Bibliography
"I'm not an expert...but I have a clue, thanks to these books." -Steve
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| Plant Identification |
| Native Plants
for Southwestern Landscapes |
Mielke, Judy | Austin, TX: U. of
Texas Press, 1993.
This book offers easy-to-follow instructions for transplanting cacti, xeric design ideas and a complete list of natives for high and low desert. |
| Plants of
Arizona |
Epple, Anne | Helena, MT: Falcon
Publish'g. Inc., 1995.
The most thorough guide to Arizona's plants. Color plates are arranged by flower color for quick field identification. |
| Native Plants for
High-Elevation Gardens |
Busco, Janice
Morin, Nancy |
Golden, CO: Fulcrum
Publishing, 2003.
This native plant guide expands on earlier field-guides. It provides instruction in garden site-preparation and native plant cultivation, and it suggests creative uses for the native plants it catalogues. |
| Western Garden
Book |
Sunset Books | Menlo Park, CA: Sunset
Publish'g Corp., 1995.
The Sunset guide is the indispensible guide that is found in every retail nursery in the West. It covers all the basics of Western states horticulture, and includes a thorough plant catalogue. |
| North American
Range Plants |
Stubbendieck, J.
Hatch, L |
Lincoln, NK:
University of Neb. Press, 1982.
This text is used in university agronomy classes all over the country. It contains the most thorough catalogue of North America's grasses that I have found. |
| A Book
of Salvias |
Clebsch, Betsy | Portland, OR: Timber
Press, 1997.
The genus Salvia has been a favorite of gardeners forever. Betsy pulls the world's best ones together in this book, along with her cultivation and interplanting tips for each one. |
| Taylor's Guide
to Perennials |
DeWolfe, et al. | Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1961.
A great guide to the basics. This book identifies the bulk of the world's most commonly cultivated perennials. Most of the hardy ornamentals listed will work here if irrigation is available. |
| Introduction to
California Plant Life |
Ornduff, Robert | Berkeley, CA:
University of CA Press, 1974.
A good primer for California's plants, and a catalogue of the genera seen all over the West. |
| Plants for
Dry Climates |
Duffield, Mary R.
Jones, Warren |
Tucson, AZ: Fisher
Books, LLC., 1998.
This book explains the key xeric concepts of desert garden-design. Many of its catalogued plants are applicable to the populated mid-desert regions surrounding Prescott, Sedona and Cottonwood. |
| Shrubs and Trees
of the Desert Southwest |
Bowers, Janice | Tucson, AZ:
S.W.P.&M. Ass., 1993.
A National Parks publication, this paperback identifies the cacti, shrubs, vines and trees of the Great Basin, Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahuan Deserts. |
| Growing California
Native Plants |
Schmidt, Marjorie | Berkeley, CA:
University of CA Press, 1980.
Schmidt's is a propagation manual for plants native to California. She explains her techniques for cold-frame and seed-flat construction. Then she shares her methods for propagating a wide spectrum of Southwestern natives, from the Western Redbud to the Coulter Pine. |
| The Color
Encyclopedia
of Ornamental Grasses |
Darke, Rick | Portland, OR: Timber
Press, 1999.
Darke's catalogue is an all-important reference in the retail nursery trade. Grassland is never far from the eye in the West. Ornamental grasses can unite your garden to the scenery beyond your plot. |
| A-Z Encyclopedia
of Garden Plants |
Brickell, Christopher
Zuk, Judith D. |
New York, NY: DK
Publishing, Inc., 1997.
The "Bible" of plant guides, every plant in cultivation from the tropics to the Arctic is listed in this enormous tome. It offers detailed lists of the cultivars of all the oft-used genera, such as Populus and Rosa. |
| Oaks of
California |
Pavlik et al. | Los Olivos, CA:
Cachuma Press, 2000.
This well-written picture book magnified the wonder of California's ancient oaks for me. |
| Gardening With The
New Small Plants |
Allen, Oliver E. | Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1987.
In gardens where space is limited, dwarf shrubs and conifers come in very handy. This book catalogues many of the varieties that are commonly available in our local retail nurseries. |
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| Pest Control |
| Wildlife Pest
Control Around Gardens and Homes |
Salmon, Terrell
Lickliter, Robert |
Oakland, CA:
University of CA Press, 1984.
This U.C. Davis Extension manual lists the West's common pests from starlings to pocket gophers, and prescribes methods for repelling, trapping or exterminating them. It's an important reference for managers of large rural estates. |
| Cover Cropping
in Vineyards |
Ingels, Chuck et al. | Oakland, CA:
University of CA Press, 1998.
Did you know that cover crops can attract beneficial insects, fix nitrogen and reduce erosion? This manual explains how. |
| California
Insects |
Powell, Jerry A.
Hogue, Charles, L |
Berkeley, CA:
Univerity of CA. Press, 1979.
California's diverse insects are representative of the Western States' varieties. This guide identifies most of the species we'll see along the Rim. |
| Scats and Tracks
of the Desert Southwest |
Halfpenny, James
Ph.D. |
Guilford, CT: Globe
Pequot Press, 2000.
