The Perennial Care Manual: A Plant-by-Plant Guide: What to Do and When to Do It by Nancy J. Ondra, Rob Cardillo (Photographer)

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Synopsis

The best-laid perennial garden designs result in gorgeous beds that bring color and texture to home landscapes. But no matter how perfect the garden, how glorious the color, how eye-catching the combinations, no perennial garden stays beautiful by itself. The plants need tender care - watering, pruning, deadheading, and dividing.

With Nancy Ondra's detailed plant-by-plant guide to tending perennials, maintenance is a breeze. Ondra has grown hundreds of today's most popular perennials in her own gardens and has kept detailed notes on how each plant looks through the seasons and what the plants' needs, quirks, and preferences are. All this valuable information is gathered in 125 plant profiles, arranged alphabetically by genus. Each entry features gorgeous, instructive photography by award-winning garden photographer Rob Cardillo, as well as advice on preferred light and soil conditions and complete care and maintenance instructions. What to do and when to do it are as simple as looking up the plant and following an expert gardener's advice.

Complementing the plant-by-plant section, Ondra offers in-depth coverage of basic techniques for the perennial gardener. From planning a stunning but easy-to-care-for garden to fertilizing, mulching, propagating, and much more, the home gardener will find every answer to that one big gardening question: How do I keep my perennial beds looking their best - fresh, beautiful, and healthy - season after season?

Biography

Nancy J. Ondra is a freelance garden writer and editor who owned and operated a small rare-plant nursery for six years. She is the author or co-author of a dozen gardening books including Foliage: Astonishing Color and Texture Beyond Flowers, which won the 2008 Book Award from the American Horticultural Society); The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer (winner of a 2006 Silver Award from the Garden Writers Association); and Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design. She currently gardens on her own four acres in Pennsylvania; works as a horticulturist at Linden Hill Gardens in Pennsylvania; and contributes to two garden blogs: www.hayefieldhouse.com and www.gardeninggonewild.com.