Gayle,

I haven't found many books specific to Oklahoma, but then I am way down south in southern Oklahoma and we don't have a lot of bookstores here either.

Two books I purchased from a bookstore in OKC in the late-1990s and used quite a bit were by Doyle McCoy and were published by University of Oklahoma Press in Norman, Oklahoma. They were: Roadside Trees and Shrubs of Oklahoma, and Roadside Wild Fruits of Oklahoma. They had copyright dates of 1981. I don't know if they are still available.

Here's some other books I used. You will notice that many of them have the word 'Texas' in the title. They have been just as useful for me here in Oklahoma as they were when I lived in Texas since the prairie plants are virtuallly the same. They include:

National Audubon Society Nature Guide: Grasslands by Lauren Brown, 1997, 3rd printing, Alfred A. Knopf

Wildflowers of Texas, 1984, Shearer Publishing, Bryan, Texas

The Grasses of Texas, 1975, F. W. Gould, Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

Texas Range Plants by S. J. Hatch and J. Pluhar, 1993, Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

Taylor's Guide to Natural Gardenimng, by R. Holmes, 1993, Houghton, Mifflin.

Wildflower Handbook, The National Wildflower Research Center, Texas Monthly Press, Austin, Texas, 1989

A Field Guide to Texas Trees by Benny Simpson, 1989, Texas Monthly Press, Austin, Texas

Texas Range Grasses by B. C. Tharp. Probably out of print. Mine is a very old edition from 1952. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southwest, 1960. Probably out of print. I got mine at a Half-Price Books Store in the D-FW area. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

The following books are by Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski. They all related to landscaping with native plants. I love them. The Wasowskis may have more current books available also.

Native Texas Plants, Landscaping Region by Region, 1989, Texas Monthly Press, Austin, Yexas

Native Texas Gardens, 1997, Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas

Landscaping Revolution: Garden With Mother Nature, Not Against Her, 2000, Lincolnwood Contemporary Books

My FAVORITE native plant book is not a book. It is the Noble Foundation Website. In case you are not familiar with it, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation is based in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and does amazing work with native Oklahoma plants and agricultural/horticultural issues. They usually have books available on their website too.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Noble Foundation Website, Grass ID Page

Dawn THANK YOU for the list! I have Doyle McCoy's "Oklahoma Wildflowers". I did not know he had written the other books.

I have discovered alibris.com as a source for out of print books. You can find anything there. It's like a garage sale that has all my favorites.

I will GO SHOPPING!!

I just checked Alibris. The Oklahoma Wildflowers that I have is apparently a hard to find one; the hardback goes for $100! I will have to quit stuffing it into my pocket.

Gayle,

I had a vegetable gardening book by Texas A&M University's Dr. Sam Cotner that was very precious to me and was also out of print. Whenever I found it on a used bookseller's website, it was always in the $85 to $150 dollar range due to its rareity.

I really wanted a second copy because mine was so worn out it was falling apart. I watched the web for about a year, and finally saw it somewhere for a reasonable price--like $20 or $30. I bought it! I love finding out of print books on-line.

When I lived in Texas, I could always find very, very old gardening books and plant ID books at Half Price Books for very low prices, often just a couple of bucks. Now that I am about 90 miles away from the nearest Half-Price Book Store, I shop more online.

A lot of the old plant ID books are better than the new ones because they have more photos. It costs so much to print photos these days that the newer guidebooks have fewer, smaller photos in general, and the books are very pricey.

Now, take good care of your Doyle McCoy wildflower book. It IS impossible to find at a reasonable price. I have looked for it for years!

Dawn