The top dozen from my library of some 325 PLANT book titles, that I would keep if forced to reduce from 30 feet of shelf space to about 2 feet 8 inches . . . assuming copies of books written by myself could be kept.
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| Bailey, Liberty Hyde. 1914-1917 |
| The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
| 6 vols. New York: MacMillan |
The greatest horticultural title ever produced in America. It utterly shames modern works such as the RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Its completeness, erudition, illustration and layout are all superb.
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| Bailey, Liberty Hyde. 1976 |
| Hortus Third |
| Rev. by L. H. Hortorium Staff. New York: MacMillan |
A scholarly, concise, enumeration of horticultural plants grown in North America, and their myriad names.
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| Bean, W. J. 1970-1980 |
| Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles |
| 8th ed., 4 vols. Rev. by D. L. Clarke, chief ed. London: John Murray |
Comprehensive, learned account of cultivated temperate-zone woody plants. Weak in U.S. cultivars.
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| Brickell, Christopher & Judith D. Zuk. 1997 |
| American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants |
| NY: DK Publishing. |
Of the clumsily stout and heavy modern encylopedic books packed with color photos, I prefer this.
|
| Byther, Ralph et al. 2006, 3rd ed. |
| Landscape Plant Problems: A Pictorial Diagnostic Manual |
| Puyallup, WA: Washington State University Cooperative Extension |
Color photos of Western Washington common garden plant bugs and diseases. When consulting, I use the
photos to show clients. Once one learns the problem's name, then other sources suggest actions. (You can buy this at SSCC's bookstore.)
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| Facciola, Stephen. 1998, 2nd ed. |
| Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants |
| Vista, CA: Kampong Publications |
The most practical and handy book to learn about edibility of plants, and their availability.
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| Feeney, Stephanie (ed. Debra Prinzing). 2002, 9th ed. |
| Northwest Gardeners' Resource Directory |
| Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Press |
All Northwest gardeners will find this helpful, though a new edition would be better.
|
| Hill, Susan & Susan Narizny. 2004 |
| The Plant Locator® Western Region |
| Portland, OR: Black-Eyed Susan Press and Timber Press |
The quickest way to learn about commercial availability of garden plants. More than 50,000 plants included.
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| Hillier, John, and Allen Coombes. 2002, 7th ed. |
| Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs |
| Newton Abbot, England: David & Charles |
Useful one-volume, compact, and comprehensive list of cultivated temperate-zone woody plants. Weak in U.S. cultivars.
|
| Mabberley, D. J. 2008, 3rd ed. |
| Mabberley's Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants |
| Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press |
By far the best one-volume source to look up any plant family or genus. Small, dense and invaluable.
|
| Stace, Clive A. 2010, 3rd ed. |
| New Flora of the British Isles |
| Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press |
The best botany book to identify non-native plants growing wild in the Seattle area. Richly complete; over 1,000 pages.
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| Sunset. 2012, 9th ed. |
| Sunset Western Garden Book |
| Menlo Park, CA: Sunset Publishing Corp |
All western North American gardeners should own this. Every edition gets better.
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(originally published in my November 26th 2007 newsletter. In three cases above, I have replaced earlier editions with newer ones.)
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