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Through the years I have amassed quite a collection of gardening books.  Below are some of the those which I would highly recommend.

Mediterranean gardening    

  • Gildemeister, H. 1995. Mediterranean Gardening. Mallorca, Spain. Editorial Moll.  ISBN 84-273-0749-7.  This book includes informative chapters on the climate, soil and planning a water wise garden as well as a list of 1000 drought tolerant plants. Indexes are provided to help the reader in plant selection.  Color photographs. Bibliography included.

  • Latymer. H. 1990. The Mediterranean Gardener. London. Frances Lincoln Limited.    ISBN 0-7112-0613-7.  Very similar to the above book. Color photographs. Bibliography included.

  • Tyrwhitt. M. 1998. Making a Garden on a Greek Hillside. Limni, Evia, Greece. Denise Harvey. ISBN 960-7120-14-0.  A posthumously published  personal account of Ms. Tyrwhitt's creation of  a garden in Greece.. Ms. Tyrwhitt describes the garden as it evolves through the 12 months of the year.  There is much anecdotal material on Greek customs and folklore. Black and white drawings.  Bibliography included.

 

Dry Gardening or Xeriscaping

  • Chatto. B. 1993.  The Dry Garden. London. J.M.Dent. Ltd.
    ISBN 0-460-86087-9.  No bibliography on drought gardening could be complete without mention of this book. Ms. Chatto  gardens in East Anglia, England where she has to deal with the same dry conditions in the Summer which are common to the Mediterranean region. Black and white photographs. Bibliography included.

  • Ellefson, C. 1992. Xeriscape Gardening: Water Conservation for the American Landscape. New York. Macmillan Publishing Company.  ISBN 0-022-614125-6.  A thorough reference book on the theory and practice of xeriscaping.  Although it is geared for the United States, anyone interested in drought gardening would benefit from this book.  Color photographs.

  • Rumary. M. 1994. The Dry Garden. London. Conran Octopus Limited. 
    ISBN 1 85029 570 0. This is part of the Royal Horticultural Society collection.  A beautiful book with color photographs.

Ground Covers

  • MacKenzie.D. 1997. Perennial Ground Covers. Portland, Oregon. Timber Press, Inc.  ISBN 0-88192-368-0. A comprehensive book on this subject. Discussion of the choice, propagation, planting of  ground covers as well as an exhaustive listing of suitable plants. Bibliography included.

Other Highly recommended reading from Timber Press.

  • Dirr, Michael A. 2002. Dirr's trees and shrubs for warm climates: an illustrated encyclopedia. Portland, Oregon. Timber Press, Inc.

    ISBN 0-88182-525-X.  This is a companion volume to Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs. It shows both the habit and details of more than 400 trees, shrubs and vines which are adapted to warm temperate zones.

  • Gardner, Jo Ann. 1998. Herbs in bloom: a guide to growing herbs as ornamental plants. Portland, Oregon. Timber Press, Inc.
    ISBN 0-88192-454-7. The author describes over 700 herbs and suggest appropriate landscape uses for them.  Also included are interesting facts of history and lore about her favorite herbs.
  • Clebsch, Betsy. 1997. A book of salvias: sages for every garden. Portland, Oregon. Timber Press, Inc. ISBN 0-88193-369-9. The author describes over 100 beautiful, garden worthy species and includes information on habit and recommended companion plants as well as historical tidbits of discovery and usage.

 

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