Reviews (5)

Awesome!
Just bought this book about 2 hours ago, and put it down only to write this review. This guy is one heck of an artist. Taking Your Grass Care a Cut Above Where It Is Today!
Summary:Picture Perfect is the ultimate resource for those who want to add even more beauty and interest to their grass by growing and maintaining healthier turf and cutting it in original and beautiful patterns. WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK!
One of the first things I notice about people's homes is the way the lawn is cut. Some might say, "get a life," but to me the landscape design and lawn say a lot.From a psychological point of view, it says something about the people who live there, too!We have all seen lawns cut straight and perfect, every blade of grass precise, row after row - not much creativity there.We have also seen lawns cut haphazardly in every conceivable direction and length, a clump here and a clump there, as if the ride-on mower and its near-sighted rider short-circuited, jumped the fence and rode off into the sunset! Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Lawns    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Turf management    8. Turfgrasses    9. Architecture    10. Architecture / Landscape   

Subjects:  1. Dictionaries    2. Grasses    3. Life Sciences - Botany    4. Plants - Grasses    5. Reference    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Botany & plant sciences    9. Reference works    10. Science / Botany   

Editorial Review

Much has changed in the role and use of ornamental grasses over the past 100 years. Whereas turn-of-the-century gardeners had perhaps a dozen perennial grasses to choose from, today's gardeners have hundreds. Ornamental grasses now embody a huge array of textures, forms, sizes, colors, flowering times, and cultural adaptations. Read more

Reviews (5)

Masterful, Encyclopedic Guide Full of Helpful Photos
Rick Darke's book is typical of his work. It is extremely well written, a detailed, very thorough guide to ornamental grasses, full of helpful pictures as well as information on growing and maintaining grasses. This book should be a classic for decades to come.

Absolutely Fantastic
This is such a wonderful informational book... AND ... a gorgeous coffee table book. It is terrific from beginning to end! If you like or are interested in, or even thinking about Ornamental Grasses ... then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! I can't imagine anyone who has an interest in Ornamental Grasses NOT LOVING THIS BOOK, and would be delighted they purchased it. My only concern is that it is going to look dog-earred from my reading it over and over and over again ... which frankly takes away from its beauty on our coffee table.

Buy 2 copies...
This book is structured, written, photographed and edited with parallel purpose and effect: communication of the author's respect and regard for the book's subject and for its readers. Mr. Darke sets out to inform and does so with enconomy but in full course; when he instructs, he teaches the novice and gives pause to the critic; when he photographs he shows his passion and inspires with the nature and wonder of his subjects. The book is encyclopedic, yet its prose is always to the point with the agreeable dryness of a good, well-bodied wine. Credible, trustworthy, enlightening. This is the best gardening book I have ever read. Negatives? Only one: Mr. Darke's standards are unimpeachable; those of the book's typographer and designer, however, are not. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. Grasses    7. Ornamental Plants    8. Ornamental grasses    9. Pictorial works    10. Plants - Grasses    11. Reference    12. Gardening / Flowers / Perennials    13. Gardening: plants   

Reviews (3)

A bamboo collector "must have"
The stunning full color images are worth the price of this book alone! If you love bamboo, you will love this book.

Hardy Bamboos... a Worthy Library Addition
As a relatively ignorant gardener on the topic of bamboos, I was looking for a good book for gardeners (opposed to scientists) on the topic of bamboos to possibly incorporate into my temperate garden (Central PA, USDA Zone 6).Comparing this book to 'Bamboo for Gardens' (A highly recommended book based off of other customer reviews as well as several online bamboo nurseries), I found this book to be a much better read for the temperate gardener than the former.
Simply the best Bamboo Book so far....
I began studying and growing bamboos in 1992.Back then there was virtually no books on bamboo which were up-to-date, comprehensive, and interesting from the point of view of a plantsman or garden designer.After a hiatus of 7 years living without bamboos and not seeking books on them, I have returned!And just in time!!
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Subjects:  1. Bamboo    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Gardening / Ornamental Plants   

