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

Friend bought this and I had to have one, too. Good reference book which is a pleasure to look at and dream.

I've loved perennials for years, and I am working on a new garden. The combinations shown and the instructions will be very helpful. There are several plants I have not considered in the past (globe thistles for example). There are some invasive species in the book, but there are notes regarding those.

Burrell has an eye for putting perennials together in ways that make garden colors sing. The cover is a prime example. That Red Valerian is something you don't see all that often in garden centers, yet it is lovely and blooms all season long, so I was glad to learn about it and what it goes well with. The book made me aware of the many lesser-known or overlooked perennials that seem to be out there, even if you might have to search online to find them. It is filled with color photographs, and has ideas and design plans for just about every conceivable type of color palette, climate, and season you're working with, be it woodland, waterside, desert, or tropical. Maybe I'm jaded, but despite the dozens of garden styles presented here, relatively few were so breathtaking that they stopped me in my tracks. Hence the four stars.

I reference this book constantly. The illustrated plans are so helpful. The more experience I get gardening the more I love it. Just buy the book.

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.

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!

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!

Such an informative beautiful book worth every cent.Can’t think of any Gardner or lover of flowers wouldn’t appreciate.

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.

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.

Beautifully illustrated but all though it is in great condition, it is still a secondhand library book