The Kitchen Garden Alan Buckingham (DK Publishing, 9780756650148, $22.95) In tune with the popular move toward fresh, local, and homegrown food, The Kitchen Garden lets you get the most from your garden and helps to dramatically reduce the amount you spend on produce at the supermarket. The Kitchen Garden is the perfect companion for gardeners who want to turn their harvest into a meal while also seeking some measure of sustainability. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This book approaches food gardening in a handy monthly format, telling gardeners exactly what to do each month and why: what pests and diseases to look for, when to prune, what to plant, when to feed and weed, etc. Thankfully, these directions are paired with plenty of color photos, so we see what is expected of us and how it might look when we actually do it.

The Gardener's Color Palette Tom Fischer (Timber Press, 9781604690842, $12.95) Choosing color is one of the most delightful and personal choices a gardener makes. For one gardener, the shock of a garden full of pink and red is a picture of beauty. For another, white flowers may be more tranquilly inspiring. The Gardener's Color Palette features ten plants in ten color groups and offers gardeners hundreds of opportunities to mix and match. Want a red garden? Choose the 'Crimson Star' columbine, the 'Lucifer' crocosmia, and the 'Gardenview Scarlet' bee balm. For a metallic garden plant the Japanese cobra lily, the Chocolate cosmos, and the Kamchatka fritillary. Or, create a multicolored array by picking plants from each category. Plant profiles include a description, the common and botanical names, information about expected height and spread, bloom time, hardiness, and light and water requirements. Combined with Clive Nichols' stunning photographs, The Gardener's Color Palette is an invaluable source of practical advice and visual inspiration. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This bright volume unleashes the power of more than 100 color-saturated flowers.

Starter Vegetable Gardens 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens Barbara Pleasant (Storey Books, 9781603425292, $19.95) Are you planning your very first vegetable garden? Confused about soil, garden layout, seeds, temperatures, planting schedules, fertilizers, pests, watering, harvesting? Master gardener Barbara Pleasant takes the guesswork and anxiety out of growing food, explaining in simple language exactly how to start, maintain, and eventually expand an organic vegetable garden, even in the smallest of spaces. Choose one of twenty-four, no-fail, small-scale garden plans and find out how easy it is to enjoy your own fresh food all season long. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This volume makes building a veggie patch so easy – including clever designs that use bags of soil as their base – there’s no need to dig up the lawn.

McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey (Workman, 9780761116233, $17.95) With few exceptions – such as corn and pumpkins – everything edible that's grown in a traditional garden can be raised in a container. And can be done a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation, McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide. Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container covers vegetables – not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), but haricots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugar snap peas; herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus; and edible flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs – yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook's garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This great book combines passion for veggies with the ease (and popularity) of container gardening: you can grow your own salad on a terrace or patio with minimal effort!

Veggie Gardener's Answer Book Barbara W. Ellis (Storey Books, 9781603420242, $14.95) Do you ever wish you had a master gardener right next door? Now you do, with this little reference that delivers big vegetable truths to all your questions: * What are the easiest vegetable crops to grow? * How soon can I plant my peas in spring? * How can I grow almost all my own food? * Can I grow vegetables in containers? * Is there any way to make weeding go faster? * What can I put in my compost piles? * How can I keep birds from eating my crops? Know more, grow more. This reference provides a bumper crop of solutions and answers to every problem you will ever face. GREEN THUMB'S UP: New gardeners will want to pocket this tiny but very helpful volume!

What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?) David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth (Timber Press, 9780881929614, $24.95) Dealing with a sick plant is one of the most frustrating situations a gardener can face. More often than not, we have no idea what is causing the problem, or how to fix it. Fortunately, help is at hand. What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?) provides an easy system for visually diagnosing any problem, and matching it to the right cure. This innovative and easy-to-use guide is split into three parts. Part One presents easy-to-follow, illustrated flow charts – organized by where on the plant the symptoms appear – that allow readers to accurately diagnose the problem. The format is so simple it doesn't even require knowing the name of the plant; all you need to know is whether the problem is affecting its roots, stem, flowers, or leaves. It does not matter whether the plant is a houseplant, perennial, vegetable, tree, or shrub. Part Two offers a 100% organic way to fix the problem. From improper growing conditions and environmental factors, to molds, pests, and diseases, every problem has a safe, natural solution. Part Three shows photographs and drawings of stressed, damaged, and diseased plants that help with accurate comparison. Whether your garden consists of herbs on a kitchen windowsill, a vegetable garden, an elaborate backyard border, or a container on a patio, What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?)is an indispensable resource. If you can see it, you can fix it. Curing a sick plant just doesn't get any easier. GREEN THUMB'S UP: Once you lost a few, expensive, heirloom tomatoes, you will be happy that you had this ready resource at hand.

