Bruce and Sharon Asakawa's California Gardener's Guide (ISBN 1930604475)

Not for all:
A well written and illustrated guide to the 165 or so plants that grow well in the author's portion of California. The book must be faulted for not including plants that grow well and provide color in the arid and desert regions of the state. Certainly water wise gardening should be included. No mention is made of the use of California native plants in the garden. A beginning gardener will be better served by Sunset's WESTERN GARDEN BOOK. Those who will admit to living in an arid region (this includes Los Angeles) will find Eric Johnson's JOHNSON'S GUIDE TO GARDENING: PLANTS FOR THE ARID WEST of great value for its coverage of native plants. Desert gardeners will need the Coachella Valley Water District's LUSH & EFFICIENT: GARDENING IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY as their guide to effective desert gardening.

Nice companion book:
This book is ok because it has nice pictures and stories. I do like it because it has a "when to plant" reference as well as sun exposure, bloom time and color and other useful information. I'm a Northern California gardner and found this book to be somewhat specific to Southern California in plant selection, although they do show, for each plant, a map of Caifornia where each plant would grow. I found Northern California Gardening: A Month-By-Month Guide by Katherine Grace Endicott a great book and of course Sunset's Western Garden book.

Nice supplement (though not essential):
I agree with the other reviewers that Sunset's Western Garden Guide is the essential book. My only complaint with that book is while it is quite extensive, the small illustrated drawings are not always ideal for identifying unknown plants and the depth is occasionally lacking. I bought this book (cheap at a booksale) because it focused on a smaller number of plants (admittedly oriented toward Southern California), had nice big photographs of each plant and went into a little bit more depth (fertilizer ratios to use, specific planting directions, soil ph numbers, etc.)

Not the best reference, but good suggestions:
If you want something that lists a great deal of plants, look to the mainstays like "Sunset's Western Garden Book" or "American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants". What I like about this book is the full color illustrations, interesting lore about each plant, and the information about planting and problems with each type of plant. I see it more like a look into the authors' favorite plants, maybe a palette for landscaping, not a all encompasing guide in either taxinomy or technique. It would fail in that regard.

California Gardeners Guide:
Great compainion book. Nice big pictures. Common and botanical names listed. Zone map listed with each plant. Very clear and simple using both words and symbols.