3 comments about Touring Texas Gardens.

1. I'm a gardener in California, and was looking for something to help me select worthwile gardens to visit while touring Texas on vacation. This book fills the bill admirably.



2. Nothing is more invigorating and tranquil than a walk in a lovingly tended garden, and this wonderful book guides the lucky reader to the best such spots in Texas. Touring Texas Gardens catalogues the most seductive gardens over the sprawling state, complete with descriptions of their territory, lists of their flora and fauna, contact information, and driving instructions.
   
   Jessie Gunn Stephens, a well-known Texas naturalist and columnist who specializes in gardening, has created a carefully and exhaustively researched book that makes a wise and friendly companion for trips to these special places.
   
   I especially appreciate the book's "bird alerts," which remind readers which avian friends they will meet in these gardens and when each species is likely be there.
   
   This book is a rare treasure. You might like to keep an extra copy in the car.
   
   Bob Huffaker



3. This directory spotlights the best of Texas gardens. Many are hard-to-find treasures you'll recommend to gardening friends and family as great destination spots, or as ideal along-the-way travel breaks while driving through the state.

   The guide book provides details about each special garden: days and hours, garden type, size, themes, special "don't-miss" features, and even "bird alert" notes for birders. Many Texans don't know about these secret places -- I didn't! -- but with TOURING TEXAS GARDENS you'll find favorites to return to, time and again.

2 comments about Southern Living Garden Guide Shrubs (Southern Living Garden Guides).

1. I've lived all my life in the north, and so I know northern gardening well. However, I moved to southeastern N. Carolina 3 years ago, and discovered that it's a whole different world for gardening, given the intensity of heat and humidity. Plus, in New England I learned how to make plants grow in rocky soil. Here the trick is to get anything to grow in sand.
   
   This was the first garden guide book I bought, and four more followed - and this is the only one I constantly use. I've landscaped my entire yard based on its advice. It gives all the common shrubs, shows what they look like in color pictures, offers information on the kind of soil they like (acidic, sandy, well drained, etc.), light requirements, which bugs they're vulnerable too... I lost the book when I left it at a garden center accidentally - and I immediately came to Amazon to get another copy.
   
   For information on growing southern shrubs this is the place to go.



2. This is a good resource guide for anyone who has questions about shrubs. The planting guides, soil requirements, watering tips, sunlight needs, etc. all play a big factor in the success of any plants, especially the ones that require a little extra care for outside growth.

No comments about Gardens of the French Riviera.

No comments about Japan Towards Totalscape: Contemporary Japanese Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape.

No comments about Landscaping With Nature: Using Nature's Designs to Plan Your Yard.

3 comments about Spanish for the Green Industry.

1. I needed a book that could quickly help me communicate with hispanic workers. I do speak some spanish, but didn't have the vocabulary necessary for greenhouse workers.
   
   This book didn't help me a lot, but it did make me realize that I am not as dumb as I thought I was. It also made me laugh, with some of the "dialogues" and picto-grams (check out the mierde de gonzo).
   
   Unfortunately, I also thought it was a tad on the racist, or perhaps culturally biased, side. For example, the dialogue about teaching the hispanic worker how to use a riding mower. At the end, the hispanic is screaming for help on the runaway mower. Funny? yes. Appropriate? I think not.
   In case you think I'm being hypersensitive, remember that I work with hispanics 6 days a week, in triple digit heat in SC. I have discovered that most Americans I come in contact with through my work are intolerant, if not downright angry, at Hispanics, legal or not. Every day I remind other people that these men and women traveled here, away from their own towns, churches, friends, families, spouses, and sometimes their young children, just to work hard, at a barely living wage in most cases, so they can send money home to support not just their immediate family, but their extended family as well (aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandparents & in-laws) Their family is getting better food and a better education because of their sacrifice.
   
   How many of you would do that?
   
   How many of you would spend a year, or more, on a farm in Russia, or China, or Pakistan, so that your children could have better food and a better school? That's right, on a farm where no one speaks your language, treats you like c**p, laughs at you, pays you a LOT less than "their own kind", and are sure your going to steal. No cell phone, no nice house, no cable tv; and you get to share an apt. with your brother, 2 sisters, and a cousin. Oh, yeah, and you have to pay that country $1500 dollars for the privelege.
   
   On the other hand, there are wonderful inserts in this book that spell out how to be more understanding at work with Hispanics, and explain their culture and society and how it affects their work here - either the book was written by a split personality, or their is more than one hand in it.
   
   Buy it used.



2. This is an entertaining workbook with lots of pictures, matching exericises, crossword puzzles, multiple choice quizes, and worksheets. The vocabularly is very useful for gardening work. Each chapter has a very good description of some cultural differences between Anglos and Hispanics they might employ as gardeners. It seems like a lot of money to pay for a workbook, but then the subject is quite specialized, and the book is fun to work through. It would be great to have the flashcards advertized with the book, but another reviewer says that neither they nor the advertized audio tapes come with it.



3. I just received this book, have not gotten into it yet, but noticed that the Flashcards and Audio Cassette Tape mentioned in the description, are NOT INCLUDED in the shipment.

   Once I get over my resentment I expect I will get a lot out of the workbook, the layout is clear and there are useful topics I did not expect.

No comments about Garden Ornament.

No comments about The Comfortable Garden: Designs for Harmonious Living.

No comments about Modern Family Gardens (Exterior Angles).

No comments about Creative Landscaping: Ideas, Designs, and Blueprints.