The Year in Trees: Superb Woody Plants for Four-season Gardens Book

Now that The Year in Trees from the North Carolina State University Arboretum is available in paperback, there's no reason that every American town park designer, landscaper, home gardener, and "plantsman" (a pet term of late coauthor J.C. Raulston) shouldn't have a copy. In her extensive portraits of 150 woody plants (trees, shrubs, and vines), Kim Tripp reveals herself to be a plantsman on a mission. Whether rescuing underappreciated plants like Catalpa from undeserved weed-tree status, introducing readers to nonnative varieties like Korean lilac that have proved easy to grow in the United States, or reintroducing gardeners to "grande dames" like the southern magnolia, Tripp's goal to encourage greater diversity in landscape plantings is in passionate evidence. The authors risk alienating readers--or at least commercial nursery owners--with their repeated case for variety. In his fine introduction, Raulston writes of gardeners "distracted and mesmerized by the many spring blockbusters" available at the local chain nurseries, whose proprietors tend to ignore less common but often more appropriate and interesting plants in pursuit of easy profit. "Azaleas, azaleas everywhere and no relief in sight!" Tripp writes with exasperation in her portrait of Fothergilla, her suggested alternative to the ubiquitous flowering shrub. Her choices are bold and sometimes antagonistic, but always reasonable and based on rigorous, wide-ranging data collection. The featured plants, arranged into spring, summer, fall, and winter sections, are all shown in one or more color photograph, making The Year in Trees an invaluable reference, not to mention a new classic, for home gardeners. --Liana Fredley Read More