This cold, snowy weather, that makes driving miserable and landscapes beautiful, offers gardeners planning time for next spring. Maybe you want to learn new growing techniques for veggies, find a fast growing perennial or identify trees, shrubs and plants that attract birds and butterflies. The library adds new garden and landscape books year-round but winter is the time to read, plan and look forward to the next season. Stop in to scan the newest issue of Birds and Bloom and Horticulture in the magazine section or grab a new garden book.
Skim this list of recently acquired titles:
Backyard Winter Gardening by Warnock SB321.5 .G74 W37 2013
You can grow winter crops with electricity, heating or lighting and this volume provides gardening information that people in the 1700s and 1800s used to keep fresh vegetables on their winter tables. It’s possible to grow lettuce, carrots and strawberries following the author’s techniques.
Audubon Birdhouse Book: Building, Placing, and Maintaining Great Homes for Great Birds QL676.5 .B257 2013
Avid birders build safe, attractive houses and nest boxes and this volume includes 15 plans/diagrams for bird and owl homes. From loons to sparrows, this source offers advice on construction techniques, cleaning tips and other pointers to help those who care and support songbirds and others. Wonderful photos throughout the text.
Daffodil SB413 .D12 K56 2013 The author outlines the history of the daffodil beginning with the Byzantines, who developed tulips and daffodil bulbs, leading to a big daffodil cut-flower industry worldwide today. Breeders have cultivated hybrids for their shape and color but also continued to propagate older varieties. Read this book to understand the cultural and artistic role of this bright yellow flower that heralds spring.
Grow More with Less: Sustainable Garden Methods SB319.95 .S56 2013 Vincent Simone presents detailed and practical chapters about sustainable gardening, from water collection and conservation to selecting the best plants for a site. Sustainable gardening includes integrated pest management (IPM) techniques along with lists of hardy and non-invasive cultivars that you may add to your garden. Manual of Seed Savings: Harvesting, Storing, and Sowing Techniques SB324.75 .H4513 2013 Andrea Heistinger presents a new edition of her respected source on saving garden seeds and crop diversity. Beginning with the Amaranth family, chapters identify plant categories, explain pollination, document seed growing techniques and discuss harvesting methods. If you want to grow heirloom varieties and save the seeds for next year, follow her methods.
