Botanica's Roses: The Encyclopedia of Roses (ISBN 1566491762)

Now, This Is A BOOK!!:
WOW! Was I shocked when this huge bundle of joy showed up at my door! I anticipated a lot of pics but holy cow! I was able to use this hummer to identify 2 roses I had scoured other resources for in no time! (So far I only have 40 roses.) It is beautifully written and the photos--pure eye candy! I adore roses so it was like giving a gourmet dinner to a starving person. Those are the good points. I only have 2 nit-pickies that are hardly worth mentioning because I ADORE this book and recommend it 100% to any and all garden lovers. 1) The Cd-Rom tweeked on my computer--probably because I have version Windows ME..., 2) on the rose descriptions they forgot to share how big the roses would get. They used words like " a medium shrub". I figured that they meant about 5 feet but if you dont know roses its a necessary tid-bit. So there. if you are unsure of spending the hefty sum on this book, don't think twice...BUY IT TODAY--And BTW Amazon has it the cheapest. GO ROSE HAPPY!! Do it...you won't be sorry.

Botanic's Roses The Encyclopedia of Roses:
It is a beautiful book and if that is what you are looking for this is a great book. However, Amazon forgot to mention this is for Canada. Page 21 displays temperate zones for (CANADA ONLY). Again Page 21 "Zones 9-12 do not occur in Canada"? Many roses in this book are zones 9 and above---what is the temperature of 9 and above????? I live in the USA. ... Its still a beautiful book. Amazon should have made it clear it is a wonderful Canadian Book.

Beautiful, Extensive, and Exhaustive:
At one level it is a coffee table book. Its large format, heavy glossy white paper, and crisp photography all put it up there with the best gardening 'picture books.' At another level it is a reference. Only Modern Roses has more entries - but it costs much more and has few if any photos. And it is the photos that make this book a great one. It may be the best single source of rose photos one can get at any price. The entries are spare, but there is very little crucial information missing. Virtually every entry indicates whether the rose is vigorous and which diseases it is prone to suffer. When roses fare better in one climate than another, Botanica tells you so. If a rose has fragrance, it says so. If a rose is spindly and lacks adequate foliage or branching, it will usually be indicated in the entry. The entries have been scrubbed clean of personal bias as one would expect of a good reference. Unfortunately, it is a rosarian's personal connection with a rose that really makes reading about roses fun. Thus, most people who like to read about roses will find Graham Stuart Thomas' Book on roses more engaging, despite the comparative lack of photographs. Most will also find Stirling Macoboy's Ultimate Rose Book more engaging for the same reason. Even Claire Martin's 100 Old Roses and 100 English Roses have a litte more zing. My interest in growing roses started around the time I picked up The Ultimate Rose Book. And it's still a good one to consider. It may be the closest thing to this book; but the photography in Botanica's roses is more accurate, more colorful, and far more exhaustive. If one has to choose the first book to get when starting down the path of growing and enjoying roses, this might be the best.

Botanica's Roses:
I looked at the reviews and they where excellent. I bought the book and it has wonderful pictures. However, nobody mentioned that it is for Canada. It has a wonderful picture of Canada and its temperature zones . The difficulty is I live in United States of America. The book is for Canada period. Yes, it is a nice book, but it has to relate to USA, and this book does not. Each flower mentions a zone for growing, it mentions zone 9 numerous times. However, the book says on page 21 "Zones 9-12 do not occur in Canada" ? I tried to relate zones in my Great Western Book to the temperatures of the Canadian zones. Zone 1 in Botanic is not the zone 1 in Great Western, we are comparing Apples to Oranges. Yes I like this book. If I lived in Canada it would be a must. I am very dissapointed that Amazon did not show page 21, the Canadian Termperate Zones, if they had I would never have bought it.

A bouquet of roses:
This book is worth owning for the photography alone! I own the Australian version (with the relevant 'hardiness zone map') and I recommend that any buyer of this book check the edition they are buying to ensure it is relevant to their location. While most experienced rose growers will have some idea of what will grow where, those seeking to establish roses for the first time will certainly find a relevant locality guide useful. Roses are beautiful flowers and the plants themselves are fairly drought tolerant: an important consideration for those of us living with ongoing water restrictions. I bought this book for the photographs as much for the information it contains. Other books will provide rose gardeners with more specialised information. But this is the book to turn to if glorious colour photographs inspire you. The size and format of the book makes it more a coffee table book than an everyday guide. If you like roses, you'll love these photographs. Jennifer Cameron-Smith