The New Sunset Western Garden Book by
As surely as gardens change with the seasons, gardening is ever changing. New plants, techniques, materials, and lifestyles are constantly broadening the choices you have and reshaping the way you garden in the West. In response to this natural evolution, the editors of Sunset-the West's most trusted source of gardening information for more than 80 years-have completely redesigned and updated The Western Garden Book in this new 2012 Ninth Edition. Following the best-selling success of the previous editions of The Western Garden Book, this edition includes a fresh new look, thousands of color photographs, fresh illustrations, and an easy-to-follow format. Written by experts for gardeners in the West, this book is an indispensable reference for beginning and expert gardeners alike. The New Western Garden Book features include: A photo gallery shows the West's most innovative gardens, from all-edibles front yards to stylish water-wise and fire-wise gardens to living walls and green roofs-all with ideas you can use. Climate Zone Maps and growing-season graphs for all regions of the West including Alaska and Hawaii. A new "Plant Finder" section helps you choose plants for their garden's problem areas or for special effects. "A to Z Plant Encyclopedia" lists some 8,000 plants that thrive in the West, including more than 500 new ones. Gorgeous color photographs illustrate all plant entries-for the first time ever in The WesternGarden Book. "Gardening From Start to Finish" is a new visual guide that leads readers through all steps of making a garden, from soil prep through planting, growing and care, with special sections on natives, veggies, grasses and more.
Weeds of the West by 
Encyclopedia of Garden Plants by
At the heart of every garden are the plants, which enhance our land and engage our souls. For gardeners, no matter how new or how advanced, whether we cultivate for ourselves or for landscaping clients, plants are the sine qua non. They intrigue us and inspire us. And the more we learn about them, the more they add to our pleasure in gardening. For all of these reasons, every gardener needs a good plant encyclopedia. And, as the only plant encyclopedia written exclusively for North American gardeners, Taylor’s Encyclopedia of Garden Plants will be as useful twenty years from now as it is today. If a plant can’t be grown on this continent, you won’t find it here. Readers will use this book in a number of ways: as a resource for identifying plants, as a guide to purchasing the best species and cultivars for particular gardening locations and growing conditions, and as an important way to save the cost and disappointment of buying plants that won’t thrive or will overwhelm a garden. Choosing just the right tree or shrub can add the crowning touch to your landscape plan. Here you’ll find expert information about more than a thousand species of trees, shrubs, roses, bulbs, perennials, annuals, and ground covers. Illustrated with 1,200 color photos and hundreds of line drawings, the encyclopedia includes instructions on how to grow the plants and even on how to propagate many of them. An extensive glossary and a common name index make this book accessible to beginners as well as longtime gardeners. Like gardening itself, Taylor’s Encyclopedia of Garden Plants will bring its readers immediate pleasure as well as long-term rewards.
The Jepson Manual - Higher Plants of California by
First published in 1925, Willis Linn Jepson's Manual of the Flowering Plants of California has been a standard reference for teachers, students, and naturalists. Since that time, hundreds of new species have been identified and botanical investigation has become more sophisticated. Now Jepson's philosophy of making such information available to all is again realized in this new volume, which includes a wealth of material accumulated over the past decades. With contributions from two hundred botanists across North America, this is the most comprehensive resource and identification guide to nearly eight thousand varieties of native and naturalized California plants. The means to identify plants (using key traits and illustrations) is accompanied by special information such as horticultural requirements, endangerment, toxicity, weed status, and notes on the management of sensitive species. Identification keys have been designed for ease of use, and terms have been simplified and illustrated, making the new Manual the most authoritative field guide for the expert and amateur alike.
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Shortest Straw by
Corey Morrison is a 15 year old adolescent with a troubled past. At a very young age, he had to endure the perplexing death of his father while trying to protect his younger brother, Greg from the lack of support of their deadbeat mother and a violent stepfather (Jerry). Fortunately, he has been able to attain some security in his life through an unbinding closeness to his Uncle. (Luther). Corey begins to notice a rage building inside of him that is beginning to escalate beyond his control. He doesn't know why it is happening, but he is beginning to notice its intensity increasing as he has progressed into his teen-aged years. After a violent act occurs between him and Jerry, his Uncle Luther swoops in to open a whole new world so surreal to Corey, that it is beyond his comprehension. The dark past of the little Midwestern town of Tatterdemalion soon comes to light as Corey's Uncle begins to tell the tale of the former Fairbanks Asylum and the morbid Director of the facility, Dr. Mahler. Luther tells of the days when the Asylum was home to the criminally insane and the supposed inane acts posed on these patients during their time at the Institution. Soon many of these patients begin to disappear, never to be seen again. Soon after the disappearances, murder begins to rock this once wholesome community. Barbaric murders never seen by the likes of this town nor the law enforcement attempting to solve these gruesome acts of violence. The repulsive local Sergeant (Dryer) and the ever intuitive assigned State Detective (Jones) are battling time to try to figure out what may be causing these inhumane killings that are beginning to increase to astronomical numbers. Det. Jones has seen many gruesome murders in his time, but never anything with such rage and disregard for the victim. Who or what is inflicting these killings? During these occurrences, the Fairbanks Asylum mysteriously burns to the ground and is soon replaced on the exact foundation by the Ludenbach Grain Elevator. A towering facility known by the town as "The Fortress" due to its conspicuous and foreboding appearance. Hiram Ludenbach is the ornery cuss who owns the elevator. He is one that does not seem to want to converse about the horrific occurrences devastating this once fine town. Even his friend and acquaintance of many years (Uncle Luther) can't seem to get a word out of him. What does Hiram know? As Corey's Uncle Luther opens the doors to the Asylum's past, Corey begins to learn more about himself and what is happening to him. The person Corey will soon become will lead him down a path of proclivity and fear beyond his wildest dreams and nightmares. There is a monster out there to be faced and this monster may be more than any of the demons buried deep inside of Corey. Corey will soon learn the true meaning of the "Shortest Straw!"