Any book written by Graham Stewart Thomas - he wrote about roses, gardening, rock gardens, etc. etc. He was a poet, an artist (did his own illustrations), and was one of the main proponents of saving the "old roses in the middle of the 20th century. His books are so well written that I would enjoy them even if I was NOT interested in gardening!

Jackie

hey Jacqueline - have you tried Reginald Farrer. Between him and William Robinson, the meaning of the words contentious and obstreporous are truly clarified. Kings of purple prose.

Michael Pollan's Second Nature
Thomas Christopher's In Search of Lost Roses

These are the most interesting books about gardening that I know of.

I'm very fond of Katharine White's "Onward and Upward in the Garden" and Elizabeth Lawrence's book, "Gardening for Love." Henry Mitchell's books.

Michaelg, thanks for the reference to the Michael Pollan book. I looked it up and want to read it.

Suzy Verrier's books on rugosa and gallica roses. Mike Shoup's book, "Landscaping with Antique Roses." The Thomas Christopher book michaelg mentioned is wonderful, too.

Michael Dirr's 'Manual of Woody Landscape Plants'. A bible. I'm using the 90's edition, but there's a later edition out which I bought but haven't picked up yet: I'll get it when I go to Florida this summer.

Henry Mitchell's books. My highly useful (probably not to anybody else on this forum) 'Checklist aggiornata e commentata della flora vascolare della Provincia di Piacenza', in the previous edition titled 'Flora Piacentina'. It lists every plant (vascular) known to grow wild in the province. Few pictures, but there's Google Images for that. I just wish it had an appendix of genera listed by family: it would make identifications much easier.

These are just a few of the books I refer to and enjoy.

Melissa

In no special order:

Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens by Vivian Russell
Hellebores by Burrell and Tyler
The Gardener's Guide to Growing Hellebores by Rice and
Strangman
Snowdrops by Bishop, Davis and Grimshaw
Gardens in Winter by Elizabeth Lawrence
Lob's Woods "
The Little Bulbs "
A Southern Garden "
Growing Camellias in Cold Climates by Ackerman
Beyond the Camellia Belt "
Gardener Cook by Christopher Lloyd
The Cook and the Gardener by Amanda Hesser
The Essential Earthman by Henry Mitchell
'And Some Brought Flowers': Plants in a New World by Downie
and Hamilton
The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page
Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William Woys Weaver
The Apple Grower by Michael Phillips
Herbs for Every Garden by Foster
Gerard's Herbal
The Garden in Autumn by Allen Lacy
Color Echoes: Harmonizing Color in the Garden by Pamela
Harper
The English Flower Garden by Wm Robinson
Passion for Roses by Peter Beales
Best Rose Guide by Phillips and Rix
The Old Shrub Roses by Graham Stuart Thomas
Shrub Roses of Today "
Climbing Roses Old and New "
Perennial Garden Plants: or the Modern Florilegium "
The Anatomy of Dessert by Bunyard
A Handbook of Hardy Fruits More Commonly Grown in Great
Britain: Apples and Pears by Bunyard
The Fragrant Year by Helen Wilson
A Modern Herbal by Mrs M. Grieve
Books by Helen Dillon
Books by Beth Chatto

Cath

Any rose grower in a warm cliate would benefit from owning a copy of Tea Roses.

Rosefolly

I have so many, I must have 70 just on roses. But the one I read the most is the Vintage Garden's catalog, which I consider a book.

A few of the books I have enjoyed most are not strictly about gardening topics, though some are: Beatrix Potter, a Life in Nature by Linda Lear; Beautiful Madness by James Dodson; Eden on Their Minds by Star Ockenga; Landscape with Roses by Jeff Cox.
Diane

The one I have spent the most time reading is Taylor's Garden Encyclopedia. It familiarized me with many plants I'd never heard of and contains much how-to information. My book was very old and fell apart.

I'd echo others here; Henry Mitchell, Michael Pollan for reading. For "todo" books, Lauren Springer-Ogden and Michael Shoup/Liz Druitt. For roses, the Christopher book and the Downing Hardy Roses text, Druitt's Organic Rose, etc.

I've got a list of my favorites on my blog, linked below, and if you go to the main page and look at the Garden Writing category, I have reviewed a number of books on my blog at times, most recently "A New Leaf" by Merilyn Simonds

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite Garden Books list on Garden Musings Blog

I would not want to be without any of these three resources: my garden book collection, the Gardenweb AR forum, and the knowledge of other rose growing friends.

The reprint of Pickering's
An Axe, A Spade and Ten Acres by George Courtauld. I don't like how English gardening books dominate the genre, but this book is so wonderful. It's also 30 years old so it's interesting to see the start of modern gardening philosophy. It's also very funny.

