Product Description
An exquisitely photographed guide to bearded irises in all their elegance and variety, complete with guidance on planting and growing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Truly superb, very informative.
This book was a lot more than I expected, and I loved the thoughtful cross-reference guide included with each photo.The photography itself is superb, and it is wonderful to see the spots, stripes, and colors on these garden queens. It was nice to see some of the more common irises included and that even though a grower, the author didn't turn this gem of a book into a mere catalog. Bravo!

Iris lovers...save your money!!
Wow, how disappointing.I am a grower/lover of bearded irises and automatically purchase any newly published book on the subject.This book is just set up poorly to read, the varieties depicted are from the author's garden(I assume) are bland, boring, and non representative of some of the finest varieties of bearded irises out there.I really didn't appreciate most of the photography either...a lot of that artsy "looking into the center of the flower" stuff.The only reason it got even two stars is that I appreciate the author's text in some areas and that she's endeavored to create a book to showcase and promote the iris.Unfortunately, the overall effort seems to fall short. ... Read more

Product Description
Irises bring color and elegance to a garden and are surprisingly easy to grow. In this book designed for the home gardener, William Shear, a 40-year veteran of iris growing, shares his expertise in choosing, planting, growing, and propagating exquisite irises. All of the essentials on iris care are carefully and simply explained, along with tips to ensure a stunning display from healthy plants. Starting with the tall bearded iris, the book features iris types that will grow in almost any condition--dry, wet, shady, or sunny. Specific cultural advice for the most desirable and adaptable iris types allows gardeners to choose the plants best suited to their region of the country. Lavish photos by renowned garden photographer Roger Foley will foster a love of timeless irises in every gardener. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A superb reference book about Irises
The Gardener's Iris Book by William Shear contains broad yet very detailed information about all types of irises and clear instructions on their cultivation and division. I bought it because it was highly recommended in a Schreiner's Iris Gardens catalog, and I was not disappointed. The photographs are excellent. It holds a wealth of useful information and is very interesting to read.

Iris Book
This book is a good addition for Iris Growers, and lists many of the popular varities and how they should be grown. It also is much less expensive than the large catalog type books on iris plants.

Good Book For Beginners
I bought this book since I'm just starting to plant different types of iris. The book provides a good overview and is an easy reference to understand. If I were a more experienced iris gardener I would probably be disappointed in the content covered.
Overall, would recommend for the gardener with little or no experience in planting iris.

Absolutely the best Iris book for beginners.
This book is so easy to read, most iris books I have come across goes way to deep into botany that they are a bore to read, not to mention confusing.The pictures are beautiful.This book is definately for anyone wanting to grow irises.

Finally, an iris book that talks about borers
"The Gardener's Iris Book" describes itself as an introductory book for American gardeners.In my own experience, books about irises tend to fall into two categories:beautiful and fun to read, but not particularly useful or well-organized; and books that I can take out into the garden and actually use.This volume manages to straddle both categories, which is good because I like to look at beautiful pictures of irises, but I've also discovered that they are not particularly easy to grow.I've lost two complete plantings of Bearded Irises to borers, and even managed to kill off a bed of hardy Siberian irises.

Why bother with a touchy plant that has such a short growing season?That's easy:because they're one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden when they do bloom.

The author has a gift for clear, succinct phrasing, very well-suited for a 'how to' manual on growing irises.He also loves his subject--in the chapter on Louisiana Irises, he refers to himself as 'Johnny Iris Seed' because of his habit of planting his extra rhizomes in the mud at the margins of farm ponds, park pools, or even roadside ditches."Most will establish themselves and give pleasure to passersby in years to come."

After forty years of growing irises, he has learned that a good garden springs from a healthy, living soil.He suggests using pesticides and commercial fertilizers only as a last resort.For instance, in the section on Iris borers, he starts with the least toxic methods for ridding your garden of these pests:carefully clean up your garden debris in late fall and early spring to limit the number of borers that will hatch.Monitor the young foliage fans for notches, then pinch the fan below the notches to squash any burrower (a mano a mano approach not recommended for the squeamish).

Irises can also be treated with beneficial nematodes.I tried this method one year with some success, although the neighbors probably wondered why I was running around with what looked like a horse hypodermic and sticking it into iris stems.According to this author, the nematodes can be sprayed on plants or used as a soil drench, so I can throw away my hypo.

"The Gardener's Iris Book" is fun to read straight through to the appendices on Iris specialist nurseries (listed by state), and iris books and computer resources.However the book is divided into sections that treat irises with similar growing characteristics, e.g. those requiring substantial moisture or those that thrive in dry conditions.These useful subdivisions allow the reader-in-a-hurry to concentrate on the irises that thrive in an environment most closely resembling his or her own garden. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Plants go in and out of fashion as rapidly as hemlines riseand fall. Iris, along with other old-fashioned flowers like hollyhocksand hydrangeas, are once again popular, resulting in a flurry of newiris cultivars and books.

Too often these books focus ondescriptions and comparisons of all the truly gorgeous varieties ofiris, rhapsodizing over falls and beards and color shadings. Sure, ithelps to understand the differences between bearded and Louisianairis, between species and cultivars, but what a gardener really needsto know is how to integrate these tall, stiff and flamboyant flowersinto our home gardens.

