RHS Garden Plants and Flowers Through the Year

by Ian Spence

An easy-to-use, A-Z pictorial catalog of over 2,500 tried and tested, commonly available garden plants and flowers, "Garden Plants and Flowers Through the Year" includes the seasons at which you'll find each plant at its best clearly indicated, making it an invaluable tool for planning your planting. A comprehensive chapter offers down-to-earth advice on plant care, and practical tip boxes appear throughout, to guarantee success with every plant you choose. Finally, 8 at-a-glance galleries are included, designed to inspire and help gardeners select plants to provide interest throughout the year.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Horticulture, Outdoors

420 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

He was formerly head gardener for the late Geoff Hamilton who presented the BBC's flagship gardening programme Gardeners' World. He was responsible for the running of Geoff's garden at Barnsdale in Rutland. He was also responsible for preparing items for Geoff to feature on the programme every week. He worked very closely with Geoff preparing for recording of Gardeners' World and the many other series Geoff made such as The Ornamental Kitchen Garden and his final series Paradise Gardens.

Reviews

[Eline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overzichtelijk boek met ideeën om elke maand te tuinieren. Alle planten worden met foto´s aangetoond en elke maand staat er minstens 1 diy bij die je kan doen.

[Coan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gardening through the year in Australia
By Ian Spence

A comprehensive guide that delivers just what it says on the cover – it’s a month by month breakdown on specific activities to undertake in your garden during the year.

While I’ve only just received the book (and yet to implement it), I am already using it to plan my gardening work. I think it will be a really useful addition to my library.

The book covers various types of gardens as well as lawn care, seasonal, ornamental and vegetable gardens. It is a bit east coast focussed in its assumptions about weather but overall very helpful.

4/5 stars

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mijn recensie over Een jaar in de tuin (Ian Spence) kan je nalezen op mijn blog via https://boeklovers.wordpress.com/2019...
Inclusief inkijkexemplaar

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good one to start off my veg growing plans this year.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I try to bring my back yard up to scratch I’m browsing a dozen gardening books for ideas and advice. These opening paragraphs will open every review of the dozen – the review of this specific book will appear at paragraph 5.
Can’t imagine any gardening book could be described as perfect – I live in Scotland, which might have a slightly colder climate than other places in the world. But gardening books are useful if you’re trying to bring a piece of land into productive use for yourself, family or community. Useful, to supplement what you may already know, useful to give you ideas and encouragement, useful to remind you of the essentials and the possibilities.
I’d caution against picking just one book – unless it covers a particularly narrow, specialist field. Browse half a dozen or a dozen books before and as you start your new project. Don’t necessarily buy new – pick up some second hand ones online or in charity shops. Seriously, gardening is not going to have changed much in the last 30 years, you don’t need to pay £20 to buy the latest piece by some celebrity gardener when you can get a half a dozen books for that money from charity shops or online.
Browse, take notes, compare, learn, become enthused … but don’t forget to get your hands dirty.
RHS Gardening through the Year
A magnificently illustrated tome backed by England’s prestigious Royal Horticultural Society – hundreds of colour photos to inspire and inform. Encyclopaedic in its advice, breaking up the year month-by-month, detailing just about every task and opportunity a UK gardener might experience or might wish to embrace in the course of a year.
It's a book you’d consult like an encyclopaedia, but maybe one which should double up as a coffee-table book, to be left lying around so you’ll casually browse it from time to time: left on a shelf as encyclopaedia, you’ll miss half its value – it’s the sort of book which will reward a quick browse … with an “I didn’t know that” response, or with sudden inspiration, or simply with the realisation … “must remember to do that”.
It is, of course, a calendar too. Don’t refer to it in May to undertake the tasks for May. Refer to the May tasks in March so you have plenty of time in hand and can build them into a schedule (like ordering seeds in plenty of time). The book does have that encyclopaedic quality – you need to get yourself ready for the tasks, prioritise them for your particular garden / allotment, your specific climate and soil type, your specific interests, ambitions or needs.
But it is a book which will stay firmly indoors, it’s not one you can slip into a coat pocket so you can quickly check up on a point or two before you shove the spade into the ground or start to prune that shrub. Seriously, you’ll need to take written notes with you rather than the whole book … but, hey, jotting down ideas and instructions is a good way to commit them to memory, a good way to get your mind thinking along the right lines.
Excellent piece of work – not something you could ignore.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very handy guide to looking after your garden throughout the year from what and when to plant to looking after your tools and pest control. It also has ideas for creating both ornamental and nature features depending on the look and feel you want in your garden. It's easy to follow and good to pick up and put down as you complete various tasks and as the year passes. The only thing I would've like is a bit of advice on which plants are easier to look after (as someone who wants a gorgeous garden but is not particuarly green fingered this would've made it perfect) but that could just be me. I can still see me dipping in and out of this repeatedly as my garden (hopefully) grows.

[Meconopsis Lingholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is basically a thick pocket sized version of rhs's "gardening through the year" which I now have both, so this will go in the trug with the rest of my gardening supplies. very handy.

[Marc L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rare kind of book that improves with time and year by year. Probably the most through guide on “what I should be doing now” that I’ve ever come across and an indispensable tool in the garden.

The variety of tasks defined for each month is expansive with concise yet simple to follow instructions for each category. Highly recommended for beginner and intermediate gardens alike.

[AnnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good advice organized by month. Just double check this book applies to the zone you're in. It gave me some good ideas for my garden, but also a lot of info I didn't need so that's why it's four stars - you already have to know some things to use this book to be able to sift through the info.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every month my go-to book to find out what I need to do in the garden and what plants are about to flower. Unfortunately, in the fifteen years we have had this book, all plants flower two to four weeks earlier than the book indicates (thanks, climate change), but I suppose later editions will be adapted for this effect.

[Julia Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant, very informative for us beginners. It tells you what to do month by month and it really is my gardening bible

[Stettafire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book with basic bullet point information. Great for inspiration less so for info

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book not to be finished as a reference and table book to dip in and out of.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 Stars

[Nicole Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful and easy to use book! Any great RHS book.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative. Practical. Seasonal.


An excellent and helpful gardening companion. I love how it has oodles of tips and things to do to prepare your garden for the upcoming season and what to do during that season. Probably not needed for the more knowledgeable gardeners but I would recommend it for those wanting to start out or need help learning to work seasonally in your garden.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first year of proper gardening I read each chapter at the start of each month. I found this very helpful. It covers all different areas gardening (flowers, trees, fruit n veg, ponds, lawns, greenhouse) and what to do, and shows you pictures of the best plants for each month. Also has a plant guide at the back though that is quite limited. Will come back to this month after month next year.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a very nice month by month guide. The only thing keeping me from running out and buying it (instead of just borrowing it from the library) is the fact that it is written for gardeners in the Midwest. I live in California so what can be grown here in the fall and winter is vastly different.

[Lainy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good general gardening book.