[.ca] Continuous Bloom (ISBN 1883052238)

All you need to be a great perennial gardener:
I am new to gardening and my sister, who is a long-time and very knowledgeable gardener, gave me this book as a gift. We just built a new home and using this book I installed four large perennial garden beds as well as added perennials to my other landscaping areas all with great success. Using her tips and ideas for combinations of plants, I do have 'Continuous Bloom.' The book is very easy to use and it was I was able to find mostly all of the perennials she mentions in our town, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It has made gardening a new true joy to me while my other attempts in the past were often disappointing.

The best of its kind:
This superb reference distinguishes itself by its organization, unusual plant selections, excellent plant pictures and thorough cross-referencing. The format is simplicity itself, by showing by month which outstanding plants bloom in that period and what other plants combine particularly well with it. Ms Duthie adds tips and insights that show she knows of which she speaks. Several appendices round out the book. As a landscape design professional, I have many books on planting design in my library. This is one of the very best, appropriate for both the novice and the experienced gardener.

Not a bad book, but not really great either.:
The pictures are wonderful, and the information is presented in a straight forward manner. But it doesn't go very much in depth into the different plants. I think "150 All Star Perennials" by Jeff Cox is a better buy with more information on the plants. The only plus for this book is that is presents the plants by bloom time, rather than by alphabetical order. That makes it great for browsing on a cold winter day as I day dream about next season's garden. It makes it a pain in the neck though if I'm looking for a plants that do well in shade, or dry conditions, or any other aspect except bloom times.

Beautifully done - exceeded my expectations:
I have several gardening books that I enjoy, but this is the first one to immediately impress me. I think this book could also be appropriately titled "Timing is Everything". Most of us have certain times thruout the year when we look at our gardens/landscaping and realize that something is missing... the bloom has gone... That's where this book shines. It takes you from March ("The Emerging Garden") thru November ("The Last Hurrah!"), listing page after page of perennials that show their best at that time of the year. Each plant has its own page, with a beautiful picture. Below the picture is information on plant type, zone, flower, foliage, bloom length, height, width/spacing, light, soil, care, uses, propogation, problems, insider's tips, and combining ("combines with"). The corners of the pages are color-coded for easy reference (i.e. April is yellow, May is green...). Some corners contain a clock icon for those perennials that have "extended bloom times" (i.e. "14-plus weeks..." on page 91), and/or a leaf icon for those that have "notable foliage" (i.e. "Mounds of chocolate-tinged oval leaves" on page 261). This book also includes chapters for Winter ("Who Stops Gardening in Winter?") that talks about "Evaluating and Planning as Part of the Gardening Process", and Tips ("Nitty-Gritty Tips for Good Garden Care") that can be as basic as "The Fifteen-Minute Garden Solution" which "eliminates...spending an entire day on the weekend...". Is this book an all-encompassing enclopedia? No. Does this book contain all there is to know on pruning and training? No. Do these things take away from the book? Emphatically, No. This is a beautifully done book that is a "Month-By-Month Guide" to help us plan, and give us ideas, and fill the voids that occur in our current scheme. It's a book that is so usefull you won't want to put it away, and is so beautiful you'll want to leave it out. This is a book you'll want to get your hands on in any format (hardcover, paperback...), but if you have the chance, get the spiral bound edition. This edition not only looks great, but all the pages are plastic coated for years of handling.

Simplicity itself!:
This book is a novice gardener's dream come true! The flowering plants & colorful bushes are arranged by month of blooming time, each page has a picture of the plant & a detailed description of it: Type, flower size, foliage color, bloom length, light preference, care problems, tips, etc.. There are planting & seasonal garden care tips at the end of the book. As a novice gardener I'm glad that I found this book to help me create a continuously blooming garden.