Best flower gardening books according to redditors

We found 76 Reddit comments discussing the best flower gardening books. We ranked the 55 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Subcategories:

Flower arranging books
Annual flowers gardening books
Bulb flower gardening books
Orchid gardening books
Perennial gardening books
Rose gardening books

Top Reddit comments about Flower Gardening:

u/Fredex8 · 9 pointsr/preppers

The (SAS Survival Guide)[https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAS-Survival-Guide-Survive-Collins/dp/0008133786/] has some good survival information whilst not taking up much room in a bag. I also have this one for foraging and this for identifying mushrooms. In an emergency situation I'd say knowing what is and isn't edible around you is important. When I'm out I often use my phone to identify anything I am not familiar with and have a reasonable knowledge now but having the books to be sure seems sensible.

I have an air rifle which will take birds and rabbits if it comes to it too and whilst they have made it harder to get one these days (you have to order it to a licensed shop to pick it up and can't just order it to your address any more... and these stores are often few and far between) it does seem like a sensible thing to have. Not for self defence but for having access to a food source that most people would not have.

Besides that I don't think the information varies too much from what you find on US sites. Though the prices often do so you have to economise more than they would... likewise of course with the size of houses here compared to there. I don't have the same kind of space for stockpiling food and water as I would in the US.

u/falkelord · 9 pointsr/NewOrleans

If you can avoid it, don't grow your fruit or vegetables in the actual soil. Get yourself some potting mix and pot them. New Orleans soil is too acidic and also can contain lead. So do yourself a favor and just get the stuff piped in. My grandmother has most of her tomato and pepper plants in old Home Depot buckets with wire chimneys for the plants to grow onto, if that gives you an idea.

Citrus tends to be a crapshoot around here; my grandmother has a lemon and a satsuma tree and some of my neighbors grow lemons and limes, but others I know can't get them to grow. These, obviously, have to grow directly in the soil.

Tomatoes are another touchy plant; from what I understand, the climate isn't ideal but they'll grow for the most part. They tend to grow better in north/west Louisiana than around these parts. Cherry tomatoes will be more plentiful than beefsteak or heirloom.

As mentioned already, peppers (bell and banana especially) and herbs (rosemary grows great here, plus basil and cilantro).

Also, a really good resource is LSU Ag Center's planting guide, as well as Dan Gill's Louisiana Gardner's Guide. If I'm not mistaken, Dan Gill actually works (or worked) at the Ag Center, but that book is published independently.

u/bingaman · 9 pointsr/landscaping

Try some plants...hostas, huechera, there are many options for shade plants. Define a garden area and fix your lawn.

Edit: Carex is another good one

Edit2: Just buy this book and follow the directions to put in a shade garden: https://www.amazon.com/Know-Maintenance-Perennial-Garden/dp/1604693347/ref=sr_1_1/132-0664672-7234612

u/ChoralMuzak · 6 pointsr/Atlanta

I'm new to gardening in this climate, myself. Here are some books and websites I've found useful:

Specific to vegetable gardening: https://www.amazon.com/Timber-Vegetable-Gardening-Southeast-Regional/dp/1604693711/

For seed varieties and gardening information specific to the Southeast, these people are really, really good: http://www.southernexposure.com/

A useful book if you're looking for non-edible/landscaping-related information: https://www.amazon.com/Gardening-South-Complete-Homeowners-Guide/dp/1604695919

The Houzz forums are useful for real-live-human experiences with what survived and didn't: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/georgia-gardener

Walter Reeves is a frequent recommendation: http://www.walterreeves.com/

If you want really deep tomato knowledge from intense tomato people: http://tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54

So far I've learned that you do well to be skeptical of what's being sold at big box stores, it seems that a lot of the varieties they sell are probably stocked nationwide and aren't necessarily the best choices for this climate. Good luck gardening!

u/redlightsaber · 5 pointsr/Permaculture

This is really specific stuff. I'm not an expert on apples (don't really like them), but I think an essential book for every gardener that changed my perspective and expanded my understanding greatly was:

https://www.amazon.com/Pruning-Book-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1600850952