Reviews (1)

Quality photography enhances this practical reference guide.
Grasses by freelance gardening writer Nancy J. Ondra is a beautiful and practical guide to raising ornamental grasses in one's garden. Filled cover to cover with excellent color photographs by life-long gardener and gardening photographer Saxon Holt of aesthetic and splendid grasses, the profusely illustrated text presents the reader with a wide choice of colored grasses to best accentuate the beauty of one's garden and how to best select choice plants for wet, dry, hot, or shady sites. Highly recommended for personal and professional gardening, horticultural and landscaping reference collections, even non-gardeners will appreciate the dazzling, coffee-table book quality photography of this singularly elegant yet practical guide. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Gardening / Landscape    8. Gardening: plants   

Subjects:  1. Bamboo    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Utilization    8. Varieties    9. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    10. Shrubs & trees   

Reviews (6)

Limited and Incomplete
I am a professional ecologist and spend at least 100 days a year in the field characterizing vegetation communities and plant species.It is difficult to tell which part of the country this book would be best suited for, as it would be considered incomplete in the areas I have used it in (Northern and Southern Rockies, Black Hills, Intermountain West and Northern Great Plains).I found it's treatment of rushes especially wanting.This book has made it to the field with me only a few times and was seldom used then.The most redeeming quality of this book is it's size, which can easily fit into a back pocket, but when it's taken out you will probably not be able to key the more difficult and uncommon graminiods found in the U.S.

Good book.Great sketches
Decent book, the sketches are very helpful for attempting to key out species.

alright
great drawings depicting mst abundant species although they just go to descriptions for the more rare species.
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Subjects:  1. Cyperaceae    2. Grasses    3. Identification    4. Juncaceae    5. Nature    6. Plants - Grasses    7. United States    8. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    9. Nature / General   

Reviews (2)

an authorative compendium on a unique subject
Greenlee did his homework and that shows when you browse through this friendly, yet exhaustive and descriptive work. Ornamental grass is growing in popularity and this is a good reference book for the novice andprofessional alike. Only one thing missing
This is a great book with clear, concise information and photographs ofgrasses, sedges, rushes, etc., but there is one important thing missing:bamboo!I was disappointed to find that family missing completely, butvery satisfied with the rest of the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Flowers - General    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Grasses    6. Ornamental Plants    7. Ornamental grasses    8. Plants - Grasses    9. Gardening: plants    10. Reference works   

Reviews (1)

Fine resource...but check the condition.
This is an excellent presentation of everything one might care to know about ornamental grasses.But the first copy I received had a LOT of blank pages where text and illustrations should have been.Of course Amazon replaced the defective copy with no additional cost to me.Check your copy carefully upon receipt. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Flowers - General    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Grasses    6. Landscape Design And Planting    7. Ornamental Plants    8. Ornamental grasses    9. Plants - Grasses    10. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    11. Gardening: plants   

Reviews (7)

Fantastic Book
I am a former student of Mrs. Brown, from her Botany class at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. This guide is outstanding, and her original illustrations are genuine. As of the time of the original publication, there was absolutely nothing at all to guide students to identify grasses. Other guides copied the concept, but Lauren's is still the pioneer in this field.

Finally!!!
As a working environmental biologist I must frequently record vast lists of species I encounter in the field.While eductaed in most plants and animals I have always put the grasses into a mental compartment of "troublesome" plants.This book provides clear and immensely helpful idenitifcation guides to a group of plants that are both common and difficult, for even the experienced, to distinguish.I now carry it as a part of my regular set of references for both the field and in-house identification. Grasses are such an important group of plants that many of us find confusing and difficult to identify. This book has made the individual species of grasses more accesible for all who use it. Any ecologist or budding amateur will benefit from the easy reading and pertinent information in this book.A further understanding of ecology and food resources for specific taxa is now more easily obtainable.I have waited for a book like this for a long time.

