The cottage garden

by Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd's Garden Flowers is an extensive and opinionated summary of a lifetime's gardening experience. He sets the stage by explaining what perennials are and what their particular advantage is in the garden, a wonderful first glimpse at his design theories. The introduction continues with inspirational, practical, and blunt ("A plant has no business to be dull in company -- same with humans.") advice on planning and planting a garden. After a dig at botanists' penchant for renaming families, he leaps directly into his assessment of Acanthus in the course of his alphabetical journey to Zigadenus. Lloyd touches on large and small genuses, both common and obscure. He describes the height and habit of the plants, garden situations in which they have worked well for him, and any pests or diseases that they are particularly susceptible to. The photos demonstrate the imaginative combinations Lloyd has described and the true versatility of perennials.