There are enough colorphotographs in Iris: Flower of the Rainbow to convince anyoneof the beauty and possibilities of iris; tall bearded iris like hotspice in muted tones of cocoa, gold, and cream, or the delicatelysplotched lavender-and-white Japanese iris, freckled geisha, are nearlyirresistible. What this book uniquely offers are drawings, photos, andadvice on how to use iris in the garden along with other plants, and howto time their bloom, mix in with perennials and shrubs, and use inponds and as edging and in rockeries. The author makes the case forusing iris in nearly every garden situation; the easy-to-grow,perfumed Iris unguiculalris flowers dependably in winter,Iris foetedissima grows happily in the shade, and I. pallidavariegata has spiky foliage striped in brilliant yellow, a focalpoint long after the flower has faded.

It's unclear whether thefinal chapter, "The Future--2000 and Beyond," is prescient or justentertaining, but you won't want to miss the doctored color photos ofirises in startling kelly green, or pure black combined withbaby-pink. --Valerie Easton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Iris: Flower of the Rainbow
The photography is awesome.

Informative and Beautiful!
The is absolutely the best book I've seem on iris. The book is well laid out and very informative.Grosvenor is a leading authority on iris and comprehensively explains each genus as a group as to characteristics,culture and breeding.Then he gives detailed descriptions the bestcultivars of each type.The photography throughout the book is fantasticand completes this book as a treasure! ... Read more

Product Description
The warm climate and generous rainfall of the Caribbean islands, together with rich soils, provide excellent conditions for growing a great variety of plant life. Columbus discovered that the indigenous peoples of the region were successfully growing an extensive range of plants and crops, and successive settlers of many cultures have introduced their familiar species. There are few places in the world with as great a diversity of plants as found in today's Caribbean. This book tells the reader how to acheive the best results by learning more about the plants and how to grow them in particular situations. It covers all aspects of Caribbean and tropical gardening. It discusses climate, soils, drainage and irrigation, feeding, pruning and propagation. A chapter on landscape introduces the basics of garden design, and shows what to grow where. The section on plant competitors focuses on pest, disease and weed control in a tropical context. Iris Bannochie won the Gold Medal on three occasions at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, and was awarded the Gold Vietch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1977 for her contribution to tropical horticulture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great book
While traveling in the Caribbean I heard many times the name of Iris Bannochie. She is a legend of gardening - and when I saw Andromeda Gardens in Barbados, I understood why. The collection of plants she created there is simply amazing.
After my return I just ought to get this book, and I am glad i did. Nicely written, it has some down-to-earth recommendations for gardening, and creative ideas. It focuses on gardening in tropics - so I can't follow all tips and recommendations. Never the less - it is interesting reading, has plenty of very helpful information, and had me think of next Caribbean travels too.

Of Basic Importance to Gardening in a Tropical Climate.
This book deserves five stars because it is the only gardening book extant that covers issues and concerns important and specific to Caribbean gardening. Had Mrs. Bannochie lived to see her book published, it is quite probable that it would have been far more comprehensive.

Chapter Two is invaluable for providing information on how to propagate specific climate appropriate plants. Chapter Four continues in the same vein, providing a comprehensive listing of tried and true favorites and pointers on how to grow them. My only criticisms are that the photographs (plates) in the center of the book are not of better quality and larger, that the tables at the end of the book fail to evaluate soil type on all the islands, and that there are so few diagrams or illustrations generally. Of course these paltry concerns may be remedied in a future revision.It is apparent that the co-author, Marilyn Light,faced a significant challenge in completing the book, and she is to be complimented for remaining true to Bannochie's vision.

Bannochie's writing style can be compared to having a conversation with an experienced, hands-on gardener while she strolls with you through her garden pointing out her favorite plants. Thus, I believe that one can actually sense which parts of the book were written by Marilyn Light after Bannochie's untimely death.

My copy of this book was lost or water damaged when my home was destroyed by hurricane on two different occasions.That I searched for and purchased it three times, is an indication of how important a reference it is for obtaining a general knowledge of not just Caribbean gardening,but gardening in any similar tropical climate.

Of Basic Importance to Gardening in a Tropical Climate.
This book deserves five stars because it is the only gardening book extant that covers issues and concerns important and specific to Caribbean gardening. Had Mrs. Bannochie lived to see her book published, it is quite probable that it would have been far more comprehensive.

Chapter Two is invaluable for providing information on how to propagate specific climate appropriate plants. Chapter Four continues in the same vein, providing a comprehensive listing of tried and true favorites and pointers on how to grow them. My only criticisms are that the photographs (plates) in the center of the book are not of better quality and larger, that the tables at the end of the book fail to evaluate soil type on all the islands, and that there are so few diagrams or illustrations generally. Of course these paltry concerns may be remedied in a future revision.It is apparent that the co-author, Marilyn Light,faced a significant challenge in completing the book, and she is to be complimented for remaining true to Bannochie's vision.