Useable, but flawed
As another review noted the range of this book is limited, from Minnesota to Kentucky and Maryland south, and north to Maine, although some of the grasses are more widespread.The copyright date is 1979 and while that does not disqualify it, it has not been updated.It suffers from 1) poor reproduction of the line drawings which are supposedly "as beautiful as they are exact" - they aren't either in this edition, being too small and with line details running together to show nothing but a black blob in many cases, and 2) no photographs, which I have come to expect of any decent field guide nowadays (especially in the absence of GOOD line drawings!).Also, the grasses are organized "by visual similarity, not always by taxonomic grouping."I'd prefer the latter.Read more

Subjects:  1. Grasses    2. Identification    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Northeastern States    6. Plants - General    7. Plants - Grasses    8. Nature / Plants    9. Reference works    10. Trees & wildflowers   

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Landscape gardening    6. Ornamental Plants    7. Ornamental grasses    8. Plants - Grasses   

Reviews (3)

How to Identify Grasses & Grasslike Plants
This book is practical and systematic.The topic is difficult, at best, and the author gives all the tools and understanding needed to build up your skills.As a consultant that works with native plant materials, I have found this book to be a useful field reference in separating out invasive species.

Best glossary
Not especially useful for beginner grass identification because concentrates on structural detail rather than overall appearance of growth.However, I recommend it for its excellent illustrated glossary.

Excellent manual on morphology of these difficult groups.
As a former student of the late Dr. Harrington who taught me much about plant classification, I highly recommend this book. It is similar to his How to Identify Plants, but the diagrams are much better. It is a verythorough review of the morphology and terminology specific to sedges,rushes, and grasses. These are all very difficult families to identify andthere are few books that so thoroughly describe the critical and uniquemorphology of these plants. This is a knowledge that is critical to theidentification of these fascinating and important plants. Dr.Harrington also includes a section on the vegetative characteristics,especially of grasses. For field ecologists like myself, being able toidentify plants without the flowers, especially grasses, is critical whendoing quantitative sampling.If you are just a beginner in your pursuitof these difficult plants, this is an excellent and valuable resource. Butfor even the plant scientist this book provides an excellent reference torefresh your memory regarding the unique and important mophology ofgrasses, sedges, and rushes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cyperaceae    2. Grasses    3. Identification    4. Juncaceae    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Plants - General    8. Plants - Grasses    9. Seed-Bearing Plants (Spermatophyta)    10. Botany & plant sciences    11. Science / Botany   

Reviews (6)

best book ever!!!!!!!!!
Is the best book ever!!!!
Very disappointing...
I must say, I am astonished that this book has recieved the positivereviews that it has. I bought this book with the intent of gainingknowledge in the area of designing with grasses. I read it from start tofinish and found that the entire text consisted of rambling, repetative,generalizations that were devoid of any substantial content. I wascompletely shocked that the authors would dare publish such wishy-washymaterial. Not a great reference book
I'm writing this review to balance out all of the 'great' reviews this book has received. The book is okay, but it is not a great reference book. It has several faults:Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Landscape Horticulture    6. Landscape gardening    7. Ornamental Plants    8. Ornamental grasses    9. Plants - Grasses    10. Gardening / Flowers / Perennials   

Reviews (1)

An indispensable guide for progressive gardeners
There are quite a few books out now about why we shouldn't stick with the traditional grass lawn, but this is the best one I've seen to explain the practical alternatives, with inspiring photos and helpful appendices. Ms. Daniels is really concerned with the aesthetics as well as the politics of environmentally friendly yards. I recommend it to all my friends who are thinking about getting rid of some or all of the grass. A "9" just because I wish it had more pictures ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening / Horticulture    2. Gardening/Plants    3. Ground cover plants    4. Landscape Horticulture    5. Landscape gardening    6. Native plant gardening    7. Native plants for cultivation    8. Natural landscaping    9. Plants - Grasses    10. Regional - General    11. Horticulture    12. Landscape art & architecture   

