Container Gardening: Through the Year

A gift from a mother to her newbie gardener son, this is the best text I've sampled so far on container gardening how-to. It's essentially an ornate lesson planner slash visual catalog. Being overwhelmed by the variety of choices available to a novice, this book takes the direction of showing you the authors own display ideas, along w/ information on number of plants needed, initial planting steps, container size information, and how large the display will get. Granted, my choices are a bit light starting my garden in the winter chapter, I'm still very enthusiastic about recreating some of his pieces: minty evergreens and red winter berries. The large, glossy, full color photos effectively help to give an idea of size, scope, and often texture of the displays, as they contrast their containers. As mentioned in another review, his eye for color, and his knack for matching the pots to their plants are very impressive. The printing I have is from 1995; perhaps the 1998 version has added a few new items. I found this an excellent primer for the beginner.

Best container gardening book I've ever seen. The way the Author uses colors can be reapplied not only to containers but also in your backyard. The way the author classifies the book into seasons are also enjoyable.

Mr. Hillier revealed an entirely new aspect of gardening to me. His container plantings are works of art, and his creativity in the varied containers,locations and plantings is wonderful. For example, he makes a simple group of cream- colored pansies in terra cotta pots on a brick window ledge look fantastic. His work can be imitated or it can inspire new combinations if one does not have access to the diverse types of plants he uses. I savored this book over the winter, and my garden is much enhanced this summer!