Bannochie's writing style can be compared to having a conversation with an experienced, hands-on gardener while she strolls with you through her garden pointing out her favorite plants. Thus, I believe that one can actually sense which parts of the book were written by Marilyn Light after Bannochie's untimely death.

My copy of this book was lost or water damaged when my home was destroyed by hurricane on two different occasions.That I searched for and purchased it three times, is an indication of how important a reference it is for obtaining a general knowledge of not just Caribbean gardening,but gardening in any similar tropical climate.

Challenges and Opportunities
Iris Bannochie was one of the most influential horticulturalists in the Caribbean.This book contains vast amounts of information on plantings in general, specific plants, soil maintainence, pests and recommended plantsfor various settings and purposes.

This book was written toward the endof Mrs. Bannochie's lifetime of gardening in the Caribbean and containsmany, many seemingly insignificant details that are gold to the tropicalgardener.Upon her death, she bequeathed her home to the Nation ofBarbados, and the site is now the famous Andromeda Gardens. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Prairie Garden, published by Manitoba Prairie Garden Committee on January 1, 2001. The length of the article is 778 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Iris throughout the seasons. (Gardening In General).
Author: Jennifer Moore
Publication: Prairie Garden (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2001
Publisher: Manitoba Prairie Garden Committee
Page: 85(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Prairie Garden, published by Manitoba Prairie Garden Committee on January 1, 2001. The length of the article is 819 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Wild Iris. (Gardening In General).
Author: Shirley Froehlich
Publication: Prairie Garden (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2001
Publisher: Manitoba Prairie Garden Committee
Page: 71(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Product Description
Revised and corrected listing to September 1, 1929. Contains a listing of all species and varieties under three main groups. ... Read more

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Re Genetics for Iris Breeders (pamphlet): Introduction to the Basics by Kenneth K. Kidd, Paper Number 1189 from Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Reprinted from Bulletin of the American Iris Society Number 190, pp. 84-97, July 1968 ... Read more

Product Description
Descriptions of the plants, classification, cultivation hints and other useful information is offered to the enthusiast in this text which also covers distribution and habitat. A section is devoted to Chinese species. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

thank you, amazon
I purchased for two times a book from amazon.
The first time amazon mistakes the book andit solved the problem in very short time and with very kindness: I received free the book andthe refund of the money!!
The secon time, I received the ordered used book in short time and in very good condition; it seems new!!
Thank you amazon
Claudio Gambelli ... Read more

Product Description
This monograph comprises Zhao's systematic analysis of China's 60 native and introduced species and Waddick's account of Chinese irises in the wild and in the garden, based on research that included a 7500-mile collecting expedition in 1989 and resulted in the introduction of many species previously unknown in the West. ... Read more

Product Description
This complete treatment of genus Iris and the related genera Iridodictym, Hermodactylus, Gynandrisis, and Juno provides in-depth coverage of over 200 species, plus information on subspecies, varieties, natural hybrids, and cultivars. Fritz Köhlein, one of the world's leading horticulturists, includes detailed habitat information, thorough cultivation instructions, suggestions for uses in the landscape, and recommendations on cultivars that will lead the gardener to the best and most successful use of these splendid genera. A comprehensive index guides the reader through the labyrinth of iris names.Published at $39.95 Our last copies available at $19.98 ... Read more

Product Description
An international authority on irises offers the first definitive book in English on the history and cultivation of the Japanese iris. ... Read more

Product Description
A distillation of the author's more than 40 years' experience in growing and hybridizing, this book is devoted to every aspect of these lovely, exotic irises. The author was the first to introduce tetraploidy in Siberian and Japanese irises and has bred, registered, and introduced almost 100 new Siberians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Beardless wonder...
The book THE SIBERIAN IRIS by Dr. Currier McEwen is the most comprehensive work on this flower imaginable.Well written and easy to understand, even for the beginner.Dr. McEwen is one of the most respected and foremost hybridizers of these beardless irises.Nothing has been left out.The history, the culture, favorites, sources, showing, judging, hybridizing, registering and introducing a new cultivar, etc.The photographs are wonderful and the illustrations by Jean G. Witt are dynamic and extremely good.The only think I would have asked for is even more photos!This is an excellent gift choice for someone who is interested in these easy to grow but exotically beautiful flowers. ... Read more

Product Description
Good instructions for classification, growing, buying, hybridizing, showing, problems in iris's, and awards. ... Read more

Product Description

Irises and their relatives are lily-like plants related to the orchid and narcissus families, with whom they share a propensity for large, brightly colored, attractive flowers. Many have longlasting flowers—Iris, Gladiolus, and Freesia are among the most important cut-flower crops in the world. The intricate flowers of the iris family are finely adapted for pollination by a variety of animals, including hummingbirds, sunbirds, beetles, butterflies, moths, wasps, and bees. This intimate connection between flower form and pollination biology reveals how the marvelous range of flower colors, shapes, and scents are vital to the lives of the species. The diversity of Iridaceae is illustrated in more than 200 superb photographs supplemented by expert line drawings. A lifetime of work by the world's expert on Iridaceae is distilled in this definitive account. Botanists, ecologists, naturalists, and gardeners will find this an essential reference.