A handy, pocket-sized field-guide that covers the mammals, birds and reptiles of the Mogollon Rim. |
| Spiders and
Their Kin |
A Golden Guide | New York, NY: St.
Martin's Press, 2002.
A good general guide to the spiders, scorpions, mites and millipedes you'll encounter in your gardens and homes. |
| Insects | Borror, Donald J.
White, Richard E. |
Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1970.
This guide has detailed black-and-white drawings and full-color plates to help the gardener distinguish between similar species. |
| Butterflies
of Arizona |
Stewart, Bob et al. | Arcata, CA: West Coast
Lady Press, 2001.
If you want to know the name of those fuzzy black caterpillars that devoured your spring garden last year, you'll need this photographic guide. In addition to hundreds of colorful photos of Arizona's wild array of butterflies, this glossy paperback also provides photos of caterpillars to help you ID your butterflies in their larval stages. |
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| Land-Use Manuals |
| The Earth Manual | Margolin, Malcolm | Berkeley, CA: Heyday
Books, 1985.
This book teaches the basics of wildland-management to both adults and young minds. It's designed to tease us out-of-doors, shovel and collecting-jar in-hand. |
| The Sierra Nevada | Whitney, Stephen | San Francisco, CA:
Sierra Club Books, 1979.
This book analyses California's Sierra Nevada mountain range from every angle. It starts with its geology, and proceeds through its climate, ecologies, flora and fauna. A good primer for understanding all of the West's terrains. |
| Growing Food in
the Southwest Mountains |
Rayner, Lisa | Flagstaff, AZ:
Flagstaff Tea Party, 2002.
Lisa Rayner knits water-conservation, pest-control and plant lists into a thorough permaculture guide for high-country agriculturalists. The layout and illustrations make this book a favorite of mine. |
| Harvesting
Rainwater for Landscape Use |
University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ: U. of
Arizona Press, 2006.
This small manual describes simple and complex water-harvestng systems, and it's 18-pages of appendices offer everything from gutter-guidelines to tables for evapotranspiration rates for all of Arizona's main population centers. |
| Harmony Farm
Supply Catalogue |
H.F.S. Staff | Sebastopol, CA:
Harmony Farm Supply, 2007.
Harmony's current cover-crop seed catalogue and their irrigation parts-catalogue are loaded with useful information. Check out their book-lists, too. |
| Extreme Gardening | Owens, Dave | Tempe, AZ: "The Garden
Guy", 2000.
Dave Owens combines wit with wisdom in his guide to growing vegetables in the low deserts. Dave's organic techniques translate well to the higher desert regions. |
| A Biodynamic
Farm |
Lovel, Hugh | Kansas City, MO: Acres
U.S.A., 1994.
The seasonal rituals and farming techniques outlined in Lovel's book have informed modern permaculture and organic gardening practices up and down the West coast. |
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| Local Interests |
| The Beast In
The Garden |
Baron, David | New York, NY: W.W.
Norton Co., 2004.
A true story about the the Pumas' return to Boulder, Colorado, and how ill-prepared the town, its people and the state were to respond to the big cats' new habits. |
| The Reference
Manual of Woody Plant Propagation |
Dirr, Michael
Heuser, Charles |
Athens, GA: Varsity
Press, 1987.
This manual is a technical guide to three propagation techniques for woody shrubs and trees: seed, cutting and tissue-culture propagation. The authors list alphabetically all the popular shrubs and trees in cultivation and then they record their recipes for the propagation of each one. |
| The Gardener's
Gripe Book |
Adams, Abby
Seaver, Jeff |
New York, NY:
Workman's Publish'g., 1995.
If you've just lost all your lettuce to a gopher, or watched your neighbor's cat dig up your bulbs, then you could probably use a laugh. This book provides it. |
| Rockhounding
Arizona |
Blair, Gerry | Guilford, CT: The
Globe Pequot Press, 1992.
A great introduction to Arizona's geology and geography. It contains maps of trails leading to rock-hounding sites all over the state. |
| Indian Designs | Villasenior, Jean
and David |
Happy Camp, CA:
Naturegraph Publ., 2001.
The beauty of Hopi, Isleta, Pueblo, Apache, Hohokam and Papago Indian art, all in one book. The bold patterns in this book influence the lines and colors in my garden designs. |
| Indian Uses of
Desert Plants |
Cornett, James W. | Palm Springs, CA: P.S.
Desert Museum, 1995.
This pamphlet is a primer on Arizona's ethnobotany. |
| Native Americans
of the Southwest |
Salzmann, Joy
and Zdenek |
Boulder, CO: Westview
Press, 1997.
The Salzmann's have compiled a very readable history of the Colorado Plateau's ancient peoples. It's a good primer for our state's modern residents. |
| Dutch Oven
Cooking |
Ragsdale, John | Lanham, MD: Gulf
Publishing, 1997.
Do you know how to bake oatmeal cookies over a campfire? How about a pine-apple upside-down cake? This book'll show you why a dutch oven is a cowboy's best friend. |
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