Whether you want to start with a container flower garden to brighten a patio or create a landscape as lush as a Monet painting, this is the book for you. Burpee—The Complete Flower Gardener takes you from the ground up, with information on everything from choosing a site and preparing the soil to nourishing your flowers to full bloom and solving specific gardening problems. The authoritative yet unintimidating style of award-winning gardening writers Karan Davis Cutler and Barbara W. Ellis is perfect for beginners, while their in-depth knowledge makes this book invaluable to veteran flower gardeners.

Following an environmentally responsible, organic approach to flower gardening, Burpee—TheComplete Flower Gardener shows you how to assess local growing conditions and your site, and how to plan, plant, and maintain your garden. It presents ideas for creating borders and beds; tips on combining flower colors, shapes, and textures; advice about caring for your garden; counsel on buying must-have gardening tools; guidelines for avoiding a chemically dependent garden; and more. It also untangles the scores of terms you need to know as you choose your seeds or plants at a local nursery or peruse the colorful pages of a seductive garden catalog. The encyclopedic Plant Portraits section provides thorough profiles of more than 175 herbaceous flowers—annuals, perennials, andbulbs—with directions for choosing cultivars, cultivating and propagating them, and combining them with other plants in the garden. Gorgeous color photographs accompany every entry.

Whether used on its own or as the perfect companionto Burpee—The Complete Gardener and Burpee—The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener, thisbook has everything you could want or need to make your flower garden thrive.

"Gardens are beautiful and interesting, but every hands-on gardener knows that the word 'garden' isa verb, not just a noun. It's not only the garden, it's I garden, he and she garden, you garden, we garden, they garden. And, frankly, that's the real fun of the whole business."

—Karan Davis Cutler

"Life-long learning is an under-appreciated benefit of growing a flower garden. Each new season brings with it new plants to grow, old friends to tend, combinations to discover, and fresh techniques to try. What could be more satisfying and consuming?"

—Barbara W. Ellis

Make flower gardening even more enriching and rewarding with Burpee—The Complete Flower Gardener. The ultimate authority, it helps you get going and growing with:

• Informative Plant Portraits of more than 175 plants —from Achilles to Zinnia—including the heirloom flowers your grandmother loved as well as today's plant breeders' newest cultivars
• Invaluable guidance on everything from planning and planting your pot or plot to choosing tools to gardening with children
• Environmentally friendly solutions to common problems—both caused by conditions in your site and by wildlife, diseases, and bugs
• Information on special gardens — with details on creating a Butterfly Garden, an Edible Garden, a Hillside Garden, a Perennial Cutting Garden, and more

This full-color guide from the experts at Burpee shows you how to plan, plant, and maintain a beautiful flower garden using an environmentally responsible, organic approach. It offers authoritative guidance on creating borders and beds, combining flower colors and shapes, selecting gardening tools, and much more, and features encyclopedic Plant Portraits section with profiles of more than 175 flowers—annuals, perennials, and bulbs.

Introduction.

PART I.FLOWER GARDENING FROM THE GROUND UP.

Chapter 1. The World of Flowers: Understanding Plant Basics.

Chapter 2. Where Does Your Garden Grow: Taking Stock of Local Conditions.

Chapter 3. Home Ground: Assessing Your Garden Site.

Chapter 4. Terra Wonderful: Making Great Soil For Growing Flowers.

Chapter 5. Balancing Act: Creating Borders and Beds.

Chapter 6. Garden Work: Planting and Tending Flowers.

Chapter 7. Bugs and Other Bothers: Handling Problems in the Flower Garden.

Chapter 8. Being Single-Minded: Creating Gardens of Special Delight.

Chapter 9. Tool Talk: Equipping the Flower Gardener.

PART II. PLANT PORTRAITS.

Achillea.

AconitumAgeratum houstonianum.

Alcea rosea.

Alchemilla mollis.

Allium.

Amsonia tabernaemontana.

Anemone.

Anthemis tinctoria.

Antirrhinum majus.

AquilegiaAruncusAsclepias tuberosa.

Aster.

Astilbe.

Baptisia australis.

Begonia.

BergeniaBrachyscome iberidifolia.

Bracteantha bracteata.

Calendula officinalis.

Campanula.

Canna [ts] generalis.

Catharanthus roseus.

Celosia argenteaCentaureaCentranthus ruber.

Chrysanthemum ? morifolium.

CimicifugaCleome hasslerana.

Convallaria majalis.

CoreopsisCorydalis.

Cosmos.

Crocus.

DahliaDelphiniumDianthusDicentraDictamnus albus.

DigitalisEchinacea purpurea.

Echinops ritro.

EpimediumEryngiumEschscholzia californica.

EupatoriumEuphorbia.

FilipendulaFritillaria.

FuchsiaGaillardiaGalium odoratum.

Gazania ringens.

GeraniumGeumGladiolusGomphrenaGypsophilaHelenium autumnale.

HelianthusHelleborusHemerocallisHeucheraHibiscus moscheutos.

HostaHyacinthus orientalis.

IberisImpatiens.

IpomoeaIrisKniphofia uvaria.

Leucanthemum [ts] superbum.

LiatrisLigularia.

LiliumLimoniumLinumLiriopeLobeliaLobularia maritima.

Lunaria annua.

Lupinus.

Lychnis.

LysimachiaMalvaMatthiola incana.

MonardaMyosotis sylvatica.

Narcissus.

Nepeta.

NicotianaNigella damascena.

OenotheraPaeoniaPapaverPelargoniumPenstemonPerovskia atriplicifolia.

PetuniaPhloxPhysostegia virginiana.

Platycodon grandiflora.

Portulaca grandiflora.

PotentillaPrimulaPulmonariaRodgersiaRudbeckia.

SalviaScabiosa caucasica.

SedumStachys byzantina.

TagetesThalictrumTradescantiaTropaeolum majus.

TulipaVerbascumVerbenaVeronicaViola.

ZinniaAppendix.

Index.