Hot Color, Dry Garden

May 15, 2018
The author, whose award-winning A Growing Passion airs on public television in San Diego, focuses here on the dry zones of the southwestern U.S., almost exclusively California but also New Mexico and Arizona. Play is the operative word in the first half of the book, which is organized into some 15 gardens, each featuring a profusion of design ideas via in situ color photos with running text, and ending with a small chart showing that locale's vitals?elevation, annual average rainfall, summer-high and winter-low temps, humidity, soil type, dominant plant type, and USDA zone?and recommended plants for best color. That said, Sterman clearly shows that a strategically painted concrete wall, for example, can nicely offset any monochromatic elements in the vegetation. The second half comprises an extensive, highly useful regional-plant directory, with color photos. Strongly recommended for the southwestern, dry-zone gardener.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from April 15, 2018

At a time when climate change cannot be far from gardeners' concerns, the vast land areas of the Southwest are at the epicenter of dramatic, shifting rainfall and drought events. To both start and maintain a water-wise garden requires conservation of existing supply and incorporating plants with needs to fit. The successor to Sterman's previous Water-Wise Plants for the Southwest, this book explores a "gallery" of 15 gardens featuring plants selected for color, structure, and texture. Each location is identified by rainfall, temperature highs and lows, irrigation provisions, and plants. Photos that illustrate the interplay of structures, topography, and plantings complement the descriptive text. A "Plant Directory" goes beyond the obligatory A-Z arrangement, with text describing care and pictures large enough to appreciate plant characteristics, form, and garden placement. Readers needing more than the basic "how-tos" that conclude this volume can find illustrated instructions in materials, water capture, and constructing irrigation systems in Diana Maranhao's Water-Smart Gardening. VERDICT Gardeners in water-challenged areas will find here expert guidance in plant selection for optimum color impact.--Jeanette McVeigh, Univ. of the Sciences, Philadelphia

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