Have you read this?
An archive of featured books
April 30, 2012
A Landscape History of New England
edited by Blake Harrison and Richard W. Judd, with an afterword by John Elder
A Landscape History of New England takes a view of New England’s landscapes that goes beyond picture postcard-ready vistas of white-steepled churches, open pastures, and tree-covered mountains. Its chapters describe, for example, the Native American presence in the Maine Woods; offer a history of agriculture told through stone walls, woodlands, and farm buildings; report on the fragile ecology of tourist-friendly Cape Cod beaches; and reveal the ethnic stereotypes informing Colonial Revivalism. Taken together, they offer a wide-ranging history of New England’s diverse landscapes, stretching across two centuries. The book shows that all New England landscapes are the products of human agency as well as nature. The authors trace the roles that work, recreation, historic preservation, conservation, and environmentalism have played in shaping the region, and they highlight the diversity of historical actors who have transformed both its meaning and its physical form.
Drawing on a wide range of disciplines—including history, geography, environmental studies, literature, art history, and historic preservation—the book provides fresh perspectives on New England’s many landscapes: forests, mountains, farms, coasts, industrial areas, villages, towns, and cities. Generously illustrated, with many archival photographs, A Landscape History of New England offers readers a solid historical foundation for understanding the great variety of places that make up New England.
A Landscape History of New England is included in our New Books List for April 30, 2012.
April 9, 2012
Writings on Public Parks, Parkways, and Park Systems
The Frederick Law Olmsted Papers Project, Supplementary Series Volume 1
by Frederick Law Olmsted, edited by Charles E. Beveridge and Carolyn F. Hoffman
This volume contains Olmsted’s most significant articles, lectures, and reports concerning public parks and recreation grounds. It contains several general discussions of the subject, including Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns (1870) and A Consideration of the Justifying Value of a Public Park (1881). Also included are his remarkable reports on individual parks and park systems that combine general observations with specific proposals, including reports on New York’s Central Park, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Mount Royal in Montreal, Belle Isle in Detroit, Franklin Park in Boston, the Niagara Reservation, and a park system for Buffalo.
Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library holds each volume of the series published thus far. Volumes 8 and 9 will be available in 2012 and 2015, respectively.
Writings on Public Parks, Parkways, and Park Systems is included in our list,
The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted and other works, April 9, 2012.
March 19, 2012
The Nature of New Hampshire: Natural Communities of the Granite State
by Dan Sperduto and Ben Kimball
This illuminating and instructive book explores New Hampshire’s stunning mosaic of natural communities. In photos, drawings, and accessible text, The Nature of New Hampshire takes you on a tour of landscapes as varied as alpine meadows, tidal marshes, riverbanks, forests, ponds, dunes, and cliffs. Readers will gain a new understanding and appreciation for the state’s exceptional natural heritage. Natural communities are recurring associations of plants and animals found in particular physical environments. They are dynamic habitats characterized by the presence and interactions of native species. Based on more than twenty years of ecological research, the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau developed the classification of the nearly 200 natural community types presented in this essential guide. The communities are organized into eight categories: alpine and sub-alpine, rocky ground, forests, peatlands, swamps, marshes, river channels and floodplains, and seacoast.
The Nature of New Hampshire is included in our New Books List for March 19, 2012.
March 5, 2012
An Illustrated Guide to Pruning
by Edward Gilman
This third edition is a must-have for anyone interested in the pruning and maintenance of trees. Filled with new illustrations, photographs, and examples, this completely updated guide is designed to help readers understand and implement the appropriate pruning practices that are vital to developing sustainable structure in the first 25 years of a tree’s life.
Coverage includes a variety of information about the challenges associated with pruning including disease prevention, root pruning, mature tree pruning, and restoration following storms.
An Illustrated Guide to Pruning is included in our New Books List for March 5, 2012.
February 15, 2012
Creating Small Habitats For Wildlife In Your Garden
by Josie Briggs
Everyone can enjoy the delights of a garden which attracts wildlife. With today’s concerns about pollution and habitat loss, ever more gardeners are using organic methods of cultivation, eschewing chemicals and actively encouraging wildflowers and creatures to colonize their gardens. In a well-planned garden there is room for people and wildlife.
Josie Briggs shows how to successfully create and maintain garden habitats, covering woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, and rocklands in depth.
Creating Small Habitats For Wildlife In Your Garden is included in our New Books List for February 15, 2012.
