Modern Gardening books

Wow ... you have some good gardening books there...
as you say... the smaller ones are easier to carry around than the huge, heavy books...

I hope Santa brings you some interesting additions to your collection :o)

I love books-- and find the hessayon ones excellent and reccomend them to friends-- have you seen the pocket ones, don't know how many in the series but mines on trees. The Botanica photo's look a bit like the RHS encyclopedia and looks lovely ( i've got one really old one with all the banned chemicals like nicotine in !!)

My bibles are The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, a double volume and very heavy. I probably use my Reader's Digest Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers as my first point of reference as it lists plants including their common names. I have had it for years and it is quite worn. After that I Google and of course I use GOY member's knowledge.
I think I need the Collins Handy Gardener.

I have some of those 'expert' books. I think they are very useful.

good collection Denise, i dont have any lol, just dont bother, but can see why you do, bet they help

I love my gardening books too,and have 4 of the "expert" ones,which I find are so useful,and clear and concise.I also love my RHS good plant guide ,A-Z,but still one of my favourites,is an old Percy Thrower hardback..If I can't find what I need to know,it is almost always in that one..I prefer to browse through these,than a magazine,anyday..

I have a couple of the "expert" series, plus the RHS A to Z.
But one of our local garden centres has a shed outside that is stuffed full of books for the customers to use as reference when shopping, so I tend to "leach" off these!

Its great to get you talking about your books. I envy you your Rodale's Illustrated encyclopedia of Perennials Homebird that does sound good. No I hadnt seen the pocket ones Pam do you know if the Fungus expert book is in pocket size. I must lookout for these great on a walk to identify things sometimes. Nobody quite like Percy thrower and Jeff Hamilton Bloomer. My local garden centre got rid of their reference books, and when I asked why they said because I was the only one who used them -you carnt win!

They should have given them to you!

I agree Meanie. At least you would have used them Drc.

ITs ok as I go else where now

Too late for Christmas, Drc, but for a fascinating read try Keith Wiley's "Wildside", especially if you're into naturalistic gardening.

Thanks Sb do you have more details of it?

Sure. It's a beautifully produced book, published by Timber Press in 2004, price £19.99. I first got a copy from the library having visited The Garden House in Devon where Keith Wiley was Head Gardener for over 20 years: he made it into one of the most gorgeous gardens we've ever seen. So I read it avidly, and agreed with so many of his ideas on naturalistic gardening. A few years ago he started his own nursery and garden, called Wildside, still a "work in progress" but fantastic. My OH kindly took me there last year; his book was on sale, so I bought my own copy and the author signed it for me. It's not a reference work, but full of inspirational ideas.

Thanks SB