My Start to a Gardening Library

[mikesanders]

I have only recently taken up gardening seriously,upon retirement, and I have invested in several books which I think are a great start to a Plant Library.

Obviously, it depends on your interests, but I have an old copy of the Readers Digest Encyclopaedia, RHS Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening, RHS Gardening Manua,lThe Essential Flower Gardening Encyclopaedia.  More plant specific, I have Rodales Illustrated Encyclopaedia to Perennials, Hibiscus by Jacqueline Walker, The 400 Best Gardening Plants, The Gardener's Peony by Martin Page, Hardy Gingers by T Branney, Passiflora by Ulmer & MacDougal, The Protea Book by Lewis Matthews, Tropical Flowering Plants by Kirsten Llamas, Brugmansia and Datura by U. and H-G Preissel, Botanica's Orchids, Plants for Water Gardens by M Edwards.

I also have the Gardens of Britain and Ireland by Patrick Taylor - a good reference to day's outings when you want to get some new ideas.

I am looking for a comprehensive book on Hibiscus - the one mentioned above is a bit superficial, and I need one which goes into far more depth.  Anyone got any ideas.

PS - You've probably guessed - my interest is within tropical plants (although not exclusively).

Mike Sanders

[The Gardener]

PS - You've probably guessed - my interest is within tropical plants (although not exclusively).

Me too Mike - I love anything exotic!  I grow things like Tetrapanax, Musa (Banana), Eriobotrium (Loquat), Cordyline, Trachycarpus and Oleander in the open garden, and loads more in the conservatory.  The bigger and more exotic a plant is, the more I like it!

[mikesanders]

I'm pleased to see that you have many "exotic" plants in the garden.  In my inexperience, I am still tending to think - "Oh, it's tropical or it's exotic, therefore it should be carefully looked after and confined to the conservatory".  I am only just realising that many such plants - hedychiums, roscoeas, some hibiscus, phormiums, brugmansias, eccremocarpus scaber  and many more - are quite happy outside (even if not for the whole year, then certainly during the summer months).

I would be interested in any member's list of tropical or exotic plants which survive outside, at least for some of the year.

I garden on the Surrey/Sussex borders so the climate is relatively kind to us.  The soil is neutral, light, sandy, but we have areas of well-drained soil and also areas where moisture is retained.

Any ideas ??

Mike Sanders