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The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s McLean Library has  a circulating collection of 15,000 books and DVDs on gardening and plant care, botany, urban greening, and more,  as well as  research collections, consisting of  rare gardening books, a vintage seed catalog collection, and the archives of the Society including the Philadelphia Flower Show archives.

The PHS librarian recommends "best of" books, web sites and other information sources for gardeners. Explore answers here.  Can't find what you are looking for? Ask!

To borrow these books and DVDs, copy and paste the book titles into this request form. Be sure to include your contact information and PHS membership number.

75 Exceptional Herbs for Your Garden - Staub, Jack E.

Call Number: SB 351 .H5 S696 2008

ISBN: 142360251X

Publication Date: c2008

Gardening expert Jack Staub continues his stimulating series on unique additions to your garden with 75 Exceptional Herbs for Your Garden. With fascinating facts, unexpected lore-including its ancient medicinal and culinary employment-elegant prose, and beautiful watercolor illustrations by Ellen Buchert, this keepsake volume offers up 75 of the most extraordinary herbs available.

75 Remarkable Fruits for Your Garden - Staub, Jack E.

Call Number: SB 355 .S823 2007

ISBN: 1423602501

Publication Date: c2007

In this stunning follow-up to 75 Exciting Vegetables for Your Garden, gardener and garden designer, Jack Staub, brings the same charming detail, quirky and remarkable stories, and lovely writing voice to 75 Remarkable Fruits for Your Garden. After tireless hours of research to bring the most accurate and up-to-date information, as well as the most intriguing facts and historical illuminations this book provides a history of each plant, thoughts and tips on growing it, and ends with a simple recipe for serving up these mouth-watering fruits in salads, side dishes, breads, and desserts.

Alluring Lettuces: And Other Seductive Vegetables for Your Garden - Staub, Jack E.

Call Number: SB 321 .S665 2010

ISBN: 1423608291

Publication Date: 2010

Seventy-five unusual and eminently beautiful vegetables are profiled in this charming book by expert gardener and garden designer Jack Staub. Within these pages, you'll discover produce not likely found at the supermarket, including the Asparagus Bean, Chinese Rat Tail Radish, Green Zebra Tomato, and Turkish Orange Eggplant. Staub presents the charming history and lore surrounding the plants as well as instructions for growing them outdoors or indoors in containers.

Aquatic Plants of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide - Block, Timothy A.

Call Number: QK 183 .B56 2011

ISBN: 0812243064

Publication Date: c2011

From the Delaware River to the shores of Lake Erie, Pennsylvania's diverse watery habitats are home to more than 200 species of aquatic plants. In Aquatic Plants of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide, botanists Timothy A. Block and Ann Fowler Rhoads have assembled the first identification guide specific to the Keystone State yet useful throughout the Mid Atlantic region. Organized and written in a way that will make information easily accessible to specialists and nonspecialists alike, the book highlights the diversity and vital ecological importance of this group of plants, providing photographs, illustrations, descriptions, and identification keys for all emergent, floating-leaved, and submergent aquatic plants found in the Commonwealth.

Concrete Garden Projects: Easy & Inexpensive Containers, Furniture, Water Features & More - Nilsson, Malin

Call Number: SB 473.5 .N55 2011

ISBN: 1604692820

Publication Date: 2011

For gardeners and backyard do-it-yourselfers, concrete is a revelation. It's durable, weatherproof, impossible to steal, and it provides much-needed insulation for outdoor plants. Concrete weathers beautifully, softening around the edges, developing moss, and becoming more picturesque with age. Concrete Garden Projects takes advantage of concrete's numerous assets, showcasing an inspiring array of creative options. The step-by-step instructions for dozens of easy, do-it-yourself décor ideas include containers of all shapes and sizes, elegant benches and stools, miniature ponds and birdbaths, stepping stones, a barbecue, and a fire pit. The authors use a variety of molds easily found or made, household items like bowls and baking pans, and simple wooden frames and boxes. At pennies per pound, and so simple to use —just mix with water and pour— concrete is the key to hand-crafted backyard décor.

