I am really excited to share a book I have been using with my fellow Californian container gardeners. Container Gardening for California
The book is 224 pages long and is brimming with full color, detailed photos of plants that you will be able to find in California garden centers and can successfully grow in a pot or some other container. The layout of the book is fantastic. It starts with a “The Plants at a Glace” section, where a thumbnail photo of every plant in the book is shown, along with its name and the page where you can find more info about it. Then comes a 38 page introduction to container gardening that briefly discusses all sorts of useful topics, like how to combine colors for a visually appealing container, using drought tolerant plants, grouping multiple pots together, etc.
The meat of the book is made up of 1 to 2 page “reports” on approximately 120 plants. Each listing is thorough but concise. You’ll find at least one large, full-color photo and often as many 4 or 5 photos that show the plant in container designs with other plants (great if you need combination ideas!). Also provided are growing information (what amount of sun, what type of soil, etc), tips for how to use the plant in a container, and recommended varieties of the plant.
The back of the book has a glossary, quick reference guide, and index. The quick reference guide is extremely useful, and I find myself flipping to it often. It is a chart that shows every plant in the book, and quickly lists what type of sun it requires, the soil mix to use, what special features that plant is known for, how often to water it, how much fertilizer it needs, the shape of the plant (upright, bushy, trailing, architectural), and the page number where you can find more information.
How I have been using this book
First, let me tell you how I have been using this book, and then I’ll tell you even more great things about it. Normally, when I meet a new client who doesn’t know exactly what they want, we flip through a bunch of container gardening idea books and they show me what they like and don’t like and we go from there. The problem that I have run into is that a client will fall in love with a plant that I’ve never seen for sale in Southern California, or that I know isn’t well suited to our climate. Recently, I’ve been taking this book instead. It is full of beautiful container photos, and I can feel confident that everything my clients see in the book can be found here and will do well in containers. And since there is plenty of care information right there next to photos, I can advise the client about whether they have enough sun for the plant in question, how much upkeep the plant will need, etc.
Another way I use this book is as a reference guide while coming up with design proposals. It is a million times easier to look through a list of plants that are well suited for California and call my local nurseries to see if they have a plant in question than it is to drive to all those nurseries, see what they have and then design from that. And again, since there is plenty of useful information right there next to the pictures, I can easily determine if a plant is right for the container I’m designing.
More great things about California Container Gardening
While I think this book is a great resource for gardening professionals, I don’t want to give the impression that it is only for people who work with plants for a living. It is decidedly not overly technical or only geared towards “pros.” In fact, I had the opportunity to meet with one of the authors (Jenny Beaver) and she told me what she really loves about the book is that it is small enough to take with you to the nursery and use to help you decide which plants to select. It also has a great water proof cover, so it is rugged enough to withstand daily use in and around your potting bench.
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Thanks for the info on this book, Fern! I woder if it’d be useful to me here in WAY Northern Cali or if it’s geared more towards you warm-climate folks.
Gen–I’ve never gardened in your area, so I can’t personally attest to its usefullness in NorCal, but the preface talks about the diverse climates up and down our state and says that the book addresses all of California, not just the South.
Hey, Gen — The book is for you northern folk, too. In fact, the publishers originally wanted to focus on NorCal but T talked them into including the south. Just pay special attention to the info about temperature and rainfall and you’ll have great success.