Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs

Dirr (horticulture, Univ. of Georgia) has been growing and breeding plants for years and has experience with all the plants in this book. This large volume combines Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs (1997) and Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates (2002), both considered authoritative volumes, and offers new entries on plants that have been developed in the last 10 to 15 years. The bulk of the book is the A-to-Z listing of plants by their botanical names, with short annotations and over 3500 color photos, including close-ups of flowers, leaves, and other parts of interest as well as full-plant views. There are 15 special topic listings—by flower color, flowering sequence, fall color, winter interest, salt or shade tolerance, moisture requirements, and plant form—which will help gardeners choose plants, as well as indexes of botanical and common names. BOTTOM LINE This book is a good reference for home gardeners, but the descriptions and photographs are not concise enough for botanists and have limited use for plant identification. This is not a necessary purchase for libraries that own the older volumes, unless they wish to provide for avid gardeners interested in new varieties or those who enjoy Dirr's personal observations.—Margaret Henderson, Virginia Commonwealth Univ. Lib., Richmond