Looking for extremely comprehensive plant information on mainly
British species of pretty much everything, from fungi to oak trees,
and everything in between, both wild (so-called weeds) and domestic.

I'd prefer electronic form, since there is significantly more space
available on my hard drive than on my bookshelf.

Type of info required:

.. Positive identification
.. Common and Latin names
.. Soil and environmental conditions
.. Life cycle and reproduction
.. Common pests, diseases and cures (organic) per species
.. Productivity tips, esp. WRT fruit and vegetables
.. General care advice

Need to identify and revive the contents of my garden, and improve a
section of common land. Also looking to grow my own fruit and veg.

I'm not in a hurry to learn everything on day one, but I'd feel more
comfortable with an authoritative and comprehensive reference,
esp. WRT British wild plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I
could find anyway).

--
K.

"[H]omer" wrote in message ...
Looking for extremely comprehensive plant information on mainly
British species of pretty much everything, from fungi to oak trees,
and everything in between, both wild (so-called weeds) and domestic.

I'd prefer electronic form, since there is significantly more space
available on my hard drive than on my bookshelf.

Type of info required:
. Positive identification
. Common and Latin names
. Soil and environmental conditions
. Life cycle and reproduction
. Common pests, diseases and cures (organic) per species
. Productivity tips, esp. WRT fruit and vegetables
. General care advice

Google is probably your best friend once you know the name of a
plant................. "~)

Plants general:
http://www.horticopia.com/hortpix/ - Useful if you know the name of the
plant
http://www.perennials.com/search.html Search perenials by height,colour
etc - USA but still useful
http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/default.aspx Similar to above but
from the RHS
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/D_search.html Search by latin name, region
(world) etc
http://www.pp.clinet.fi/~mygarden/diction2.htm Dictionary latin/common name


Veg - when to plant what :
http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1710

Trees: http://www.native-tree-shop.com/

Need to identify and revive the contents of my garden, and improve a
section of common land. Also looking to grow my own fruit and veg.

I'm not in a hurry to learn everything on day one, but I'd feel more
comfortable with an authoritative and comprehensive reference,
esp. WRT British wild plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I
could find anyway).

try :
http://www.reticule.co.uk/flora/
http://www.ukwildflowers.com/
http://www.naturescape.co.uk/

I have lots of links on my website, but they are more for roof gardens,
pots, cacti ...:
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/indexgarden.htm

Jenny

If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Rachel

rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

Thanks.

--
K.

JennyC wrote:

Veg - when to plant what :
http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1710

Nice concise reference.

Thanks.

--
K.

In message , "[H]omer" writes
rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

If you have a Sussex bookshop near you, they have it at a very
reasonable price. (I bought my book a couple of years ago in Enfield
but they seem to be all over the country AFAIK).
--
June Hughes

On 11/7/06 17:07, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , "[H]omer" writes
rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

If you have a Sussex bookshop near you, they have it at a very
reasonable price. (I bought my book a couple of years ago in Enfield
but they seem to be all over the country AFAIK).

The RHS encyclopedia is excellent but I wouldn't call it comprehensive, or
not entirely. Quite a few plants or their varieties are not in there -
especially the more unusual ones which are hardy in this country. One of
the best sources of info is Google and the Image search is extremely useful.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

In message , Sacha
writes
On 11/7/06 17:07, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , "[H]omer" writes
rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

If you have a Sussex bookshop near you, they have it at a very
reasonable price. (I bought my book a couple of years ago in Enfield
but they seem to be all over the country AFAIK).

The RHS encyclopedia is excellent but I wouldn't call it comprehensive, or
not entirely. Quite a few plants or their varieties are not in there -
especially the more unusual ones which are hardy in this country. One of
the best sources of info is Google and the Image search is extremely useful.

