Perennials

Along with Rodale's new Trees, Shrubs, and Vines (see below), this new installment in Rodale's organic gardening series will be an invaluable source for gardeners, offering a comprehensive take on perennials to keep the garden flowering year after year without having to replant each season. McClure ( The Harvest Gardener) and Burrell, a Midwestern garden designer, begin with the basics, telling readers how to understand their gardens--the soil, climate, topography-- then what to do--from planning and finding the ``right plant for the right place'' to planting and maintaining plants through their various growing phases--and then on to propagating the next generation. Boxed information is a boon, treating the plants with a certain Spock-like gentle concern on such matters as ``When a Perennial Becomes a Weed''--and suggesting, in this case, that the plants should be ``moved to a meadow where they can ramble freely.'' Plant lists are long and helpful; McClure and Burrell appreciate the fact that we need to know about the most common of perennials (e.g., asters) yet also to seek adventure with the more exotic--cupid's darts, blackberry lilies. Organic Gardening Book Club and Nature Book Society main selection. (Aug.)