Cover Image: The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Perennials

The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Perennials

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Member Reviews

I was so pleased to be granted a temporary digital advance copy of this book from the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens. As an avid but sometimes unsuccessful perennial gardener, the gorgeous pictures and helpful information were valuable and enjoyable. I may need to add this title to my home library.

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Beautiful book. Each plant has their own page and is beautifully illustrated and a real photo is included. All you could need information on how to grow the plant is included.

Extra pages are included covering winter colour, creating borders and different styles of gardens.

If you wave a fared that's full of colour every year then this is definitely the book for you. I will keep referring back to it.

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I just love the Kew Gardener’s Guides and this one is no exception! Full of great information, fun projects, and beautiful illustrations, it deepens the reader’s understanding of some familiar favourites whilst introducing one to new and intriguing ones! If you love your garden, get this great book! It’s a five out of five on the enjoyment scale!

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Lots of good information about growing perennials in your garden. Written in encyclopedia form for easy reference.

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I want to thank #Netgalley and #Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for the opportunity to read this book as an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

As a person who has always liked flowers but really did not care to grow too many of them, I really appreciated the information inside this book. This year I got interested in native plants and have been on a quest to return my lawn into a natural prairie. This book has helped me with some of the perennials I would like to plant (native to my state) and well as having sections on planting, dividing, stem cutting, and things like making your own mulch and creating a gravel garden. A wealth of information. I especially enjoyed the section on how to colorify your garden. I cannot wait until spring to get my plan I will develop this winter into place.

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This is a good guide to perennials for the beginner gardener in the UK. There’s a photo and sketch for each perennial, with lots of information. There’s also good beginner info on pests, starting the garden, propagating them, etc. The quality of the photos was so poor in my ARC that it’s hard for me to comment on the illustrations. I would have liked more information about native plants but I think this is a plant company so it makes sense that they’d promote hybrids. All in all a helpful guide.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

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This is a good general guide to gardening with perennials, as you'd expect with a book produced by the superb Kew Gardens. It would make an excellent gift to a new gardener, but is of less use to an experienced one, who would probably already have a library of books covering the same ground as well as knowledge gained through practice and through visiting other gardens, the latter always being a great source of new ideas. The publishers describe as "entry level".

The Kew guide is divided into Projects - chapters, really - on different topics such as gravel gardening, container growing, unifying a border and so on, with each project also focusing on a number of individual plants in greater depth. These are mostly bread-and-butter plants familiar in British gardens - though a handful are perhaps slightly less familiar, baptisia and macleaya for instance - but I think all would be readily available, if not at always at a garden centre then an online nursery would supply them. In the Table of Contents they are all called by their common names, but alternative names are also given, along with the Latin species, so there should be no problems identifying them. A colour drawing is given with each flower description, but there's also an inset photograph.

There's a chapter on troubleshooting plant problems which, I was pleased to see, gives more space to dealing organically with issues than to chemical solutions, which it cautions against using too readily. Propagation and retaining seedheads are covered and a final chapter gives advice on seasonal gardening; there is also an adequate index.

My copy, provided by NetGalley was a e-book, so I can't comment on the physical production of the book, but it looks well-produced and the hardback edition should be nice to handle. All-in-all, a nice guide, out usefully in time for the Christmas market and, if you have a new gardener in the family, you won't go far wrong with choosing this book for them.

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"Growing Perennials" is an exceptional gardening resource that I highly recommend to all plant enthusiasts. This book is an invaluable guide packed with a wealth of information on perennials, making it an essential addition to any gardener's library. I love the abundance of guidance it offers; from detailed explanations on planting and care to insightful tips on maintaining perennials throughout the year, it provides comprehensive and practical advice. The inclusion of illustrations and photos is a huge plus, as they not only enhance the learning experience but also make it easier to identify and select the perfect perennials for your garden.

Personally, I find this book to be a must-have if you are a new gardener. It's a valuable companion that will help you create and maintain a beautiful perennial garden.

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ARC Rating 4.25/5 ⭐️

This was a really nice book.

Richard Wilford explores an abundance of garden perennials and includes such lovely photos and sketches.

It helps break down different perennials for different gardens types and goals. Such as dry/gravel gardens, winter gardens, and foliage gardens. It details these varieties and makes for such an amazing reference.

Thank you, NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, KEW & Richard Wilford, for sending this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

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I appreciate the opportunity to read this but unfortunately I will not be finishing this one. I did find some of the information helpful. However, while listing the perennial plants the majority of them only showed zone 7 as a possible zone for them. I know for sure some of them are okay in more than just 7 and it seems kind of limiting to not show the range they can be planted in.

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Very informative with lots of pictures which I personally like. This talks about making compost and how to make a gravel garden and how to propagate.
There are many samples of perennials in this and each have a photo with a where and how to grow them. Ending with growing tips for each one. The book ends with troubleshooting and a what to do when section.
Types of perennials:
Herbaceous- soft stems that last one growing season leaving just roots for next year.
Evergreen- hang on to their leaves thru winter.
Subshrubs- small woody framework.
Dry, woodland, bog gardens
I recommend this one and think it would make a lovely gift for the serious gardener.
Thanks Quarto Publishing Group via NetGalley.

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Great read, overall, very informative. This in an international audience, so while it doesn't have a lot about North American Natives, I did find it to be a really well written, and well thought out book. I loved the organization of chapters, and the photos were excellent.

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The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Perennials is an excellent and thorough resource for all gardening enthusiasts. A comprehensive introduction to gardening explains various garden types, best practices when choosing perennials, and how to plant and care for them. Detailed and beautifully illustrated descriptions of the most common perennials include growing requirements and tips. Also included are 12 projects, or “challenges”, meant to grow the reader’s ability and confidence in growing and living with perennials. A truly beautiful book that would make a lovely gift.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, Frances Lincoln for this advance digital review copy.

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I know nothing about plants, other than I think they look beautiful. This book is perfect for a complete beginner like me! It covers all the basics and equipment in the introductory chapter, and then gives a comprehensive guide to the most common perennials. It features detailed illustrations of each plant, but also the real life photograph, alongside the plant’s stats, and how to go about growing it. It features top tips, a troubleshooting section, a helpful garden timeline, so you know what to at what point in the year, and various themed projects throughout the book.
Would definitely recommend.
Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion and Netgalley for an eARC of this book to read and review.

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A great book for beginner gardeners wanting to add perennials. This book includes how to propagate and how and where to plant a number of popular perennial plants. Packed with information, this would make a lovely gift!

Thank you Netgalley, Quarto Publishing and Richard Wilford for this ARC.

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