February 1, 2012
Greening the City: Urban Landscapes in the Twentieth Century
edited by Dorothee Brantz and Sonja Dümpelmann
The modern city is not only pavement and concrete. Parks, gardens, and trees and other plants are an integral part of the urban environment. Often the focal points of social movements and political interests, green spaces represent far more than simply an effort to balance the man-made with the natural. A city’s history with—and approach to—its parks and gardens reveals much about its workings and the forces acting upon it. Our green spaces offer a unique and valuable window on the history of city life.
The essays in Greening the City span over a century of urban history, moving from fin-de-siècle Sofia to green efforts in urban Seattle. The authors present a wide array of cases that speak to global concerns through the local and specific, with topics that include green space planning in Barcelona and Mexico City, the distinction between public and private nature in Los Angeles, the ecological diversity of West Berlin, and the historical and cultural significance of hybrid spaces designed for sports. The essays collected here may spur us think differently about how we study cities, as well as how we live in them.
Greening the City is included in our New Books List for February 1, 2012.
January 3, 2012
Invasive Species of Southern New England
by Alexey Zinovjev and Irina Kadis
In southern New England, as in much of the United States, the arrival of invasive species has dramatically changed many of our ecosystems. And as new species make their way into our region, the threat of further ecological and economic damage is increasing. Invasives can kill valuable trees and crowd out native vegetation that wildlife depend on.
Early detection is the most effective and least costly way to deal with invasive species. When they are caught early, invasive species can usually be controlled. If you spend time outside, whether gardening, hunting, fishing, exploring your own land or enjoying public land, you can be a key player in early detection of and rapid response to invasive species.
By educating yourself on invasive species and keeping an eye out for them when you’re working on your property, walking in a local park, or hiking in the forest, you can make a major contribution to our environment’s health.
This guidebook is co-authored by Arnold Arboretum staff member Irina Kadis. She and co-author Alexey Zinovjev are recipients of the 2011 Education Award from the New England Wild Flower Society for their work with the Friends of Myles Standish State Forest, providing seedlings of native plants, leading numerous education programs, and also for their website, Salicicola.
Invasive Species of Southern New England is included in our New Books List for January 3, 2012.
December 12, 2011
Botanical Sketchbook
by Mary Ann Scott and Margaret Stevens
Experience a master class in botanical illustration through one woman’s development from enthusiastic amateur painter to accomplished botanical artist. While studying for a distance learning diploma from the Society of Botanical Arts, Mary Ann Scott began an extraordinary correspondence with Margaret Stevens, the society’s president, who offered advice and critique.
Including firsthand accounts of the joys and challenges Mary Ann faced as she progressed through the course, Botanical Sketchbook is sure to inspire artists of all skill levels. It is beautifully illustrated and packed with practical advice on all aspects of botanical painting in watercolor.
Botanical Sketchbook is included in our New Books List for December 12, 2011.
November 28, 2011
Oaks in the Urban Landscape: Selection, Care and Preservation
by Laurence R. Costello, Bruce W. Hagen, and Katherine S. Jones
Oaks are highly valued in urban areas for their aesthetic, environmental, economic and cultural benefits. However, significant impacts to the health and structural stability of oaks have resulted from urban encroachment. Changes in environment, incompatible cultural practices, and pest problems can all lead to the early demise of our stately oaks.
Using this book you’ll learn how to effectively manage and protect oaks in urban areas existing oaks as well as the planting of new oaks. Three key areas are addressed: selection, care, and preservation. You ll learn how cultural practices, pest management, risk management, preservation during development, and genetic diversity can all play a role in preserving urban oaks.
Arborists, urban foresters, landscape architects, planners and designers, golf course superintendents, academics, and Master Gardeners alike will find this to be an invaluable reference guide.
Working together we can help assure that oaks will be a robust and integral component of the urban landscape for years to come.
Oaks in the Urban Landscape is included on our New Books List for November 28, 2011.
November 14, 2011
All Creatures: Naturalists, Collectors, and Biodiversity, 1850-1950
by Robert E. Kohler
We humans share Earth with 1.4 million known species and millions more species that are still unrecorded. Yet we know surprisingly little about the practical work that produced the vast inventory we have to date of our fellow creatures. How were these multitudinous creatures collected, recorded, and named? When, and by whom?
