Tropiocalismo - Creare a Paradise Wherever You Live!

Description

Does your garden lack zing? Are your borders a bore? Spice them up with a touch of the tropics! Tropical plants bring sizzle to every garden. Bananas in Maine, cannas in Canada - these plants can be grown everywhere. Whether used in containers or planted directly in the ground, their bold leaves and over-the-top flowers create instant drama. Pam Baggett chooses 100 of the best tropical plants and shows readers how to grow them, how to combine them with other plants, and how to make eye-popping compositions of color and pattern. Love flaming orange? Try cannas, lantanas, and 'Fire Dragon' coleus. Screaming magenta more your taste? Go for hot-pink four o'clocks, bloodleaf, and 'Cranberry Punch' pentas. If you're passionate about purple, grab princess flower, Brazilian skyflower, and 'Purple Majesty' sage, "Tropicalismo!" offers hundreds of ideas for turning gardens, decks, and patios into a visual fiesta. A taste of the tropics is all it takes to turn your garden into a paradise.

Pam Baggett is a freelance writer, photographer, and previous owner of Singing Springs Nursery in Cedar Grove, NC, a nationally-known mail-order nursery specializing in tender and hardy tropical plants. A member of the Garden Writers Association, she was awarded a Quill & Trowel Award in 2000 and has written articles in publications including Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and The American Gardener. Pam studied agriculture at North Carolina State University before apprenticing in the Farm and Garden Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She served for six years as volunteer curator for the entrance garden at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC. Pam currently teaches garden writing to adults and lectures on tropicals and other garden topics for garden groups and horticultural societies. In her free time, Pam enjoys gardening, creative writing, swimming in the ocean, and playing pinball.

Makes you want to go out this weekend and buy plants. Author Pam Baggett has written an easy-to-read paperback highlighting 100 tropical plants. This is more than just another plant identification book. -- Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub South Florida Sun-Sentinel 20081031 You'll see cannas to fulfill your wildest technicolor dreams, from lemon-lime striped 'Bengal Tiger' to purplish mocha 'Constitution.' And there are nearly 100 other plants to experiment with. ... If you're looking for ways to add some tropical punch to your pots and plots next summer, Tropicalismo! is worth a look. -- Kim Palmer Minneapolis Star Tribune 20081125 Provides a flash of inspiration that will have you even more anxious for spring to arrive. -- Jean Starr Munster (IN) Times 20081211 A thoughtful, well-organized, flip-through idea book of tropical plants. Garden Design 20090101 Makes all of the plants sound exotic and alluring, which is the whole point of adding a tropical or two to your garden setting. -- Roxanne Washington Cleveland Plain Dealer 20090528