I believe you are correct but for mere amateurs like me, the RHS
encyclopaedia does the trick and it is well illustrated - If we need
any more, we ask here

PS Have just passed grade 6 flute, after learning for four years, so am
in a merry mood and think I am worthy of being excused
--
June Hughes

On 11/7/06 22:13, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 11/7/06 17:07, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , "[H]omer" writes
rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

If you have a Sussex bookshop near you, they have it at a very
reasonable price. (I bought my book a couple of years ago in Enfield
but they seem to be all over the country AFAIK).

The RHS encyclopedia is excellent but I wouldn't call it comprehensive, or
not entirely. Quite a few plants or their varieties are not in there -
especially the more unusual ones which are hardy in this country. One of
the best sources of info is Google and the Image search is extremely useful.

I believe you are correct but for mere amateurs like me, the RHS
encyclopaedia does the trick and it is well illustrated - If we need
any more, we ask here

I most definitely see myself as an amateur too but sort of bridging the
world between the expert - my husband - and the amateur who joined urg
originally - me. I'm absolutely NOT talking down the RHS Encyclopedia but
for the sake of newcomers to gardening, I did think it worth mentioning that
it doesn't have every plant ever found or bred in it. We get customers here
who believe it does and that if a plant isn't in there, it's incorrectly
labelled, either by us or by others. We use it a LOT, either to show
customers photographs of plants they're interested in but don't know, or to
check some detail or other. I doubt a day goes by without it being used in
our busiest months.

PS Have just passed grade 6 flute, after learning for four years, so am
in a merry mood and think I am worthy of being excused

Well done! As one who has 3 musical children but who cannot play loo paper
and comb, I salute your efforts.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

In message , Sacha
writes
On 11/7/06 22:13, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 11/7/06 17:07, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , "[H]omer" writes
rachel wrote:
If you can spare the space for just one book, I recommend the
Encyclopedia of Gardening from the RHS. It's authoritative and
comprehensive in my humblest opinion.

Hmmm yes, I've been looking at the RHS books on Amazon; they always seem
to get rave reviews.

If you have a Sussex bookshop near you, they have it at a very
reasonable price. (I bought my book a couple of years ago in Enfield
but they seem to be all over the country AFAIK).

The RHS encyclopedia is excellent but I wouldn't call it comprehensive, or
not entirely. Quite a few plants or their varieties are not in there -
especially the more unusual ones which are hardy in this country. One of
the best sources of info is Google and the Image search is extremely useful.

I believe you are correct but for mere amateurs like me, the RHS
encyclopaedia does the trick and it is well illustrated - If we need
any more, we ask here

I most definitely see myself as an amateur too but sort of bridging the
world between the expert - my husband - and the amateur who joined urg
originally - me. I'm absolutely NOT talking down the RHS Encyclopedia but
for the sake of newcomers to gardening, I did think it worth mentioning that
it doesn't have every plant ever found or bred in it. We get customers here
who believe it does and that if a plant isn't in there, it's incorrectly
labelled, either by us or by others. We use it a LOT, either to show
customers photographs of plants they're interested in but don't know, or to
check some detail or other. I doubt a day goes by without it being used in
our busiest months.

That is encouraging for people like me who sometimes have a job
remembering Latin names and types of soil best suited to plants we may
or not buy. I am not surprise you are busy.
PS Have just passed grade 6 flute, after learning for four years, so am
in a merry mood and think I am worthy of being excused

Well done! As one who has 3 musical children but who cannot play loo paper
and comb, I salute your efforts.

Thanks, Sacha.
( I take it you mean Jeyes and not Andrex
--
June Hughes

In message , "[H]omer" writes
Looking for extremely comprehensive plant information on mainly
British species of pretty much everything, from fungi to oak trees,
and everything in between, both wild (so-called weeds) and domestic.

I'd prefer electronic form, since there is significantly more space
available on my hard drive than on my bookshelf.

