Book Talk November, 2011

Nov 19, 2011 by cnps2011

Books for All-Native Gardeners

If you like to putter in the garden with native plants these two books need to be on your bookshelf.

The first is California Native Plants For The Garden by Bornstein, Fross and O’Brien.

This book is an encyclopedia of the most available and garden friendly natives for home gardeners and gives fine descriptions of each plant with many photos.

The second book is Designing California Native Gardens by Alrie Middlebrook and Glenn Keator.

This wonderful book breaks down the various locales in California and describes plants found in each.

If you live in an oak woodland, redwood forest, grassland, desert, etc. you’ll be able to find the plants which will thrive in each area.

Books for Native + Non-Native Mix Gardeners

If you would rather mix your native garden plants with plants from the Mediterranean climate areas, then Plants and Landscapes of Summer Dry Climates is the book for you.

More Suggestions

Two other books specifically aimed at southern California gardens:

Southern California Native Flower Garden by Susan Van Atta. Susan gardens in Santa Barbara and has put together an excellent little book.

Landscaping With Native Plants Of Southern California by George Miller. This seems to me to be a book appropriate for people living in the drier parts of our county such as Paso Robles, Creston, and Shandon.

So drop by the book table at the next meeting and don’t forget our plant sale. See you soon.

-Heather Johnson