The Complete Shade Gardener by George Schenk. This is the first book to give me the confidence to prune. It also represents a lovely attitude toward gardens and gardening in general.

A Rose by Any Name: The Little Known Lore and Deep-Rooted History of Rose Names by Douglas Brenner. This covers a lot of the same territory as A History of the Fragrent Rose by Allen Paterson but is much, much less heavy. I tried to get through AHotFR and had to quit not quite halfway through. In some ways the problem is that the book itself is too small to read for any length of time, but that's the sort of study it calls for.

Not exactly a "keep with me always" favorite, but worth reading (to me at least) is Francis Parkman's The Rose Book. It helps explain how and why rose cultivation went in the directions it did in the Victorian era. It's also interesting to read about strictly organic rose-growing methods.

I always enjoyed reading Margery Fish's books on her gardening experiences in England. For climate contrast but just as enjoyable for me is Pamela Harper's book on gardening in the Chesapeake tidewater area. The love of these authors for their gardens is awe-inspiring.

Not really a rose gardening book, but I bought a copy of Patricia Lanza's Lasagna Gardening book that I find really interesting! It's been out a while.

I second The Complete Shade Gardener by George Schenk. He's a great writer. He also wrote a book on moss, Moss Gardening Including: Lichens, Liverworts, and Other Miniatures. Hence my foray into moss gardening. I had been thinking of doing it for some time and he pushed me over the edge. However, the shade garden book will appeal to more gardeners.

Cath

I think that every gardener needs a good general garden reference, a good regional gardening book, and several books on his area of particular interest, whether that be roses or herbs or vegetables or shade gardening (and the George Schenk book is widely admired). That is the core. After that, if you have it bad, you will soon find that you have shelves full. You will go through your books and pull out ones you no longer find useful and donate them to the book sale at the local public library as a thank you to the help you got there when you were starting out. After you reach that point you stop into the bookstore, check out the garden section, and discover that once again, they don't have anything you want because you already have it covered. Maybe you will find a worthwhile new garden book once or twice a year, and that if you are lucky.

Rosefolly

I have enjoyed the book ideas, I actually have several of already and added a couple more.

I enjoy reading the books, okay looking at the pictures first :) and then asking questions here.

I may have to get the George Schnek book in the future, after I dismantle our 100+ year old shed/stall, the total shade under the neighbors massive CA oak tree will look even more lonely and dark.

Today I took "In search of Lost Roses" with me to read while waiting in the docs office on mom, I am not the fashion mag kind of gal.

Rosefolly, I did the shelf clearing of many of my cookbooks, I saved the special ones, but I use the internet more than the paper books. But I am one of the people that visits the book section at the rummage sales and thrift stores too (Amazon used is kind of the same thing with out the car trip)

I already have a couple of shelves of garden topic books, plus the travel books that include all the wild flowers and nature books...and the id guides and the photo books.... I need to sort through my dads collection of garden books too, some might be interesting from his days in Botany classes (from the 30's) But with the price of gas, I find that a day spent on a virtual trip through a garden book is quite a nice value. And I can always donate the ones I have grown past.

anything by Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto.
Tony Lord's Landscaping with roses (although all the pages came loose in my copy)
Sort of like Robin Lane Fox (although he is a terrible snob)

mystified by the enjoyment of Russell Page - the man is an insufferable bore and represents everything bad, snobbish, conservative about gardening - ghastly.
Michael Pollan - fairly new to us in the UK but the PSB documentary opened our eyes.
Lewis and Lynch for a great monograph on campanulas
Yeo - Hardy geraniums
The entire Rix and Phillips books - extremely good value. Still waiting on alpines.
Will Ingwerson on alpines and rock plants (and, of course, Reginald Farrer)
Wild gardening - Wm Robinson
Margery Fish - We made a Garden
John Brookes is good on design
Ursula Buchan - Garden People
Penelope Hobhouse (but again, a tad snobbish and dated)
Growing from Seed - Graham Rice
Organic Gardening- (the great)Laurence Hills
The Genus Cyclamen - Christopher Grey-Wilson
The English Gardener - Wm Cobbett
Hellebores - Rice and Strangman
classic roses - Beales
Dwarf Bulbs - Brian Mathew
The flowering of Britain - Richard Mabey, Tony Evans

Hate all celebrity and 'media' gardening (anything by Joe Swift, Alan Titchmarsh, Alys Fowler and other know-nothings and fame whores)

Tony Lord's Landscaping with roses (although all the pages came loose in my copy)

Mine too--must have been the book.

I like John Brookes. He communicates his ideas so clearly and simply, even I can understand them. Henry Mitchell, Christopher Lloyd.

oh yeah, one that has been mentioned a few times, Shade Gardening - george schenk. found mine in a charity shop and really like his no-nonsense style.
completely forgot Jack Harkness - the making of beautiful roses and his little monograph, Roses.