Ortho All about Bulbs

This was a very pleasant Valentine's Day gift from my new wife, she has been very supportive of my bourgeoning gardening hobby, and wanted me to try my hand at some Calla Lilies. The book is divided into two parts, w/ the bulk being taken up by the requisite encyclopedia/directory. The presentation is very slick and attractive, much like a magazine. Large, full color photographs of each bulb type meet the reader, as well as informative sections on the beginnings of the popularization of tulips, and how to cut and propagate them. While not as extensive as `The Bulb Expert' from the seminal Dr. Hessayon series, I was nonetheless happy with the brief descriptions of care, light, uses, soil, and hardiness information which accompanied each entry. This makes a great gift for this time of year, because you can still get a lot of the bulbs into the ground for your late spring, summer plantings. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as a primer or introduction to bulbs.

I have found Ortho's All About Bulbs, as well as all of the other, relatively new, Ortho's "All Abouts", to be lavishly illustrated, and very, no wonderfully, informative. I've browsed other similar books and series, but have found that they all pale (at least in my humble opinion)in comparison. I enthusiastically appreciated the colorful and dazzling photos (what gardener wouldn't), and the very easy to understand text. The structure of the books is quite uniform and logical, further adding to their appeal. In particular, the bulb guide leads the reader through various well explained topics, including bulb lore, propagation, planting, and design considerations, to name a few. The book concludes (as all of the All About plant guides do) with a thorough description, and accompanying color photo, of numerous common, and a few not so common, species. "All in All", Ortho's All About Bulbs comes highly recommended, a great guide with great photos, what could be better.