This book, like no other, gets right to the heart of our local gardening concerns.
Introductory chapters on our climate, soils, environmental issues, water, pests and much more should be required reading for all who aspire to a great garden.
But just like the woman herself, Welsh doesn’t preach in her book, she teaches. This isn’t a book about dry academic topics. This is a book of instruction.
Welsh tells and then explains exactly what to do, when to do it and how to do it. No vagaries or hazy opinions, Welsh gets right to the point with clear, practical information and strong, well-healed advice.
For the past 18 years, Welsh has authored the most complete guide to local gardening ever printed. My copy, like most others of her original 1991 book is now soil-stained and tattered.
Likewise for her revised edition, printed in 2000. These books have become gardening classics.
Happily, this newest edition, just released, will allow these predecessor versions to retire to my bookshelf alongside a few other old favorites like Joan Citron’s “Selected Plants for Southern California Gardens” and Mildred Mathias’ “Flowering Plants in the Landscape.”
Welsh’s book makes the best holiday gardening gift that I can imagine. Because it just arrived in the past week or two at bookstores and garden center shelves, you can be assured that the recipient will need it.
For those with two black thumbs, a few evenings of reading through Welsh’s month-by-month lessons will motivate them to greater garden success than they may have thought possible.