The Vegetable Gardener’s Book of Building Projects Editors of Storey Publishing (Storey Books, 9781603425261, $18.95) Make your food garden more productive and more enjoyable! These 39 simple-to-make projects – including cold frames, compost bins, planters, raised beds, potting benches, gates, trellises, storage containers, outdoor furniture, and more will increase your harvest, make your garden chores easier, and turn your garden and yard into an appealing outdoor space for relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your labors. Each project includes step-by-step instructions, detailed illustrations, complete materials and lumber lists, no-nonsense tips, and a four-color photograph of the finished product. Many of the projects are ideal for beginners, and most can be completed in just a few hours. GREEN THUMB'S UP: There will be those occasional rainy days that may keep you indoors. Here’s a great collection of projects that could be undertaken in the workshop or garage.

The $64 Tomato William Alexander (Algonquin Books, 9781565125575, $13.95) Bill Alexander had no idea that his simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard in his backyard would lead him into life-and-death battles with groundhogs, webworms, weeds, and weather; midnight expeditions in the dead of winter to dig up fresh thyme; and skirmishes with neighbors who feed the vermin (i.e., deer). Not to mention the vacations that had to be planned around the harvest, the near electrocution of the tree man, the limitations of his own middle-aged body, and the pity of his wife and kids. When Alexander runs (just for fun!) a cost-benefit analysis, adding up everything from the live animal trap to the Velcro tomato wraps and then amortizing it over the life of his garden, it comes as quite a shock to learn that it cost him a staggering $64 to grow each one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes. But as any gardener will tell you, you can't put a price on the unparalleled pleasures of providing fresh food for your family. GREEN THUMB'S UP: Besides, if we didn’t have $64 tomatoes, what in the world would we put on that Kobe beef burger?

Garden Wisdom & Know-How Judy Pray (Black Dog & Leventhal, 9781579128371, $19.95) Garden Wisdom & Know-How is a large-scale practical guide to planting and maintaining a garden, indoors or out. The chapters are organized by topic – garden techniques and tricks, the flower garden, the edible garden, container gardening, garden design and landscaping, attracting wildlife, and so on – and packed with information. Readers will discover tips and techniques for maintaining a garden year-round; harvesting herbs; designing by bloom season; turning garden refuse into garden rewards; building teepees, trellises, and other plant supports; and much more. Featuring handpicked selections from dozens of publications from Rodale Books, this massive collection is full of indispensable and trusted advice from some of the most respected gardening authors in the world. And with hundreds of black-and-white illustrations and photographs as well as step-by-step projects, key gardening resources, and essential information on countless plant species, Garden Wisdom & Know-How is a must-have volume for both the aspiring and the experienced gardener. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This latest addition to the bestselling Wisdom & Know-How series is a complete home reference for everything you need to know about gardening - from soil and fertilizers to growing flowers and vegetables.

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden Diane Ackerman (Perennial, 9780060505363, $13.95) In the mode of her bestseller A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman celebrates the sensory pleasures of her garden through the seasons. Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers. Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it. GREEN THUMB'S UP: A wonderfully restive book to read at day’s end. It will remind you of all the enrichment one draws from working the soil.

Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History Diane Wells and illustrated by Heather Lovett (Algonquin Books, 9781565124912, $19.95) Diana Wells, author of 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names now turns her attention to something bigger – our deep-rooted relationship with trees. As she investigates the names and meanings of trees, telling their legends and lore, she reminds us of just how innately bound we are to these protectors of our planet. Since the human race began, we have depended on them for food, shade, shelter and fuel, not to mention furniture, musical instruments, medicine utensils and more. Wells has a remarkable ability to dig up the curious and the captivating: At one time, a worm found in a hazelnut prognosticated ill fortune. Rowan trees were planted in churchyards to prevent the dead from rising from their graves. Greek arrows were soaked in deadly yew, and Shakespeare’s witches in Macbeth used “Gall of goat and slips of Yew” to make their lethal brew. One bristlecone pine, at about 4,700 years old, is thought to be the oldest living plant on earth. All this and more can be found in the beautifully illustrated pages (themselves born of birch bark!) of 100 Trees. GREEN THUMB'S UP: A botanical treat that doesn't require the sun – the perfect read for the pent-up gardener!

Don’t Throw It, Grow It!: 68 Windowsill Plants from Kitchen Scraps Deborah Peterson (Storey Books, 9781603420648, $10.95) Magic and wonder hide in unexpected places – a leftover piece of ginger, a wrinkled potato left too long in its bag, a humdrum kitchen spice rack. In Don't Throw It, Grow It! Deborah Peterson reveals the hidden possibilities in everyday foods. Peterson, former president of the American Pit Gardening Society, shows how common kitchen staples – pits, nuts, beans, seeds, and tubers – can be coaxed into lush, vibrant houseplants that are as attractive as they are fascinating. With Peterson's help, a sweet potato turns into a blooming vine; chickpeas transform into cheery hanging baskets; the humble beet becomes a dramatic centerpiece; and gingerroot grows into a 3-foot, bamboo-like stalk. In some cases the transformation can happen overnight! Don't Throw It, Grow It! offers growing instructions for over 50 plants in four broad categories – kitchen vegetables; fruits and nuts; herbs and spices; and more exotic plants from ethnic markets. The book is enhanced with beautiful illustrations, and its at-a-glance format makes it a quick and easy reference. Best of all, every featured plant can be grown in a kitchen, making this handy guide a must-have for avid gardeners and apartment-dwellers alike. Don't Throw It, Grow It! will appeal both to committed recyclers and to anyone who wants to find magic in the mundane – from parents and teachers looking to instill a sense of wonder in children, to the houseplant enthusiast seeking to create a one-of-a-kind Eden right in her kitchen. GREEN THUMB'S UP: You don’t need a big yard – or a few acres – to have great fun. This is a perfect book for “cultivating” a gardening interest in young ones, and nicely introduces some practical consequences of recycling.

