The New Sunset Western Garden Book – A Must for Western Gardeners

If you ’ve been garden in the West for a while , you in all likelihood own an impressive raft ofSunset Western Garden Books . I have an full ledge sagging under the melody of every edition I ’ve have – the first one carve on Oliver Stone tablets . for certain , I have lots of other garden books , but when I ’m in design mode , I reach for my “ Sunset ” .

So it was with childlike giddiness that I replied an emphasized “ YES ! ” after receiving an invitation from Sunset to visit their headquarters while I was verbalise at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show last week .

Left to rightfield : Me , Theresa Loe , and Jayme Jenkins

thirsty blogger and faculty devise for a breakfast feast .

I bummed a ride from Theresa Loe , co - executive producer of everyone ’s favorite horticulture show , maturate A Greener World , and Jayme Jenkins , founder ofahaModernLiving.com . We joined a XII more garden bloggers and Sunset editors for a delicious breakfast in their legendary test kitchen . The menu : fresh berry smoothie , mouthwatering veg frittata , orange and strawberry yield salad , and ( are you quick for this ? ) a slab of chocolate zucchini rummy cake ! ( deep brown bar for brekkies ? One more reason to have sex these folks ! ) The menu was set up from their newSunset Edible Garden Cookbook , a how - to - grow - harvest - keep - cook book filled with ab fab formula and gardening tips .

But the star of the event was the new TheNew Sunset Western Garden Book(Oxmoor House ; 9th variant ) , which has retained the best features of retiring editions while infusing the fresh one with seasonable , savvy , worldly concern - friendly information to help western part gardeners .

As a designer , I ’ve always relied on Sunset ’s solidly researched plant encyclopaedia to serve me select the good plants for the good place . Those listings are still there , but with the fillip of colour exposure supercede the line drawing that populated previous editions . I was delighted to see that one of my foiling with previous version of the Holy Scripture – discrepant selective information regarding the mature size of plant – has been addressed . One instance is the contingent lavish on New Zealand flax ( Phormium ) , describing the form , semblance , height , and pass around of more than 30 specie and hybrids .

Another indispensible feature that gets me through enfeeble bouts of designer ’s cylinder block is the exhaustively overhauled Plant Finder section : 27 lists cross 78 Page . Each lean , while not exhaustive , includes a robust sample of plants to meet nearly every design situation . Divided into three segment , the list admit :

Problem - Solver Plantsfor take exception areas with lists for hedges , farting - resistance , terrace tree , plant for beneath oaks , and more . ground - Friendly Plantsare described as “ plant that can assist you garden more sustainably ” and let in , among others , works for waterwise gardens , western natives , and those that attract good dirt ball . industrial plant for Special Effectsinclude fall foliage , redolence , sculpturesque plants – my favorite fresh class – and even flora for moon gardens . ( These are not plant for broken sobriety , airless , waterless , dry land - orbit satellites – mayhap in the next edition . )

But as they say on the late - night infomercials , “ await ! There ’s MORE ! ” Do n’t overleap the riches of sometimes - overlooked entropy in the Gardening Start to Finish section in the back of the book . It impart gardener advice on how to plant , install , and keep their gardens . It ’s like get a whole other book that ’s chock full of preparation , land site cookery , growing , lacrimation , fertilizing , and trouble direction info .

One last feature – and a caution : Do n’t get too carry aside with the Pronunciation Guide , unless you wish being ostracized at garden parties as a know - it - all . I rick to the pathfinder to bolster my stubborn affixation to the botanic pronunciation of lily turf . Alas , “ they ” were right and ( presume I let in it in public ? ) I WAS WRONG ! genus Liriope is n’t pronounced “ LEER - ee - ope ” , as I insisted ; it reallyis“leer - EYE - Buckeye State - water ” ! ( I still think it ’s mute . )

Ya get word something new everyday ; specially of you address yourself to a copy of The New Sunset Western Garden Book .

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