A missed opportunity
After visiting my daughter in Phoenix, I hoped to find a source that would help me identify, and also explain the culture of, the plants I found there. This book provides cursory information on plant form and culture. It is well designed, but lacking in crucial details.
It is nearly worthless as a means of plant identification. The text of vegetative characteristics are vague or missing. It would be helpful to know if a plant is evergreen, deciduous, or summer deciduous. The pictures are so blurry and distant that only the form of the plant is visible. Some photos are of the plants in the wild and some in cultivation, differences that can dramatically change the form of a plant. And then, there are those irritating trinomial names without subspecies markers.
The cultural data is abbreviated in bullet points with some good tips and general information. The early chapters give a brief, but informative, overview on desert gardening.
great resource
In designing my landscape for a new home, the landscape architect had this book. I bought one so I could research the plant options and contribute to the design. It has been a great resource and I recommend it to anyone in the Desert Southwest, particularly those who reside in Arizona. I refer to it much more than the also helpful Western Garden Book.
Even Landscapers use this one as a reference guide
This book is great, especially if you happen to have at least a little background in landscape. There are probably too many plants in this book and it is arranged alphbetically by Latin names, but the pictures and descriptions make this book a must have for gardeners and landscapers. It is probably most useful to those planting in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California (most of these plants won't be available outside these areas). Having a little knowledge to begin with will help you know which plants in the book are rare or generally unavailable. That being said, all of the best performing desert trees and shrubs, etc. are in this book. The book also gives descriptions of plants and how and where to use them (or where not to use them). In summary, this book will help you set up a desert oasis or pure desert landscape in your yard.
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