Hardy Bamboos - Taming the Dragon

Description

Bamboos are extraordinary in their ability to transform a garden, adapt to inhospitable surroundings, and survive with little care. Long the exclusive pleasure of warm-weather gardeners, people in cooler climates will gain the know-how to grow and experience the wonder and infinite variety of these magical plants. Drawing on his own experience growing bamboos, Paul Whittaker describes how bamboos perform in different places and highlights their growing habits. These fascinating insights give the knowledge needed to choose the right bamboo for any site and grow it successfully. The distillation of years of hands-on growing experience, this is the ultimate bamboo reference book for cool-climate gardeners.

Hailing from Lancashire, Paul Whittaker has worked in horticulture for almost thirty years as a nurseryman, landscaper, and consultant. He now runs his own nursery, PW Plants, that specializes in ornamental grasses and his main love, temperate bamboos. A regular exhibitor at Royal Horticultural Society shows, he has won many gold medals for his legendary foliage displays. Dedicated to the promotion and understanding of temperate bamboos, Paul Whittaker contributes articles to gardening magazines, lectures widely, and holds workshops and events at his nursery and garden. As a member of the RHS woody plant committee, he works tirelessly to increase general horticultural knowledge and also judges exhibits at the major horticultural shows in the U.K. Paul lives in Norfolk, England with his wife, Diana, three teenage offspring, and two labradors.

The ultimate reference book for cool-climate gardeners. Enthusiasts and gardeners everywhere will be captivated by the charm bamboos bring to different garden situations. Publishing News 20050225 Whittaker includes much more data on bamboos suited to growing in temperate areas than we have seen before between the covers of any single book. HortIdeas 20050517 Whittaker presents detailed plant descriptions with stunning photos of the quite diverse "chosen few" likely to thrive in the US and UK. SciTech Book News 20050524 A beautiful and user-friendly tome that will be equally at home on the coffee table or in the reference library. -- Adam Turtle Bamboo 20050601 Wonderful book packed with useful information for anyone interested in bamboos. -- L. G. Kavaljian Choice 20050909 It's authoritative yet friendly, and the author knows of what he speaks ... fascinating reading. -- Kathy Bond Borie National Gardening Association Regional Reports 20050818 Hardy Bamboos will enchant the novice and serve as a great reference for any bamboo grower. -- Natasha S. Johnson Natchitoches Times 20051014 This is a must-have for gardeners who love bamboo. ... Whittaker infuses his book with striking and lush photography; a very personal yet authoratative storyteller's voice, and beautiful illustrations that show bamboo in all its glory. ... If you're looking for a book about bamboo, you need look no further. It's a winner. -- Madeline Caliendo Washington Gardener 20060101 Will help gardeners in cooler climates experience the wonder and infinite variety of these magical plants. Michigan Gardener 20060707 Well-written and beautifully illustrated; perhaps the best book on hardy bamboos yet published. -- Jon Ardle The Garden 20051101 To convey the visual opulence of Hardy Bamboos by means of language is challenging indeed. Suffice it so say that if you never read a single word of this book, if you never cultivate even one bamboo plant, if you only turn the pages and look at these pictures, you will be very glad you did. -- Josephine Bridges Asian Reporter 20060905