The Ever Blooming Flower Garden: A Blueprint for Continuous Color Lee Schneller (Storey Books, 9781603421393, $19.95) Lee Schneller has used her fun and easy blueprint system to design hundreds of gardens that begin blooming in late spring and don’t quit until the last days of autumn. Now you can apply her no-fail formula to your own yard. In just five easy steps – measure and draw, set height proportions, calculate plant numbers, begin the blueprint, and choose your plants – you can plan a foolproof season of nonstop colorful blooms. This volume includes questionnaires and checklists to help you choose the best plants for your garden, a Flower Catalog listing 220 easy-care possibilities, a plant planning chart that doubles as a shopping list, and complete growing information and maintenance tips. Season-spanning spectacular color is easier to attain than ever before. b>GREEN THUMB'S UP: Oh, it’s so nice to have a palette of colors rather than piles of white snow!

The Garden Primer Barbara Damrosch (Workman, 978603421393, $18.95) Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remain – she is still an "old-fashioned dirt gardener" at heart. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This is one of the most comprehensive, entertaining, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference ever.

1000 Garden Ideas Stafford Cliff (Artisan, 9781579653484, $35.00) In more than forty years of travel, Stafford Cliff—designer and gardener—has gathered a planet’s worth of inspiration on elements to enhance a garden. The result is 1000 Garden Ideas, a visual encyclopedia bursting with just about every garden idea ever invented by man or inspired by nature, artfully presented in more than 1000 photographs. Plantings may be the essence of the garden, whether it’s a tiny patch in the backyard or acres of land extending for as far as the eye can see. But elements worthy of the planting can take a garden to unique and exciting new heights. With a designer’s eye and a gardener’s heart, Cliff has assembled an endless array of ideas, from all over the world, to make a garden more personal: fences and pools, paths and benches, statues and waterfalls, borders and bridges – even birdhouses and follies. Within each category are hundreds of illustrated examples, ranging from traditional to contemporary; from simple to complex; from homey and rustic to downright Byzantine. It’s all here, whatever your taste, your need, or your fantasy. And if you’re breathless with so many choices, Stafford Cliff is there to help you arrive at the best decisions for your own particular space, through a series of questions: •Do you want privacy or maximum light? •Do you envision a contrast to the style of your home or neighborhood, or complete harmony? •Do you prefer peace and quiet, or the soothing sounds of rustling leaves, bubbling water, and bird song? There’s glorious visual advice on plants and plantings: what kinds of containers to put them in; how to use them in your space; what to surround them with; and much more. In addition, an extensive list of suppliers makes it possible for you to turn inspiration into reality. If you’re a seasoned gardener, or even if you’re an aspiring one, this is a book for you, lush with ideas for the garden of your dreams. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This stunning resource containing hundreds of garden design ideas and suggestions – all perfect for dreaming away an evening.

Succulent Container Gardens Debra Lee Baldwin (Timber Press, 9780881929591, $29.95) With their colorful leaves, sculptural shapes, and simple care, succulents are beautiful yet forgiving plants for pots. If grown in containers, these dry-climate jewels – with which include but are not limited to cacti – can be brought indoors in winter and so can thrive anywhere in the world. In this inspiring compendium, the popular author of Designing with Succulents provides everything beginners and experienced gardeners need to know to create stunning container displays of exceptionally waterwise plants. The extensive palette includes delicate sedums, frilly echeverias, cascading senecios, edgy agaves, and fat-trunked beaucarneas, to name just a few. Easy-to-follow, expert tips explain soil mixes, over-wintering, propagation, and more. Define your individual style as you effectively combine patterns, colors, textures, and forms. Discover how top designers interpret the dramatic options, in ideas ranging from exquisite plant-and-pot combinations to extraordinary topiaries and bonsai. Expand your repertoire with plump-leaved plants that resemble pebbles, stars, and undersea creatures. Short on space? Create vertical gardens and hanging baskets, and use daisy-like rosettes in wall displays. Each of the more than 300 photographs offers an inspiring idea. A-to-Z descriptions cover 350 of the best succulents, plus companion plants. Whether your goal is a gorgeous potted garden for a sunny windowsill or outdoor living area – or simply making great gifts – this is a comprehensive primer for creating vibrant, living works of art. GREEN THUMB'S UP: This book features stylish and easy-to-grow succulents that are perfect for pots.