Here a distinguished historian of science tells the story of the modern discovery of biodiversity. Robert Kohler argues that the work begun by Linnaeus culminated around 1900, when collecting and inventory were organized on a grand scale in natural history surveys. Supported by governments, museums, and universities, biologists launched hundreds of collecting expeditions to every corner of the world. Kohler conveys to readers the experience and feel of expeditionary travel: the customs and rhythms of collectors’ daily work, and its special pleasures and pains.
A novel twist in this story is that survey collecting was rooted not just in science but also in new customs of outdoor recreation, such as hiking, camping, and sport hunting. These popular pursuits engendered a wide scientific interest in animals and plants and inspired wealthy nature-goers to pay for expeditions. The modern discovery of biodiversity became a reality when scientists’ desire to know intersected with the culture of outdoor vacationing. General readers as well as scholars will find this book fascinating.
All Creatures: Naturalists, Collectors, and Biodiversity is included on our New Books List for November 14, 2011.
October 31, 2011
The Book of Nature: the Natural Heritage according to UNESCO
This book presents unique sites from around the world, the last remnants of paradise on earth for plants and animals. These fantastic geological formations and extraordinary landscapes are all now under the protection of the global community.
Over 200 Natural Heritage sites are detailed with large-format color photographs, ranging from the fjords of Norway and the beech forests of the Carpathians in Europe, through the magnificent national parks of North America, conservation areas in the Andes, and the rainforests of the Amazon, to the wildlife reserves of East Africa and the last refuges of Siberian tigers, Indian rhinoceroses, and orangutans in Asia. Additional features pages are dedicated to particularly endangered species.
The Book of Nature: the Natural Heritage according to UNESCO is included on our New Books List for October 31, 2011.
October 17, 2011
Ancestral Realms of the Naxi: Quentin Roosevelt’s China
edited by Christine Mathieu and Cindy Ho
The Naxi people are an ethnic minority of Yunnan Province, in southwestern China. Their culture has developed at a crossroad of the civilizations of China, Tibet, and South and Central Asia to produce a rich mythology and religious culture called Dongba. A folk religion with ancient roots in animism and shamanism, Dongba is a syncretic practice with elements of Chinese and Tibetan traditions and especially the Bon religion. Its corpus comprises about one thousand ceremonies and subceremonies, contained in extraordinary manuscripts written in the world’s only pictographic script. The Donga priests are also artisans, and artists. While their art and artifacts show a connection to Tibet, China, and India, the Dongba religion is endowed with a unique aesthetic freedom and a vigorous and distinctive art and iconography.
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Naxi art and culture through rare artifacts, many collected from Quentin Roosevelt (the grandson of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt) on his travels to China in 1939 at the age of nineteen, and Joseph Rock, who lived among the Naxi from 1922 to 1949. The objects include funeral scrolls, ceremonial banners, paintings, and crowns and ritual implements such as trumpets, bells, and swords, as well as pictographic manuscripts. The book provides essays on Dongba art, religion, ritual language and scripts, Naxi history and society, and biographical pieces on Quentin Roosevelt and Joseph Rock.
Ancestral Realms of the Naxi is included on our New Books List for October 17, 2011.
October 3, 2011
From Another Kingdom: The Amazing World of Fungi
edited by Lynne Boddy and Max Coleman
Fungi have a long history of association with death, decay, and dark malevolent forces. They also cause serious economic loss through diseases of plant crops in particular. They can easily be cast as the “monster.” Contrary to this negative image, fungi are at the heart of crucial “life-support” processes. For example, decomposition releases nutrients for reuse; fungi really are the ultimate recyclers.
Written for the non-specialist, and making full use of the extraordinary diversity and beauty of fungi through stunning images, this book provides a fascinating introduction to a group of organisms whose growing habits keep them largely out of sight, overlooked and forgotten. The reality is that there is much for which fungi should be thanked.
From Another Kingdom: The Amazing World of Fungi is included on our New Books List for October 3, 2011.
September 19, 2011
Boston’s Gardens and Green Spaces
by Meg Muckenhoupt
As summer draws to a close, September is one of the best months to explore Boston’s parks and gardens. Boston’s Gardens and Green Spaces provides readers with a new way to explore the contemporary and long-revered public spaces of the Boston area. Organized into thematic categories, readers have at their fingertips all the city has to offer. Complete with chapters on community gardens, venerable botanic gardens, and grand estates, as well as gardens devoted to art, healing, and children, Meg Muckenhoupt has given every resident and visitor to Greater Boston a reason to get outdoors.
Boston’s Gardens and Green Spaces is included on our New Books List for September 19, 2011.
