The New Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide Flexibound – February 7, 2012

The Western Sunset Garden Book is my favorite most well worn gardening book-----and I have many! This latest one (I get a new one every several years) seems to have lost something, though I'm not sure what. For one thing, I didn't always know the botanical name of a plant but if I looked up the layman's name, it was listed with a reference of the correct botanical name. Now I'm on my own and have to instead do a google search. Some of the layout and helpful hints aren't as well laid out as in the past it seems. I love the pictures and it's still my favorite book but just not quite as well done as before; I find myself referring back to the old books. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I guess I get new books now and then because over the years new plants and hybrid varieties pop up and I like to be updated. This year it has been hard to find this book at the big box stores or the nurseries. Maybe Sunset should consider "why".

This is hands down the best gardening book for learning about plants, especially plants that are native to your region. It truly is my Gardening Bible, complete with some of my own pressed flowers from my garden and of course, dirt on some of the pages. It is a well-loved book. I'm not sure why Amazon is charging $75 for this book though when it retails for $44.95 (US). Sorry Amazon, I bought mine for $45 "elsewhere".

The only reason I didn't give 1 star is due to the craftsmanship of the physical book, which is quite nice. It's a shame they couldn't have someone else draft better content for such a nice book.Let me explain why I don't recommend this product. First, it claims to be a guidebook. If it is supposed to be a guidebook, it should be organized like a guidebook. Instead, the first section is a mixture of garden ideas, inspiration, and the like. The next section, which constitutes the bulk of the book, is an encyclopedia of plants. However, if it's supposed to be an encyclopedia, it should be organized like an encyclopedia. Instead of organizing plants by physical characteristics, such as flowering plants, shrubs, vines, etc., its sections are things like "deer-resistant plants," "best plants for patios," and "best plants for shade." Not only that, but the pictures of the plants are taken extremely zoomed-in with a Macro lens so you can't even see what the actual plant looks like. You have no idea if the plant will be two feet tall or ten feet tall by the close up photos. There are many qualitative / subjective descriptions of the plants rather than objective attributes, which not only comes across as very unprofessional but not useful - again, it's supposed to be a guidebook. I want facts. If I want poetry about flowers I'll consult my 6 year old niece.The next section, which is quite short, is the most useful section, and contains tips on planting, seeds, and the like. I found this section helpful but it was very short, perhaps 10-15 pages.Overall the book is organized like a magazine rather than a professional guidebook. I was quite disappointed by the lack of professionalism in the content of the book and made the decision to return it after flipping through the book for about 15 minutes.I was told that this is the bible of gardening in the West. I'm shocked that someone hasn't come along and come out with a better guidebook. For the price of $90 I expect a professional guidebook, not a disorganized magazine. There is definitely an opportunity for someone with a business sense to take over the marketshare this book has with a better guidebook.The way it should have been organized:Section 1: Plants - their biology, parts, life cycle, hardiness, and reproduction mechanismsSection 2: Organizational structure of the plant kingdomSection 3: Ecology of plants and their interaction with animals, insects, and humansSection 4: Uses of plants - crops, medicines, herbs, decorative, etc.Section 5: Planting, transplanting, propagation, cultivation, care, and plant maintenanceSection 6: Encyclopedia of plants by functional groupSection 7: Misc. (add in the author's ideas here)

This is THE gardening bible if you live In the west. Go to any nursery and you'll find a worn copy stashed behind the register. Find yourself at a nursery without your copy you can ask to borrow theirs. When I'm stateside I usually carry a copy in the car spring and summer in case I stop at a nursery. It's the undisputed authority on plants out here.However I have a beef and hence the four checks rather than five. I'm in Hawaii, specifically H1 and eagerly looked forward to this edition hoping there would be some expansion on the section dealing with Hawaii. Alas, there was even LESS included than in the last edition. Go to the local Home Depot and you'll find many plants not included in the book. The stores are all located in zone H1 and info re their suitability to survive in zone H2 where I live is sorely lacking.So we here in Hawaii are a small group with a myriad of unique plants unheard of in other western states. I think devoting a page or two more would go a long way in addressing our needs here. Another solution would be a separate book like others Sunset offers for specific situations like Easy-Care Plantings, Western Landscaping, Problem Solver, etc.

This book breaks down the western United States into a number of more-specific climate zones than the USDA climate map does. This makes matching the climate of your locality to the plants that will do well there much easier. The first section shows all the western climate maps along with descriptions of each zone. The second contains lists of specific plants recommended for selected landscape needs, and the third and largest section is an alphabetical listing of thousands of varieties of plants. This includes both ornamental plants and those that provide fruit or nuts of some kind. If you are looking for a shade tree that won't litter all over your yard, or a small, ornamental tree for a particular location, or blackberry varieties that will grow happily where you do, this is the book to have. My caveat is that this book is revised and reprinted at much wider intervals than new fruit tree varieties are introduced, so there may be newer varieties available at my nursery that I can't find in my book. This means I have to look elsewhere for the information I need. But all the information that IS in the book is invaluable indeed, and stays relevant no matter how long you keep this book.Note: garden vegetables aren't included in this catalog, because 1) there are hundreds of cultivars of any one type of vegetable, and 2) new ones are added so frequently that you'd have to revise and re-issue the book once a year to stay current. Boy, do I wish there was one, though!

As a Master Gardener, I can vouch for this gardening book - it's one of the first one's I reach for when I need to look something up.

Good clean book as described

Great book, super informative!! A definite must have for every gardener!! Great new full colour pictures compared to the older version.

Excellent productExcellent delivery

Excellent