Provides information on the care and cultivation of over 350 flowering bulbs, from miniature narcissus to guinea hen flowers, describing each plant in detail, when it blossoms, and how to care for it

Concentrating on widely available garden bulbs and basic cultivation requirements, a guide divides the flowering classes of bulbs into spring, summer, and fall bloomers and shows beginning gardeners how to grow them without chemicals

The Cape Region, at the southern tip of Africa, is easily among the richest centres for bulbous plants. Nearly 1200 species find their home there and almost three-quarters of them occur nowhere else. This complete account is an essential aid to the identification of all species.

Explains how to plant bulbs where they can succeed on their own with little or no maintenance, and describes the conditions required by hundreds of popular bulb species

Tells how to raise, harvest, and store seeds for vegetables and ornamental plants and offers advice for planning and cultivating a garden

Historically, seed companies were generally small, often family-run businesses. Because they were regionally based, they could focus on varieties well-suited to the local environment. A Pacific Northwest company, for example, would specialize in different cultivars than a company based in the Southeast. However the absorption of these small, independent seed businesses into large multinationals, combined with the advancement of biotechnology resulting in hybrids and GMO seeds, has led to a serious loss of genetic diversity. The public is now at the mercy of the corporations that control the seeds. In the past few years, gardeners have realized the inherent danger in this situation. A growing movement is striving to preserve and expand our stock of heritage and heirloom varieties through seed saving and sharing opportunities. Seed Libraries is a practical guide to saving seeds through community programs, including: - Step-by-step instructions for setting up a seed library - A wealth of ideas to help attract patrons and keep the momentum going - Profiles of existing libraries and other types of seed saving partnerships Whoever controls the seeds controls the food supply. By empowering communities to preserve and protect the genetic diversity of their harvest, Seed Libraries is the first step towards reclaiming our self-reliance while enhancing food security and ensuring that the future of food is healthy, vibrant, tasty, and nutritious. Cindy Conner is a permaculture educator, founder of Homeplace Earth and producer of two popular instructional gardening DVDs. She is also the author of Grow a Sustainable Diet.

Seed to Seed is a complete seed-saving guide that describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. This book contains detailed information about each vegetable, including its botanical classification, flower structure and means of pollination, required population size, isolation distance, techniques for caging or hand-pollination, and also the proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing the seeds. Seed to Seed is widely acknowledged as the best guide available for home gardeners to learn effective ways to produce and store seeds on a small scale. The author has grown seed crops of every vegetable featured in the book, and has thoroughly researched and tested all of the techniques she recommends for the home garden. This newly updated and greatly expanded Second Edition includes additional information about how to start each vegetable from seed, which has turned the book into a complete growing guide. Local knowledge about seed starting techniques for each vegetable has been shared by expert gardeners from seven regions of the United States-Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast/Gulf Coast, Midwest, Southwest, Central West Coast, and Northwest.

Presents a guide to seed saving and creating a seed bank, providing information on why seed banks are important, which seeds to swap and save, and how to get involved with the worldwide horticultural campaign to save seeds.

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning coffee to the cotton in our clothes, seeds support diets, economies, lifestyles, and civilizations. In The Triumph of Seeds, award-winning conservation biologist Thor Hanson builds on his own triumph in Feathers?itself a masterwork of natural and cultural history?to explore seeds as both a natural phenomenon and a human one. Spanning locations ranging from the Raccoon Lodge?Hanson’s backyard writing hideout-cum-laboratory?to the coffee plantations of the Amazon, from our flower patches and backyard gardens to the spice routes of Kerala, The Triumph of the Seeds is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder by an enchanting writer who embodies both the charm of stories told by the fireside at an old country store and the hard-won expertise of a professor of field biology. A worthy heir to the grand tradition of Aldo Leopold and Bernd Heinrich, this book is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.