Perennials: Enduring Classics for the Contemporary Garden

I love PERENNIALS:ENDURING CLASSICS FOR THE CONTEMPORARY GARDEN, by Rob Proctor. Pretty books of this sort are a means to solace the soul on a dreary day. The photographs by Rob Gray lead me to daydream --first I'm looking at the picture of the garden, then I'm in that garden in my mind. For some, daydreams may be the only way to garden but for those with access to dirt and a little ambition, all things are possible. Recently, various authors have produced a spate of books on antique roses but what about antique perennials? These are the perennials people used to grow, and in some cases still do because they are so tough. While the modern growers offer hybrids of every persuasion, some folks want to restore an older garden, or create a garden with an "older look." If so, this book is filled with ideas for "antique" gardening -- in plots and in pots. Proctor's book contains an overview of the story of perennials: antique perennials, the written history of flowers, and the history of the perennial gardening style. He then provides a portfolio of antique perennials, laid out A-Z. Each entry covers one or more pages. Various garden shots as well as close-ups of plants, in many cases in floral arrangements (in vases, pots, or other containers, for example Gooseneck Loosestrife in a tuba) are provided. The photographs in the front section show various old-style gardens from garden parterres (literally parted earth) expansions of the French knot gardens of the Middle Ages to fields of flowers such as Goldenrod or Solidago growing in England (introduced from America). Further along the book contains the separate plant listings that range from Acanthus Mollis grown in the Middle Ages and Achillea grown in 19th Century Romantic Gardens to Zantedeschia aethiopia the Calla Lily from Ethiopia. PERENNIALS is not exhaustive, but it does include a solid listing of plants that will work in the "antique" garden. Having grown all of them at one time or another, I can assure you they will mostly do well in Zone 7 if you "follow the growing instructions" found in the ordinary gardening manual (not PERENNIALS which is more concerned with showing you what might be grown and how it might be grown, not how to grow them). Some of these old-timers do so well they'll take over, but that's another book.