The flowering plants in your garden, and their variety of color and form, are the result of hundreds of years of tradition, science, skill and intrepid exploration. They may be native plants carefully selected to provide larger blooms or a greater color range, exotic species with origins in far-distant lands, or cultivars which have been painstakingly bred to conform to an ideal of shape and form.

The Gardener's Atlas explores the histories of many of the world's most popular cultivated plants and reveals how and where they grew in the wild. It relates extraordinary and uplifting tales of their discovery in some of the remotest regions on earth -- tales of determination and perseverance, of barter and exchange, and of international friendship struck up between enthusiastic horticulturists from the 1500s onward.

There are insights into how plants that are now simply decorative were once used for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, for food or ritual, and into how they earned their common or Latin names. This is a book which cannot fail to enrich your gardening experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Grimshaw, a botanist and plant collector, describes the discovery of popular garden plants in their native habitats and their introduction to horticulture. Chapters focus on one or more plant families, such as lilies, poppies and peonies, buttercups and waterlilies, etc. Each chapter typically provides a map pinpointing the origin of selected species, botanical information, interesting stories about how the plants were discovered, and the breeding or hybridization carried out to improve them for horticulture. Additional essays profile botanical gardens or garden styles around the world, and a chapter on "Plantsman's Choice" highlights especially garden-worthy plants from each plant family. While this book is not a crucial purchase, many gardeners will relish the beautiful photographs and the stories about their favorite plants. For general gardening collections in public and academic libraries.?Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA

Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A wealth of information and enjoyment. (Marty Figley Rochester Eccentric 2004-07-01)

A good garden reference book. This portable, paperback atlas is a fascinating reference for almost anything that grows in your garden. It provides tales of intrigue and adventure behind plants you might merely think of as pretty -- and gives great conversation fodder the next time you host a garden party. ... Each one of the Atlas' 217 pages is rife with such stories. Even though it's a reference book, avid gardeners might find themselves reading it cover to cover. (Jennifer Sergent HGTV.com 2004-03-05)

The format and presentation makes an interesting and visually beautiful way to learn about plants and botany! (American Herb Association Quarterly)

Grimshaw has put together one of the most interesting and adventurous books I've seen about our popular plants and their origins ... It's a delightful and informative reference book to own. (Stuart Robinson Montreal Gazette 2000-01-06)

Reads like the great adventures of plant hunters... a truly unique publication.... All true plant lovers should have this volume added to their reference library. (John Bagnasco Garden Compass 2004-11-01)

A fascinating reference... tales of intrigue and adventure... avid gardeners might find themselves reading it cover to cover. (Oklahoma City Oklahoman 2004-03-04)

A fascinating reference for almost anything that grows in your garden. (Jennifer Sergent Scripps Howard Service 2004-02-28)