Type of info required:

. Positive identification
. Common and Latin names
. Soil and environmental conditions
. Life cycle and reproduction
. Common pests, diseases and cures (organic) per species
. Productivity tips, esp. WRT fruit and vegetables
. General care advice

Need to identify and revive the contents of my garden, and improve a
section of common land. Also looking to grow my own fruit and veg.

I'm not in a hurry to learn everything on day one, but I'd feel more
comfortable with an authoritative and comprehensive reference,
esp. WRT British wild plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I
could find anyway).


Clive Stace, New Flora of the British Isles. You should be able to find
a copy in a library near you.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , "[H]omer"
writes

an authoritative and comprehensive reference, esp. WRT British wild
plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I could find
anyway).

Clive Stace, New Flora of the British Isles. You should be able to
find a copy in a library near you.

Impressive, and only 26 quid from Amazon.

"bringing the total number of taxa covered to over 4500"

I wonder if there's anything as comprehensive as this for domestic
plants, from the RHS for example.

Anyway, that's on my WishList now

Thanks.

--
K.
This message has not been photoshopped in any way.

Sacha writes
I most definitely see myself as an amateur too but sort of bridging the
world between the expert - my husband - and the amateur who joined urg
originally - me. I'm absolutely NOT talking down the RHS Encyclopedia
but for the sake of newcomers to gardening, I did think it worth
mentioning that it doesn't have every plant ever found or bred in it.
We get customers here who believe it does and that if a plant isn't in
there, it's incorrectly labelled, either by us or by others. We use it
a LOT, either to show customers photographs of plants they're
interested in but don't know, or to check some detail or other. I
doubt a day goes by without it being used in our busiest months.

You don't have to be a particularly knowledgeable amateur to start
finding gaps in the RHS books - it's not just that they don't have all
the varieties (no book of such wide coverage possibly could) but sitting
down with Chilterns catalogue in one hand and RHS catalogue by your side
reveals a lot of missing genera too. (Mind, not everything in Chiltern
is 'gardenworthy' by conventional standards).

This isn't a criticism, just an echoing of Sacha's point that it won't
be that long into your gardening career before you start wanting
specialist books on the groups of plants that particularly take your
fancy.
--
Kay

Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , "[H]omer" writes

I'm not in a hurry to learn everything on day one, but I'd feel more
comfortable with an authoritative and comprehensive reference,
esp. WRT British wild plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I
could find anyway).


Clive Stace, New Flora of the British Isles. You should be able to find
a copy in a library near you.

That is the definitive guide to wild plants, but difficult to cope with
unless you are a good botanist as it is basically a giant key with very
few illustrations. You can easily fall off the key early on and never
get near an identification.

I've learnt an awful lot from the Fitter books. Wild Flowers of Britain
and Northern Ireland is more compact, and covers just 'flowers.' Wild
Flowers of Britain and Ireland is larger, includes grasses, ferns and
horsetails. It also has distribution maps, which is incredibly useful -
if the species you're looking at isn't found where you are, then you've
got the identification wrong - and if the species is rare, you are
probably wrong too!

Chris Baines 'How to make a wildlife garden' is good for growing wild
flowers.

Alan Mitchell for trees.

Roger Phillips for fungi coupled with a guide with a better key and
drawings rather than photos - I have the one by marcel Bon, and another
which i can't lay my hands on atm.
--
Kay

In message , "[H]omer" writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , "[H]omer"
writes

an authoritative and comprehensive reference, esp. WRT British wild
plants, that seems lacking in literature (that I could find
anyway).

Clive Stace, New Flora of the British Isles. You should be able to
find a copy in a library near you.

Impressive, and only 26 quid from Amazon.

"bringing the total number of taxa covered to over 4500"

I wonder if there's anything as comprehensive as this for domestic
plants, from the RHS for example.

Anyway, that's on my WishList now

Thanks.

You'll have to decide whether it is suitable for you. There's very few
pictures, so you have to be able to recognise plants by descriptions. (I
use a combination of Stace and Keble-Martin for identification.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley