Armitage's World of Horticulture

• Dozens of new genera

• Approximately 1050 pages
• Over 280 photos placed throughout the text
• Far better editorial control

However it is still similar in:

• Being the most in-depth book on the market
• Being the most opinionated book on the market
• Balancing a huge amount of information with the joy of gardening
• Being an enjoyable, often humorous, read

On Boltonia: ‘Jim Crockett’ was developed by Dr. Thomas Boyle of the University of Massachusetts in 2003.   Plants are dwarf, well branched and flower all season.  Excellent new introduction from an excellent plant breeder.  The plant was named for James Underwood Crockett, an author and the host of PBS’s “The Victory Garden”, first televised in 1975.  Crockett’s personality and presence made the show instantly popular with a loyal audience of gardeners.  Jim Crockett passed away July 11, 1979, and I speak for many gardeners in thanking Dr. Boyle for the memories. 

On Echinacea   'Green Envy’ is one of those offerings that you are either enamored with or wonder what the breeder was smoking.  It is interesting, to be sure, with green ray flowers and a darker green center.  Unfortunately, I have seen too many green-flowered plants dissolve in warm summers, so my amour is definitely lacking.  So, I must ask — what was that smoke anyway? 

On Gunnera:  G. manicata is the most common and most highly prized member of the genus.  The stems are thick and short and the colossal orbicular leaves arise from the basal crown.  The prickly petioles are as tall as your father and the leaves may be 8-10' across with great striking channelled veins.  The small flowers are packed together in a large corn-on-the-cob-like spike at the crown in early summer.  Altogether impressive, but perhaps not tucked into the back yard.  Protect in winter with the fallen foliage and any other mulch available.  Some crazy people actually grow them in a deep pit, allowing the leaves to surface in the summer, then bury the crown in said pit in the winter.  Geez, get a life!