Perennials for the Southwest: Plants That Flourish in Arid Gardens

by Mary Irish

Drawing upon her vast knowledge of perennials and how they perform in the arid Southwest, Mary Irish has produced the definitive guide for gardeners who want to create lush, colorful gardens while keeping artificial irrigation to a minimum. This book will help Southwest gardeners meet the challenge of growing perennials successfully by providing inspired, practical information on how to design dry-climate gardens and an A–Z guide to 156 proven plants. Each entry includes the plant's scientific and common names, distribution, cultural needs, drought tolerance, and ornamental characteristics. Written in a clear, reader-friendly style and profusely illustrated with sparkling color photographs, this invaluable volume makes Irish's expertise available to every gardener.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

312 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

landscape books are always helpful.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive and very useful book for anybody gardening where water is an issue. Although the author lives in Arizona, and quite a bit of emphasis is therefore placed on plants suitable for desert conditions, the book truly does cover the whole of the southwest. I live in Central Texas, where average rainfall is more or less equivalent to Seattle's, but where long periods of drought in between wetter periods can be expected, and I found plenty of useful information here.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely helpful if you garden in the Phoenix area. There is a color picture of every single plant she discusses, written descriptions, specific care instructions, all smattered with a bit of botanical history and personal input. Front section of the book is on general gardening and perennial care, which is a good review for experienced gardeners and vital info for folks new to the area.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Irish has to be the expert on desert gardening in the southwest. Her books are practical and well written reliable references.