I am exploring a new book, which is destined to be a “go to”
reference for choosing plants and trees for the landscape. The book is Landscape
Plants for California Gardens by Bob Perry, published by Land Design Publishing
(Claremont, 2010). Perry is Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). He has been
a licensed Landscape Architect since 1972, and specializes in water
conservation.
Perry’s stated goals for the book are to (1) provide a
comprehensive reference of plants commonly grown in the landscape, and (2)
provide information and guidelines to support landscape water conservation. The
book is divided into four sections:
- Section 1 describes plant climate zones and water estimates. The book advocates grouping plants in the landscape by water needs.
- Section 2 provides plant lists by type, such as vines, palms, flowering trees, and Asian garden plants.
- Section 3 provides plant palettes, organized in two irrigation groups – regular and reduced summer water.
- Section 4 provides an illustrated plant compendium. Specimens are from both Northern and Southern California.
The book is well illustrated, and includes ingenious charts
for conveying information about plants. This is a convenient encoded reference,
but takes some time to get up-to-speed reading the charts. The plant lists and
their associated plant list abbreviations, which include information about
water usage, are especially useful.
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