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[IBC] books
A week or so ago, I opined that folks should stay away from tree
identification books that deal with trees of the world because they're just too incomplete and deal only with the trees most of us know anyway. In my all-too-often visit to one of our local bookstores today, however, I stumbled across a couple of worldwide tree books that cause me to amend that to say "stay away from MOST worldwide tree identification books." The first (and best) is one I already have -- kinda. It is the "Botanica's Trees and Shrubs" Laurel Glen pub. $19.95. I say "kinda" because I have the "Botanica Encyclopedia" which contains the full text of the tree book and a LOT more (something like 9,000 plants more). The publishers have lifted all info on trees and shrubs from the encyclopedia and put it in this thick, handbook-size (except for thickness) book. Probably, if the tree and shrub book had come out first, I would have gotten it and not the massive encyclopedia. But I get a lot of use out of the encyclopedia, so I'm not complaining. Anyway, the tree and shrub book is very though and very complete. It includes trees and shrubs no one has heard of, plus all of those you have heard of and many cultivars of them, too. While taking the trees and shrubs from the big book was purely a money-making ploy on the part of the publishers, it's very worthwhile to have this book. The other tree book is "Smithsonian Handbooks: Trees" $20 from DK Publishers. This one is not as complete (but there are a lot of species from everywhere) and does not cover shrubs like azaleas and camellias, blueberries, etc. that the other one (above) does, but it's worth having. I've put it on my list for "someday." I found a third book -- NOT a tree book -- that is very useful: "Insect, Disease and Weed ID Guide: Find-It-Fast Organic Solutions for Your Garden" Rodale pub. $24.95. This too is on my "someday list" though I have all the insect-disease/good-bug/bad-bug books I can use already. If you don't have the Ortho, Sunset or Southern Living Garden Problem Solver books, this one is an excellent choice. Still on publishing news, I also looked over Issue #84 of Bonsai Today and found it to be a decided mixed bag. Some wonderful new, avert garde pots from the Takagi contest any one of which I'd love to have, several marvelous Ernie Kuo junipers, and a 4-part, don't-try-this-at-home series of tree "fixups" that only someone with more time than sense would ever attempt (and all [or most] of which I bet died within 4-5 years of the massive surgery involved). I think there was another part that I liked, but apparently not enough to remember what it was, ;-) or it came after the fixups and I was too flabbergasted to remember. This was another of the (lately) growing number of new Bonsai Today issues that I left on the newsstand. The magazine ain't what it usta be. :-(IMHO, of course) Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry David Thoreau - Walden ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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