Some of the very best quality garden GH's on the market are made by BC Greenhouses, in BC. I love my 12 X 16 Cross Country and haven't yet read a post from anyone on this forum who has a BC of any style who has been unhappy with theirs either. They aren't cheap, but if you are looking to replace a glass Hall's and want to upgrade and concurrently, go with polycarb; BC would be an an excellent choice. They will also babysit you through the process and after, with the kind of personal, competent and immediate response customer service otherwise all but lost in the current market of imports that may, or may not be deliverd with all parts, or all of them in working order. You can usually buy a BC cheaper from a retail distributor than direct from BC (they won't undercut their own distributors) but that doesn't keep you from working directly with them and they invite it, with toll free calls, answered by live people who really know their product and are willing to fall over backwards to give total satisfaction. BTW: If you want to use your GH in a Z-3 winter, you might want to talk with Kyle at BC, about a triple wall. It's easy to contact them for info. and/or a free catalog. Just go to their website: bcgreenhouses.com

The Well Tended Perennial Garden is excellent. Her information on pruning and maintaining perennials is unique to her book. I really love Pamela Harper's books: "Time Tested Plants: 30 Years in a Four Season Garden" (This one is more for Southern Gardeners), "Designing with Perennials", and "Color Echoes". These last two books teach you how to design and plan beautiful gardens in a method that makes sense to the uninitiated, although she has fabulous plant info in them too. She's a wonderful teacher and her knowledge of plants is great. I re-read her books almost every winter and learn something new each time. My oldest gardening book is also the best one on basic gardening I have read yet. It's called The 60 Minute Flower Garden (Jeff Ball and Charles Cresson). You can get it used through Amazon.com.

You're right about those books being pricy! I was able to find and buy Koi Kichi on Half.com for just under $100. Koi Kichi 2 will have to wait for a bit. I looked at Amazon's website for koi books. There seem to be quite a few 'care & feeding' books out there, but most seem to have rather static photographs. I love the shapes and colors of the fish as they swim. Does anyone know of a good coffee table picture book?

I like "Making the Most of Shade". Everyone will have their own favorite. I would suggest going to a good bookstore and browsing through the books and see which one you like the best. Take time to read through the info on a few plants in both books. See which one you find the most informative and go with that.