Reviews (7)

So much to learn, yet still not done with it!
I bought this book awhile ago. . . .and unfortunately, have enough going on that I can't just sit down and read it beginning to end, but already I know a LOT more about a plant I've always been fascinated with. Lots of definitions, and pictures, and illustrations. If there's anything that could be considered a detraction, there's maybe TOO much information on the plant and its uses.
The most comprehensive book on bamboo..........
Written by the one of the few people in the world qualified to produce a monograph on bamboo, it is as comprehensive as it gets.David Farrelly has spent more than a decade planting, harvesting, and building with bamboo in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States.If you are only interested in the growing of bamboo as an ornamental, then this book may not be exactly what you expect, but it still serves up more information on bamboo growing, propagation and care, and bamboo species and description then any other currently available books on bamboo.Don't expect grossy pictures either, but line drawings and old black and white photographs somehow seems to fit well in this book.Grossy pictures would have been out of place here.What really makes this book a must read is the other non-botanical, non-horticultural information on bamboo that the book includes - it's history, it's multiple of uses, it's interaction with mankind through the ages. Read this book first if you are new to bamboo!
This was the first book I read about bamboo many years ago when I first started planting bamboo.I guess the best way to describe it would be to call it "The Last Whole Earth Catalog of Bamboo".It covers all aspects of bamboo, facts and fiction, reality and myth.This book is for the true lover of bamboo. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts And Crafts    2. Bamboo    3. Bamboo work    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. General    6. History    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Plants - Grasses    9. Tropical Botany    10. Nature / General   

Reviews (1)

Has errorsthat need correcting
I found many errors, at least 8 that were very apparent. Not knowing much about grasses I did not know if the other facts in the book were correct since the mistakes were obvious, even to me. It must have not been proof read. Some pages did not have a full picture of the plant, only the top.The pictures that were there were good. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Grasses    2. Identification    3. Life Sciences - Botany    4. Nature    5. Pictorial works    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Texas    10. Texas Hill Country    11. Botany & plant sciences    12. Plant life: general   

Subjects:  1. Bamboo    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Landscape    6. Ornamental Plants    7. Ornamental grasses    8. Plants - Grasses    9. Gardening / Lawns   

Reviews (2)

Classic little book in this field
Although my botanical interests lie mainly in mycology and dendrology, I developed a little (or not so little, as the case may be, since there are approximately 14,000 species of grasses) subspecialty in graminology, or grass taxonomy. I was truly delighted to find this little book, because it is the best book I've found to get a conceptual understanding of the structure of grasses and the main genera to such an extent that it will aid your ability to identify them in the field using more traditional taxonomic keys. Normally, such keys lead you from the specific characters to the taxon/concept itself, but with this book, you learn the more powerful concepts that unify and differentiate the various genera. This was a great aid to me in my field identification of this important group, because after reading this book several times, I basically knew what was going on, instead of just "cookbooking" it using the typical botanical key, which is what the usual non-specialist in grass taxonomy does.
Grass Identification
While this listing doesn't say what edition the used copy is, it would be either 2nd or 3rd, I'm guessing.I own both.I would love to have a first edition. This primer of grasses is unique, in that it teaches the beginning botanist the basic structure of each tribe of grasses. Spikelet structure is broken down into easy to remember elements, vastly simplifying the student's understanding of an otherwise confusing plant family.Read more

Subjects:  1. Grasses    2. Nature / Field Guide Books    3. Plants - Grasses   

Reviews (1)

GRASSES AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM
THIS BOOK ON GRASS IS A REAL GOOD BOOK FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN LEARNING A LOT OVER IDENTIFICATION OF GRASSES. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Grasses    3. Identification    4. Natural history    5. Nature    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Regional & Ethnic - American - Southern States    8. Texas    9. Central Southern states    10. General cookery    11. National & regional cuisine   

Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Botany    2. Plants - General    3. Plants - Grasses    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics