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Cool Plants for Cold Climates: A Garden Designer's Perspective - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Cool Plants for Cold Climates: A Garden Designer's Perspective

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A cold climate is no excuse for a dull, colorless garden. The key is knowing the right plants that will survive and thrive in even the chilliest environments. Who better to guide gardeners than an expert from the far north? Award-winning designer and Alaska gardener Brenda Adams has spent decades searching for exceptional plants that flourish in wintery climates. In Cool Plants for Cold Climates, she presents vivid and detailed portraits of the best and most beautiful of the bunch.

When Adams moved from the warm Southwest to Alaska, she found herself in a different gardening world, with few guides on how to approach this new ecosystem. Now, more than twenty-five years later, she shares the secrets gained from her years of gardening experiments as well as bountiful advice from friends and local nurseries. She explains how to evaluate a plant, balancing its artistic attributes with its more utilitarian ones, as well as how to evaluate your space and soil. Adams then takes you into the nursery, offering guidance on how to pick the best of the best. Finally, she offers a detailed look at a wide variety of wonderful plants, highlighting those that offer overall beauty, are especially easy to care for, and solidly hardy. With more than three hundred vivid pictures of both individual plants and full gardens, Adams proves that there is a bounty of plants, in a rainbow of colors, waiting to brighten up your space.

ISBN-13: 9781602233256

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: University of Alaska Press

Publication Date: 07-15-2017

Pages: 256

Product Dimensions: 7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)

Brenda Adams teaches garden design and creation at the University of Alaska. She is also the designer for and founder of Gardens By Design. She lives in Homer, Alaska.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword xii

Preface xiv

Introduction 1

Section I Evaluating Plants for Their Garden Impact 6

Foliage-Shape, Size, Texture, and Color 9

Flowers - Shape, Size, Texture, and Color 13

Bark and Stems 17

Seedpods, Berries, and Other Fruit 21

Architectural Shape and Form 25

Motion 29

Fragrance 31

Section II Evaluating Plants for Their Utility and Dependability 34

Early-Season Value and Fall Beauty 37

Winter Display 41

Bloom Time and Length of Bloom 43

Attractiveness to Pollinators 45

Size and Scale 49

Behavior in the Garden 51

Vigor and Suitability 55

Ease of Maintenance 57

Do You Love It? 59

Section III Determining Whether a Plant Will Thrive in Your Garden 60

Understanding Your Growing Environment 62

Cultural Requirements 65

Section IV At the Nursery 70

Choosing a Nursery-If You Have a Choice 75

Local versus Online 77

Selecting the "Best of the Best" Plants for Your Garden 79

Other Shopping Tips 83

Giving Late Bloomers a Second Look 93

Section V Cool Plants for Cold Climates 96

Annuals 101

Bulbs 107

Grasses 115

Herbaceous Perennials 123

Shrubs 179

Trees 195

Vines 209

Glossary 215

Materials and Works Consulted 217

Index 219