Perennial Combinations: Stunning Combinations That Make Your Garden Look Fantastic Right from the Start (Rodale Garden Book)

Exactly what I was looking for! The book is so practical with clear ideas on combining and arranging the perfect flowers/ perennials in my own growing and ever evolving garden! I’m working on changing from a standard vegetable garden to one that includes perennials for both tea and cut flowers. This book was a huge help! If you’re not sure where to start, this book is the one to get!

This compact book is packed with inspiration, colorful photos and examples of color combinations!! This is exactly what I was looking for because the photos give you a real feel for how the plants will look together. One of the gardens I am planning this year is a butterfly garden and I was pleased this has a great example of plants grown together to encourage butterflies and other pollinators. There are so many combinations of colors and styles as well as special gardens (shade, wet, dry, etc...), even as an experienced gardener I found some terrific new ideas in this book. Happy I made this purchase!

This book is exactly what I was looking for! As a new gardener, I needed prescriptive info on tried and true plant combinations that would make my garden beautiful. This book provided exactly this info, with an amazing trove of plant combinations, insight on how to care for plants, what types of environments they are suited for, why the combinations make sense from a design / color perspective, and even templates for sample designs with a prescriptive list of plants for each design. Sooo helpful!! I can’t wait to try a few of the recommendations in my own garden.

One of the drawbacks of buying gardening books online is that you can't see the photos. If I had thumbed through this book in a bookstore I don't know if I would have purchased it. Not that it doesn't have a lot of good information and ideas, but the photos could be better: the color is garish and over-saturated and the images actually look blurry. Also, many of the plant combo photos are very close up, which doesn't help when you are trying to figure out how to place your perennials when planting. For me, a good gardening book has to not only give useful information and how-tos (which this book does for the most part), but it has to inspire with lovely photos! And that is where this book disappoints. I do like the illustrations of various combinations. Addendum: Four years later, I find that I still look through this book every spring for inspiration and ideas. So overall I'd say a good addition to one's gardening library!

I have this book already. I bought it as a gift for someone who aspires to be a landscaper. I am a horticulturalist and work in a high end garden retail and this is hands down the best book I own. It gives inspiration and easy to follow with great tips along the way. This book is so simplified that even a garden novice won't feel like they can't understand what's said and designs to easily replicate. If you're going to get one perennial book out there, this is the one! Even troubleshoots problematic situations like wet areas, dry, and heavy shade. This is a great gift also for anyone who likes to play in the dirt!

If you've ever drooled over perfectly arranged landscapes designed with fabulous color combinations, texture, and an array of plants all sizes and shapes who's colors are pleasing to the eye, this book is your tool. There are many garden companies that offer pre-designed gardens, but they're expensive and sometimes have plants that you just don't care for. This book gives you ideas, plans, tips on how to combine plants in such a way that it looks like a professional landscaper came and did all the work. Every design is wonderful, the photography is superb and the gardens are beautiful. A real asset for anyone who wants to have a beautiful garden without paying a designer/landscaper to do it for you. A great book.

Well organized and very useful. Although this version was updated back in 2008, it's full of great ideas. Many books will have pretty pictures but then not tell you what plants were used. The author presented pictures, id'd plants used, made sure to explain what & why they work together. Also showed alternatives and combos for special sites (clay, dry, wet soils, ponds). Lots of cottage style beds really packed w/plants (my style is more foliage) but provided great information on creating texture combos. Gorgeous pics of rolling landscapes obviously maintained by a hired team of gardeners -- while pretty -- isn't anything I can afford nor help me design a tiny 3' x 5' bed. This book does. This is not a comprehensive reference book - it's an idea book that also gives helpful antidotal info and garden plot plans w/detailed plant list. I have a ton of garden books I may never open again -- this one is full of tabbed pages of ideas I'll be reaching for. I plan to look for more garden books by C. Colston Burrell.

I have been gardening for about 15 years. I have read more gardening books than I can count, visited public gardens for ideas and spent hours in garden centers. This is the single best resource I have. I bought this only a month ago and it has already transformed my garden. I already had some of the plants in my garden, and when I resituated them according to her suggestions, viola! Instant impact! I have half the book dogeared and underlined. ~I’ve seen numerous reviews complaining about grainy, unclear pictures. There must be more than one printing of this. The pictures in my book are clear and beautiful.

I bought this for my husband as he is the gardener in this household and he LOVES it. Uses it regularly for reference.

Gorgeous photography shows great combinations for your perennial gardens. This is coffee table worthy as well as a practical guide, because it is so well done in terms of content and presentation. This was one I had from my local library so many times that I eventually bought it, and have not regretted having it on my gardening reference shelf for quite a few years now. I find this a particularly inspiring and helpful book when I plan my summer garden each winter/spring. Every year, I try to turn more of my gardens from annuals to perennials, and this book has assisted to make colour, texture, height and such considerations easier, in relation to the other perennials already in the garden, to work with favourite annuals, or to make a new bed altogether utilizing suggested combos in the book.

My mother and I both loved this book. It is a fantastic bible for anyone to bring along with them to the garden centre. Gives details on where to plant, what to plant with, and how to take proper care of your Canadian perennials!

A book crammed full of beautiful photographs of possible combinations for every area of your garden. Excellent written information as well. Really loved the diagrams and schematics towards the rear of the book. The only negative was that I saw a lot of common names of plants (as opposed to the addition of latin and/or cultivar names); There is such a variation of plants today that if newbies (to gardening) intend to duplicate any of the combinations from the book you really need this information. Great book and excellent value.

Lots of info!