Native Treasures: Gardening With the Plants of California

by Nevin Smith

Nevin Smith has spent his life growing plants and exploring the wild California landscape. A highly respected horticulturalist and practitioner who is also a gifted writer, Smith shares his years of experience growing native California plants in this lively, informative book. Rather than being a systematic “how-to” manual, Native Treasures combines Smith’s personal thoughts, sometimes maverick opinions, and matchless expertise with practical advice on selected groups of native plants and their culture. The author explains how California’s diverse terrain, climate, and geology support a wealth of plant species—more than 6000—and offers suggestions for designing with most of the major natives in cultivation, as well as with some more obscure but garden-worthy groups. With an engaging narrative and a wealth of illustrations, this ode to beauty and diversity celebrates California’s rich store of native plants and encourages readers to visit them in their native haunts and invite them into their gardens.

* Describes the use of plants in varying landscapes and gardens

* State of the art propagation techniques

* Beautifully illustrated with color photos and line drawings

Genres: Gardening

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2006

Reviews

[Scott Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for gardeners who want to use native California plants. Applicable to a wide range of garden situations and with a deep amount of information covering propagation, growing from seed and growing from container stock. This book is a spiritual grandchild of Marjorie Schmidt's seminal work on the same subject. Highly recommended.