As an aside you should know that many people into permaculture "don't believe" in pruning, making various appeals to "nature knowing best" and such. In this particular subject i find this way of thinking to be absurd and demonstrably wrong, but i thought you should know.

u/blubbersassafras · 5 pointsr/theydidthemath

Ok... I'm gonna try and look exclusively on amazon, because it seems pretty representative of prices elsewhere and it would take too long to look everywhere. I'll work in UK money, since that's where I live, and I'll convert it to USD at the end.

u/schistaceous · 4 pointsr/gardening

Not an English-style cottage garden, but the New Perennialist style might satisfy your requirements. Start with this blog post about native (Eastern US) plants for a cottage garden, and this one about selecting plants for smaller gardens. For practical guidance, plant varieties, and sample designs, see The Know-Maintenance Perennial Garden, by Roy Diblik.

u/Unhappykat3 · 3 pointsr/orchids

I would recommend trying species from the group Aerangis, Specifically Aerangis hariotiana, hildebrandtii, fastuosa, and citrata as these are low light species from very humid regions that would fit the temperature range you have.


Also try Pleoruothallids, Group includes Masdevallia - Pleurothallis - Dracula - Lepanthes - Restrepia and so on, that are warmer growing. Species from coastal Brazil will work well in your conditions provided they are also miniature in size. Dracula lotax, Pleurothallis tribuloides, and Platystele umbellata are some of the easier to find members from the group that stay fairly small while flowering regularly.


Bulbophyllum nitidum and tingabarinum are two species that are readily available and have very dramatic flowers, Bulbophyllum depressum and laxiflorum are two others with smaller blooms but are just as easy to cultivate.


Gastrochilus species, especially fuscopunctatus and dasypogon, are suited to growing very humid and warm while staying tiny and small respectively. Haraella retrocalla is a close relative and is also quite adaptable to being grown in tanks with lower light levels.


Miniature Orchids by Steven Frowine is a good reference for more commonly cultivated plants that are suitable for beginners.

If you have the willingness to grow rare and very exotic species I recommend A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species by Ron Parsons (2 volumes). It is a very detailed book on growing some of the more unusual varieties with extensive detail on conditions and growing needs for the species described in it. it is, however, quite expensive and would be a better choice for someone intending on amassing a moderate to large collection rather than a small tank of miniatures.


u/droit_de_strangleur · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

The Tulip by Anna Pavord and The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan both give excellent descriptions of 'Tulipomania' in Holland in the 1700s.

u/ASquirrelHasNoName · 3 pointsr/orchids

For slipper orchids, one of the latest is Slipper Orchids of the Americas, a comprehensive and authoritative review of Phragmipedium, Mexipedium, and Selenepedium. It was released last year, so it's very up to date. It has sections on taxonomy, ecology, and evolution. It takes an in-depth look at each species, has lots of amazing full color photos and while it's very technical at times, it's also very readable and understandable.

The Genus Paphiopedilum is another book by Phillip Cribb, and as the title suggests, it's focused entirely on Paphiopedilums. It's a little dated now, and there are at least a dozen or more species that have been discovered since, but it's still a great resource. There are sections on ecology, evolution, hobby care, etc. Similar to above, there is a lot of technical terminology, but even if you aren't well-versed in the terms, it's still very readable.

Cribb has also produced Genus Cypripedium and Hardy Cypripedium: Species, Hybrids and Cultivation. The former is a monograph similar to The Genus Paphiopedilum and Slipper Orchids of the Americas and a very similar format. I read through the entire book several times back after it was first released, but I do not own it. The newer book was a surprise to me since I wasn't aware of its existence until just a few moments ago, but I can only assume it's a great source of information since Werner Frosch and Cribb are involved.

Tropical Slipper Orchids is a book by Harold Koopowitz (another important name in slipper orchid taxonomy and breeding). I don't own this one and have only seen it in passing, but it's perhaps a little more approachable for hobby growers and breeders. It covers Paphs and Phrags, and it differs from the Cribbs books in that it spends more time on breeding and hybridization (there's a short chapter in the Cribbs books, but nothing particularly exhaustive).

Anyway, many (maybe most) of the common genera of orchids have similar resources.

u/thraces_aces · 3 pointsr/whatsthisplant

I agree with /u/whyen0t -- taking a class is really a great start! Beyond that, I would recommend getting a dichotomous key for the flora in your area and starting to familiarize yourself with different plants you see quite a bit. Often, there is a "Guide to the Families" section in the beginning of a floristic guide that can give you a really good sense of the big characteristics that define each family. Just googling a guide to the families brought me to this one: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Flowering-Plant-Families-Zomlefer/dp/0807844705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415690844&sr=8-1&keywords=guide+to+plant+families --I don't know anything about it personally, but it seems to have good reviews!

u/Quetzacoatl85 · 3 pointsr/botany

Depends on where you live; here's some recommendations for Middle Europe: Rothmaler and Flora Vegetativa.

u/Desalvo23 · 2 pointsr/SpaceBuckets

Grow your own helped me understand the basics of growing enough to get me going. i also got Gardening under lights and found it very helpful. Its not about cannabis specifically but will give you needed knowledge about growing in general.

u/powrightinthe_kissa · 2 pointsr/houseplants

Start with choosing non toxic plants. Think about where they will go too. My toxic plants are all hanging away from my kitty.

Then buy a book like Houseplants: The Complete Guide... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591866901?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

My bible. It’s missing toxic plant info and some soil info. But that’s okay I write in mine. Good luck

u/Crocusfan999 · 2 pointsr/landscaping

Maybe we just need a closer picture. I would say do it in sections and when you weed it, plant more low maintenance flowers that go with the style that is there now. Echinacea, rudbeckia, golden alexanders, alliums, columbines and phlox would all look great there. Prairie plants will suffocate weeds after a few years. This book is the best I've read on low maintenance landscaping: Know Maintenance Perennial Gardening and it's got great recommendations for the midwest. You will still need to do some weeding (and probably a lot to begin with) but if you get a dutch hoe like he recommends it doesn't take long and I personally enjoy it. You have a great start already with some healthy looking flowers there already. Mixing in some tall grasses can be cool if you just want to take up some space. Wild geraniums would look awesome on the front border.

u/hugginghistory · 2 pointsr/gardening

The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs - Robert Gough

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1603425748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_8eWDDb5T5J4ZY

One of my favorite references. Also seed savers exchange has some pretty good resources. Seedsavers.org

u/BusinessCarrot · 2 pointsr/gardening

There is a really handy book called "The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden" that shows a systematic way to ensure that a flower garden is continually blooming. It's a really useful and approachable garden design method, and I refer to it a lot. I don't like paying full price for books, but I'm glad I made the purchase. The specific cultivars listed may not be readily available, but the book explains the plants in enough detail that someone relatively familiar with ornamental plants can make substitutions.

As far as a spreadsheet for flowers - there are probably millions of flowering plant cultivars, so you're not going to find a bloom calendar that has that much data on it. If you need suggestions for something specific, though, people here might be able to help you.

If you're also vegetable gardening, I love Smart Gardener. I use it for garden layout. I don't think it's customizable enough when it comes to scheduling and reminders, but they're making big improvements right now, so hopefully it'll have improved functionality in the future. I think it's the most intuitive to use and shows the most promise.

For scheduling, it's fiddly, but I just put things into my google calendar. Here's what it looks like. Here's the detail of one of the "sow indoors" reminders.

Planning out successional vegetables is really helpful. I used to plant a few carrots thinking I'd do more the next week, and then I'd forget for a month. I have ADHD, though, so reminders are more important for me than they are for other people.

u/walkswithwolfies · 2 pointsr/landscaping

Just keeping the pyracantha and vine pruned will go a long way towards tidying up this beautiful garden.

Pyracantha are tough plants and can take any amount of pruning. Even taking them right down to the ground won't hurt them, although it may take a few years for them to regrow to the same size. Wear long sleeves and gloves because they have thorns. You can prune them into tree forms by removing small branches at the bottom of the clump.

[Tree pyracantha] (http://a4.pbase.com/o6/34/494634/1/131721016.GgrjA1Cc.W18Pyracntha2.jpg)

Article about pyracantha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyracantha

A basic book on pruning (available at your local library or used on Amazon) will help you maintain your beautiful garden.

[The Pruning Book] (https://www.amazon.com/Pruning-Book-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1600850952)



u/terciopelo · 2 pointsr/botany

I like Zomlefer's guide to plant families. The line drawings are beautiful and thorough, and each family description includes distribution, major genera, representatives in North America, economically important taxa, and interesting commentary. A used copy is about $10.

u/infsmwetrust · 2 pointsr/gardening

I'll just copy paste a previous comment: If you're in the States, google the name of your state/county/city plus the term "extension service," and also the term "master gardener." This will bring you to your state university's horticultural website. They all have a section for home gardeners. I think Canadian and UK governments have similar online resources.

This is probably one of the best books for perennial gardening: http://www.amazon.com/Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Planting-Techniques/dp/0881928038

u/My5thRedditName · 2 pointsr/botany

a great place to start:
Plant Form

and if you get more into mathematical modeling...
Phyllotaxis

u/mkosbab · 2 pointsr/garden_maintenance

Cutting them back periodically through July keeps a more compact form. Find a good garden maintenance book like: The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by DiSabato-Aust. https://www.amazon.com/Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Planting-Techniques/dp/0881928038
Her book teaches a lot about things just like this.

u/kine671 · 1 pointr/orchids

If she is an indoor grower and likes miniatures, Miniature Orchids by Steven Frowine is great. Anything he writes is pretty awesome and easy to understand.

u/GenericThrowawayNom · 1 pointr/mycology

Only pocket identification guides I know of are the Collins ones.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007183070

I'm sure that is a different edition to the one you had but it is pretty good.

u/wgstenjuls · 1 pointr/botany

Like others have said, learning what characteristics plant families have makes plant I.D. so much easier. If this is something you really want to learn, I'd recommend a book like Wendy B. Zomlefer's Guide to Flowering Plants or Practical Plant Identification by James Cullen. Both of those should give you a rundown on common plant family characteristics and help you narrow it down at least to a family, if not a genus. Being able to accurately I.D. plants quickly is mostly practise, though; the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Though, because you don't think it's a native plant, once you have a rough idea of what it is, you can look at ornamental plants that will grow in your zone.

u/sadrice · 1 pointr/botany

Fruit by Stuppy and Kesseler is packed full of gorgeous scanning electron micrographs (and other pictures too) and a lot of very detailed but very readable information. I can not reccomend it highly enough. Seeds and Pollen are also very good. I have not read it (just found it now, going straight on my wishlist) but The Bizzare and Incredible World of Plants, also by Stuppy is almost certainly excellent.

It's a bit technical and dry, but Plant Form, by Adrian Bell is one of my favorite reference books of all time. The information is fascinating, and the diagrams are gorgeous. There's a free online copy available (legal, I think) if you would like to have a look, but I would highly recomend a physical copy, and it's pretty cheap as far as reference books go. Flip through the section on Tree Architecture starting at page 296 for a sample of how cool it is. Read and understand that section and you will be amazed at the things you will start noticing about plants around you.

For plant ID, I can not reccomend Botany in a Day highly enough for a quite comprehensive tutorial in how to recognize plant groups (which makes it orders of magnitude easier to come up with a more specific ID). It's a classic, and is a required text for just about every field botany class.

Getting a good guide to your local plants that is based on dichotomous keys and diagrams rather than photos and learning how to use it is an absolute must if you want to move past the basics for IDing plants in your area. Without knowing your location, it's impossible to give good recomendations, but the Jepson Manual is a good example of what you should be looking for, and by far the best guide to California plants. Unfortunately these sorts of books are usually fairly pricey, and can be pretty impenetrable without practice (helps a lot if you already have a general idea of what it is), so you might hold off on getting one until a much later date. You can get older editions for cheaper, but at least in the case of Jepson's, most of the changes involve more diagrams and easier to use keys, so it might not be worth it.

There are loads of others that are slipping my mind at the moment, I will add them later if I remember.

u/HashPram · 1 pointr/botany

OK, I bought myself this a couple of days ago and got around to looking at it just now. Turns out the first plant I want to identify appears to be right at the front of the book on the "How To Use This Book" page ... which would make it Choisya [ternata] (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=427) and the second could well be C. ternata Sundance. Still hunting for the 3rd plant!


I'll post pics @ the weekend anyway as it's always nice to get a second opinion.

u/1friendswithsalad · 1 pointr/gardening
u/megankmartin · 1 pointr/IndoorGarden

Yesterday, someone recommended this book to another asking the same question:
Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Indoor Plants https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591866901/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WmloDbNFVEBAD



That book only costs $15, but there are a lot of free "choosing a plant" guides on the internet, too... from sites like "The Sill", "The Spruce", etc.

u/xenejiano · 0 pointsr/AskWomen

Well, since you like flowers, you might enjoy growing some houseplants or starting a garden, if you don't have one already. My favorite houseplants are African violets, but I also like orchids and succulents. You can either just do it as a casual hobby and keep a few plants on the windowsill, or you can decide to get more serious about it if you find you like it. My plants do well with whatever amount of care I have time to give them, as long as I remember to water them. They respond best when I treat them like show plants, but they'll be fine if you don't have the time for that. You can show African violets (and probably other types of plants, but I only know about African violets for sure), and there are clubs for this type of thing. They usually sell African violets and other houseplants at the supermarket, Pike Nursery, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. They have a wider selection of varieties on the Internet, and some groups even trade leaves (you can grow African violets from cuttings) so that members can get new varieties. [This] (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/afrviolet/) is my favorite forum for African violets, and there's a subreddit for houseplants [here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/IndoorGarden/). [This] (http://www.amazon.com/African-Violets-Complete-Joan-Hill/dp/1861261500/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374020196&sr=1-4&keywords=african+violets) book should tell you just about everything you need to know about African violets to grow them with some success. Expect to kill at least a couple when you just start out, though. Don't worry; it happens to everyone. Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy growing houseplants, if you decide to. I find it to be relaxing, and taking care of living things might help you to cheer up. At the very least, you'll bring life and beauty into your home and find a pleasant, calming hobby.

u/angrybrother273 · 0 pointsr/fortlauderdale

It infuriates me that people like you come out here with a total disregard for the Earth and our endangered species. What you do should be illegal. Industrial society had no real right to turn the Everglades into a city in the first place, and now that it is, we have to initiate expensive and labor-intensive projects to remove the invasive plants and try to corral the damage. Drainage has almost obliterated what was once here, and agriculture has toxified the land to the point where people - human beings - have no clean tap water to drink in places like Weston, and other parts of Broward.

And another thing - mosquitoes. Native Americans report that before the Everglades were drained, we didn't have so many mosquitoes around, because they can't breed so easily in running water. After the drainage, mosquitoes started reproducing to the point of takeover, because of all the standing water now available.

I know that I won't convince you of anything in a Reddit post, but since your business is in landscaping, there are options which are part of the solution, rather than the problem - you could distribute native rather than invasive ornamentals if you wanted to. People do that.

Laws against invasive plants - which may not exist, but should - wouldn't be fascism any more than laws against marine pollution are fascism. Respect for the Earth is not fascism. It's common sense. Every high schooler should know this. Even if you don't care about endangered plants or animals, these things ultimately affect human beings as well.

I'm sorry that the only reason why you came to South Florida was to start a business which perpetuates harm to our land. But you don't have to do this.

Of course, not all exotic plants are bad - the agriculture on which we depend is all exotic plants - but the exotic invasives, the ones which spread rapidly and take over, and kill native species and prevent them from regenerating - we need to get rid of those as soon as possible, from our lawns, from our parks, from our schools, from everywhere.

Also, slash pines do survive in urban environments - you can see a whole bunch of them off the Palmetto highway around 37th Avenue, and around the Opa Locka area. They thrive in our bad soils, and, interestingly, die when given fertilizer.

We can never restore South Florida to its original state. But we can work with the land, rather than sadistically and systematically destroying it. Of course, sea level change over the coming decades will make all of this a moot point.