Bulbs for Garden Habitats
Will inspire anyone who has an appreciation for beauty and a mind for ecology.
American Gardener
Where most bulbs books repeat the seasonal approach to bulb gardening by bloom time, assuming the usual fall ritual of mass planting bulbs by the bushel, this book advocates more careful study of natural habitats and cultural needs before planting. All gardeners have experienced the frustration of having a bulb flower in the first year after planting, but poorly or never again thereafter. Judy Glattstein shows how a more naturalistic style of planting can pay greater dividends over time from healthy and thriving populations of bulbs. She uses a broad definition of bulbs, including a wide diversity of bulbs, corms, and tubers. By grouping them together with other plants that excel in similar conditions, she shows how all styles of gardens can prove more durable and require less maintenance in the long term. Perhaps most importantly, she emphasizes that choices based on climate and local ecology will yield a garden that truly "belongs" where it has been sited. Following her extensive research and travel throughout North America to visit hundreds of gardens, Glattstein offers detailed, regionally appropriate suggestions for gardeners everywhere.
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 296 pp.
- Book dimensions: 6 x 9 in. (150 x 230 mm.)
- Images: 125 color photos, 9 illustrations
- ISBN-10: 0881926930
- ISBN-13: 9780881926934
Media reviews
"From outsmarting deer to planting in naturalistic patterns, the topics in this book aim for year-round bulb displays that will truly be perennial."
—Valerie Easton, Seattle Times
"Glattstein offers a new approach to planting bulbs and demonstrates how this more naturalistic approach will pay greater dividends and require less maintenance in the long term."
—Bookseller
"Glattstein has a great sense of humor as well as a sense of design. This is a book I can wholeheartedly recommend to bulb freaks like myself."
—Cheryl B. Wilson, Daily Hampshire Gazette
"This is one of those rare works that not only provides in-depth information for the novice ... but also provides a great armchair read for more advanced growers."
—Corey Thompson, Bulbs
"Amazing detail and quotes from gardeners across the country ... An interesting read as well as a good reference."
—Karin E. Guzy, Perennial Notes
"This is a woman who clearly knows her bulbs up close and personal. This book is comprehensive and information-packed ... but be assured that Glattstein writes in a reader-friendly, conversational style that even a neophyte gardener should find accessible."
—Ethel Fried, Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer
"Glattstein takes a fresh approach by focusing on choosing bulbs by the nature of the site, not just by where you think they'll look good ... Covers summer-blooming bulbs, too, not just the best-known spring bloomers such as tulips and daffodils."
—George Weigel, Harrisburg Patriot-News
"She offers a new approach to incorporating bulbs based on matching the plants to the garden habitats where they will have the best chance of thriving."
—SciTech Book News
"Bulbs for Garden Habitats will inspire anyone who has an appreciation for beauty and a mind for ecology."
—C. Colston Burrell, American Gardener
"Drawing not only on her extensive personal experience, Glattstein also enthusiastically relates those of accomplished amateur as well as professional geophyte horticulturists, thus enriching her comprehensive guide with both a conversational and authoritative tone that balances its user-friendly approach with practical expertise."
—Carol Haggas, Booklist
"Truly a godsend and a real learning experience. It is concise yet full of clear explanations and easy to read."
—George Graine, The Daily Plant It
"This book is a welcome contrast to those bulb catalogs that cheerfully announce that a daffodil 'naturalizes freely' and read as if we all lived in the same climate ... Glattstein aims to approach bulb gardening the way happy Colorado gardeners have learned to plan their rock and perennial gardens: pay attention to your own (micro) climate and choose accordingly."
—Sally Boyson, Saximontana
"A very entertaining and readable work that provides valuable information."
—John E. Bryan, Gardening Newsletter
"Glattstein matches the plants to the garden habitats where they will best thrive. She all but eliminates the problem of bulbs blooming poorly–or not blooming at all–the second year by studying natural habitats and cultural needs before planting."
—Suzanne Hively, Cleveland Plain Dealer
"[Glattstein's] image-filled prose style ... manages to educate and entertain concurrently."
—Lillie Dorchak, Hunterdon County Democrat
About the author
Judy Glattstein
Judy Glattstein is a garden consultant and the author of several gardening books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles. She is a popular instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and the Cook College Office of Continuing Professional Education at Rutgers University and lectures widely both in the United States and abroad.
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