Taylor's Encyclopedia of Garden Plants

This beautifully illustrated encyclopedia offers North American gardeners a definitive resource for all their questions, from flowers to trees to shrubs. Long-time Houghton Mifflin editor Tenenbaum (who has edited the Taylor series for more than 30 years) arranges her book alphabetically according to genus, then breaks plants down by species (an index of common names helps readers follow the Latin terms). Under Ficus, for example, is a pronunciation key (""FYE-kus""), the common family name (Mulberry), then a description (""It exhibits potentially unlimited growth in warm gardens"";""as a vine, it clings tenaciously by secreting a tiny amount of latex""); and finally, suggestions for growing (""It will perform best in moist well-drained loamy soil""). At the end of the book, Tenenbaum features succinct, clearly illustrated directions for propagating plants, whether growing them from seed or by dividing or taking cuttings. 1,200 color photos.