Product Description

Hugo Latymer reveals the rich diversity of trees, shrubs, flowering plants and cacti that flourish in regions where summers are hot and dry, winters mild and wet. His knowledge and enthusiasm are communicated in descriptions of more than 300 plants, most of them readily obtainable: Chinaberry trees with fragrant lilac flowers in spring, dark green twisted carobs, beautiful red-flowered climbing lilies. Many of the subjects are illustrated in superb colour photographs. Coded information at the head of each entry enables gardeners to make the best choices when confronted with the bewildering array of plants on offer. Whether your garden is a patio of a few square metres or several hectares on a terraced hillside, you will find a wealth of ideas for colourful and interesting plants and a variety of garden designs. The author draws on 20 years' experience of gardening on the island of Mallorca.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21834 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
"'Covers the problems encountered on sundrenched sites and suggests design ideas that meet them, while providing an illustrated encyclopaedia of appropriate plants.' Fred Whitsey, Daily Telegraph; 'Proponents of global warming theory can relish the delights that may be in store for gardeners in England.' The Independent"

About the Author
Hugo Latymer was an authority on plant cultivation and garden design in Mediterranean regions. He spent many years living and gardening on Majorca and became an acknowledged authority on designing and cultivating gardens suited to the dry, hot climate there. He died in 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most useful book I've seen on hot climate gardening
The great thing about this book is that it gives at-a-glance lowest temperatures in centigrade and fahrenheit that each plant will tolerate - very important if you are planting in the Vaucluse or other frost-bitten areas of southern France. Most other books have complicated numbering systems for cold/heat tolerance information.This book is beautiful to look at and has separate easy reference chapters for trees,shrubs and flowers. Definitely number one on my shelf.

I am constantly referring to this book!
It is my bible for gardening. I always refer to it before buying anything for the garden. I like the intelligent approach the author gives by advising thoughout that if you don't want to waste time, money and water, buy mediterranean plants.

A useful book
This is a very useful book, with clear and precise information about the species it covers.

My only 'but' is that it is heavily biased towards alcaline gardening, while there are many places in the Mediterranean that are quite acid.

I would like the book to be larger, to have more photos and, especially, to cover more trees: given enough water (and the right way) the number of species one can cultivate in summer-dry regions is quite surprising.

The photos are very good, but they do not cover every species, and there are several ideas that may be useful for gardeners and even architects.

Overall a good buy.