The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes (ISBN 0881928178)

Interesting and encyclopedic:
In depth, beautifully photographed and written by someone who obviously cares a great deal about the subject. Great for reference -- also great just to peruse.

From a designer's point of view:
This is an awesome book. I own another of Rick Darke's grass books, the Timber Press pocket guide, which is also excellent as an overall reference. This one, though, goes in to a depth I didn't know I needed until I saw it! I find I am reading every page, after having skimmed every beautiful photo. I particularly admire the wisdom behind the design theory (see the chapter on design)--a true artist's understanding of color, form and line. Why use grasses in a garden design? And how to do so? The topic is eloquently covered. So well in fact that I have had a bit of a paradigm shift. In addition to Darke's exquisite artistic sense, his horticultural, encyclopedic knowledge of all these plants is very appreciated. I can trust what he tells me. The only thing missing (and missing from almost all--dare I say ALL--ornamental grasses books) is the width size for grasses listed. One needs to try to extrapolate a probable width from the height which IS given for every plant. Granted this piece of info must be hard for authors as there may be two or even three width sizes for grasses--the basal clump in spring, the foliage fully expanded in summer, and tip-to-tip spread IN BLOOM in fall, for example. And there is the question of time as well: e.g. a 3-year size vs. a 10-year size. Still, a gardener needs to know these things: what sort of space to give a grass for its best look to be achieved. The above is a small point for an overall excellent book. It covers ornamental grasses from every angle, from a man very experienced in the genre.

Excellent book for growing grasses:
Excellent for the experienced and inexperienced grasses' growers. Beautiful photographs and readable, informative text. We live in Maine and have planted many grasses. This book helped us understand soil conditions and care.

The best ornamental grass book ever:
This book is the bible of all ornamental grasses, great pictures for referance and identifacation of grass plants !!!!!!!!!!

Great Coffee Table book:
Encyclopedia of Grasses is a very beautiful, and at first glance comprehensive, book. However as I got into the details of both the book and my current landscape project I was somewhat disappointed. The book contains beautiful photographs and descriptions but has a limited usage as a reference book. In particular, I was looking for information on plant hardiness, appropriate zones, size, care, pairing with other plants etc. In addition, it is difficult to cross reference from common plant names to genus species names and there were a number of grasses which are common in Northwest nurseries that I could not find in the book. As a landscaping resource book I would rate this book as a 3; however the book itself is of extremely high quality, the photographs are beautiful and the narrative is close to lyrical. If you are looking for a pure reference book on grasses I would not recommend this as your first choice. If you are looking for a very attractive coffee table book or gift, this is definitely a 5.