Late Summer Flowers

Description

While gardeners may be happy enough with their gardens in spring and early summer, few feel so confident about prolonging the display. Thankfully, "Late Summer Flowers" shows how to extend the blooming season. By choosing plants that have a late flowering season, or offer such bonuses as attractive foliage, seedheads, or berries, it is possible to get the best from the garden in late summer and autumn. The book advises on companion planting and planting for color and texture, and includes detailed discussion of how to choose plantings for sun and shade, dry soil and damp, and for problem conditions such as heavy clay or light sand.

Reviews

The new reference for extended-season gardening. -- John Bagnasco Garden Compass 20060901 Christopher explores a great many plants besides the usual mums and asters. ... This book opens our eyes to the possibilities of a bounteous garden all the way to Thanksgiving. -- Valerie Easton Seattle Times 20061001 A gift of possibilities. Not just a catalog of recommendations, the book also illustrates methods of combining the plants to make the most of the blossoms that linger and those most fleeting. -- Jean Starr Munster (IN) Times 20060810

Author description

Marina Christopher is an enthusiastic and very successful nursery owner, with a following of committed gardeners including such luminaries as Piet Oudolf and Dan Pearson. She has a degree in botany and marine biology from the University of North Wales and did postgraduate research at Oxford before working at Fireside Nursery, specializing in wildflowers and plants that attract wildlife, and subsequently at Green Farm Plants, a specialist nursery that focuses mainly on late summer-flowering perennials and grasses. She now runs a herbaceous perennial nursery, Phoenix Plants, which concentrates on unusual and interesting cultivars and varieties. She also teaches courses and workshops on the cultivation of perennials. Marina is passionate not only about plants, but also nature, and she aims to promote eco-friendly attitudes among today's gardeners.