MANY of us want to learn to identify ornamental plants and flowers when we see them blooming around us in diverse surroundings and for different purposes. If you too are one of them, then this book is meant for you. This is a beautifully illustrated book on common ornamental plants suitable for Indian conditions.
The book begins with the history of gardening in India and covers some general topics like garden operations, propagation techniques of ornamental plants, indoor gardening, pot plants, soil and micro-nutrients and diseases and pests. Among ornamental plants, flowering annuals are the most common plants which are planted seasonally for writing about nature’s bountiful magnificence on the earth in different colours and hues. Annuals provide only seasonal and transitory beauty to the garden. Therefore, the author says that perennial plants with attractive foliage should be grown to beautify the surroundings in the off season as well, particularly in areas where annuals cannot be grown or maintained on a continual basis for long periods. The author provides a special chapter giving details of some house plants, palms and ferns. Since succulents have their own characteristic identity and are gown in specific drought-like conditions, these too have been covered in a separate chapter.
For permanent effect in the garden, nature has provided beautiful perennial shrubs which are covered in a distinct chapter. Climbers and bulbous plants like chrysanthemums, gladioli and tulips along with big gardens to adorn avenues and institutional complexes have been included. Towards the end of the book, category wise summary tables of plants with the most salient features about them have been inserted. These tables provide common botanical names as well as family names of plants but more importantly reveal their uses, size, colour and size of flowers and the season for their flowering. With all such details in once place, you can plan a garden with your own choice of plants, flowers and colour combinations.
This is a book worth purchasing by all garden enthusiasts.
(National Book Trust, India, Nehru Bhawan, 5 Institutional Area, Phase II, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070.)
