawas provide twelve full months of when-to advice for each plant category, allowing you to successfully enjoy this peaceful pastime all year round. Whether you’re craving the sweetness of the dragon fruit or longing for the cheery visual splendor of the blue marguerite daisy, California Gardener’s Handbook will equip you to confidently awaken your inner gardening enthusiast./div

Explains the fundamentals of gardening and offers practical advice on growing a variety of plants in the mild climate of California