European Gardens: History, Philosophy and Design - Turner, Tom

Call Number: SB 451.36 .E85 T87 2011

ISBN: 0415496845

Publication Date: 2011

Garden design and usage has been a feature of human civilization as far back as Neolithic times, when the first gardens began to be used for residential, horticultural and sacred tasks. Tom Turner follows the entire history of the European garden from its prehistoric roots right up to the present day in this beautifully illustrated book.

Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver - Ott Whealy, Diane

Call Number: SB 63 .O88 A3 2011

ISBN: 0615457746

Publication Date: 2011

Seed Savers Exchange, the nation's premier nonprofit seed-saving organization, began humbly as a simple exchange of seeds among passionate gardeners who sought to preserve the rich gardening heritage their ancestors had brought to this country. Seeds that Ott Whealy herself inherited from her paternal grandparents were the impetus for the formation of Seed Savers Exchange, whose membership has grown from a small coterie to more than thirteen thousand. Its influence has been felt in gardens across America.

Jacques-Felix Lelievre's New Louisiana Gardener - Lelièvre, J. F.

ISBN: 0807124796

Publication Date: 2001

Originally published in 1838, Nouveau Jardinier de la Louisiane, by Jacques-Felix Lelièvre, was the first of only two books on Louisiana gardening to be written in the nineteenth century. The book drew upon the confident spirit of eighteenth-century Enlightenment France, forming a bridge from the writings of French horticulturalists to an American audience. Optimistic, ambitious, and progressive, the guide urged gardeners to manage nature by acclimating new species and constantly improving native ones through the application of innovative scientific techniques. Now available in English for the first time as New Louisiana Gardener, this charming period piece and path breaking work can be enjoyed once again by gardening enthusiasts and historians alike.

Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms - Bone, Eugenia

Call Number: QK 605 .B65 2011

ISBN: 1605294071

Publication Date: 2011

An incredibly versatile cooking ingredient containing an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and possibly cancer-fighting properties, mushrooms are among the most expensive and sought-after foods on the planet. Yet when it comes to fungi, culinary uses are only the tip of the iceberg. Throughout history fungus has been prized for its diverse propertie—medicinal, ecological, even recreational—and has spawned its own quirky subculture dedicated to exploring the weird biology and celebrating the unique role it plays on earth. In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.

Oaks in the Urban Landscape: Selection, Care, and Preservation - Costello, Laurence Raleigh

Call Number: SB 413 .O34 C668 2011

ISBN: 1601076800

Publication Date: 2011

Oaks are highly valued in urban areas for their aesthetic, environmental, economic and cultural benefits. However, significant impacts to the health and structural stability of oaks have resulted from urban encroachment. Changes in environment, incompatible cultural practices, and pest problems can all lead to the early demise of our stately oaks. This book offers a comprehensive look at the management of oaks in urban areas including how cultural practices, pest management, risk management, preservation during development, and genetic diversity can all play a role in preserving urban oaks.

The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-deficit Disorder - Louv, Richard

ISBN: 1565125819

Publication Date: 2011

Our society, says Louv, has developed such an outsized faith in technology that we have yet to fully realize or even adequately study how human capacities are enhanced through the power of nature. Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv shows us how tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. As he says in his introduction, The Nature Principle is “about the power of living in nature—not with it, but in it. We are entering the most creative period in history. The twenty-first century will be the century of human restoration in the natural world.”

Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought-tolerant Choices for all Climates - Ogden, Lauren Springer

Call Number: SB 439.8 .O34 2011

ISBN: 9781604691696

Publication Date: 2011

Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens is a practical guide to the best 200 plants guaranteed to thrive in low-water gardens. Plant entries provide the common and botanical name, the regions where the plant is best adapted, growth and care information, and notes on pests and disease. This practical and inspiring guide includes a variety of plants, from trees to succulents, perennials to bulbs, all selected for their wide adaptability and ornamental value.

This is a feed of books we are digitizing and posting on the Internet Archive! Click on the links and read the digital books online or download to your kindle!

This project has been partially funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Contact Janet Evans, McLean Library and Archives Manager, 215-988-8782 or send email to learn how you can help support this project.

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