September 5, 2011
The Best Plants to Attract and Keep Wildlife in Your Garden: Making a Backyard Home for Animals, Birds & Insects is an easy-to-follow guide to 70 of the most common backyard species of birds, animals, and insects with tips on how to identify and attract them to your garden, and how to keep them there.
The book also presents essential facts about the habitats, feeding preferences, life cyles and behavior of each type of garden wildlife, with expert advice on how you can supplement their natural diet.
The Best Plants to Attract and Keep Wildlife in your Garden is included on our New Books List for September 5, 2011.
August 22, 2011
Rescuing Wetlands Close to Home: Ten Stories of New England Landowners celebrates the role of private property owners in preserving natural landscapes and how their efforts connect people to the land and to each other. Told through spectacular pictures, interviews, and editorial insight, Rescuing Wetlands engages readers with profiles of landowners passionate about wetlands conservation and restoration.
Stories range in size, complexity, and geography-from one woman’s effort to restore a salt marsh behind her house on Rhode Island’s Narrangansett Bay to a retired executive’s purchase and preservation of land along the river in New Hampshire where he fished as a child.
The book also features portraits of the landowners and their landscapes by Courtney Bent, an award-winning photographer who also teaches photography and produces documentary films.
Rescuing Wetlands Close to Home is included on our New Books List for August 22, 2011.
August 8, 2011
Cellular Materials in Nature and Medicine
by Lorna J. Gibson, Michael F. Ashby, and Brendan A. Harley
The book highlights the fascinating structures and unique mechanics of natural and biomedical cellular materials.
It begins by reviewing the mechanical properties of nature’s building blocks—structural proteins, polysaccharides, and minerals—and explains the mechanics of cellular materials. Images convey the structural similarities of different materials, and color property charts provide mechanical data.
Images convey the structural similarities of different materials, and color property charts provide mechanical data.
Cellular Materials in Nature and Medicine is included on our New Books List for August 8, 2011.
July 25, 2011
Bark: An Intimate Look at the World’s Trees
by Cédric Pollet
Originally published in France as Écorces: voyage dans l’intimité des arbres du monde. It is the culmination of a 10-year photographic odyssey to find the world’s most beautiful and remarkable examples of tree bark. From the silver birch to the Namibian grape, each bark image is a work of art in itself.
Each example is accompanied by a photograph of the tree in its natural environment, along with information about its origins and uses.
Cédric Pollet combines his scientific background and his passion for plants to create a highly informative text, which complements the beauty of his photographs.
Bark: An Intimate Look at the World’s Trees is included on our New Books List for July 25, 2011.
July 11, 2011
Eden on the Charles
by Michael Rawson
This book explores how Bostonians channeled country lakes through miles of pipeline to provide clean water; dredged the ocean to deepen the harbor; filled tidal flats and covered the peninsula with houses, shops, and factories; and created a metropolitan system of parks and greenways, facilitating the conversion of fields into suburbs.
A 2011 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History, this book provides a new environmental perspective on the creation of America’s first cities.
Rawson explores the impact Boston’s innovations and interactions with the environment have had on American urban life as we know it. The book includes numerous maps, historical artwork, and photographs.
Eden on the Charles is included on our New Books List for July 11, 2011.
June 27, 2011
The Tree in Photographs
by Françoise Reynaud
This book spans the history of photography from the mid-nineteenth to early-twenty-first century to address the image of the tree in its many connotations—as graphic form, symbolic icon, and role model for the beauty of nature. Published as a companion to the exhibition of In Focus: The Tree, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Tree in Photographs includes 81 plates, all selected from the Getty’s collection of photographs. The exhibit celebrates the tree as a symbol of life that reveals various artistic responses to the perennial subject.
The Arnold Arboretum’s own collections of tree photographs can be found by searching VIA or viewing one of the library’s online photo exhibits.
The Tree in Photographs is included on our New Books List for June 27th, 2011.
June 13, 2011
Children’s Book Collection
The library of the Arnold Arboretum is excited to share its new collection of children’s books! Chosen with help from the Visitor Education staff, the growing collection of books highlight the best in children’s books about plants and animals.
Published by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, The Tree Book for Kids and their Grown Ups by Gina Ingoglia features color illustrations of trees from all over the United States. The book also includes information on how trees grow, how they are structured, and how leaves change color. All text in the book has been reviewed by the scientists and educators at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
The Tree Book for Kids and their Grown Ups as well as other highlights from the library’s new children’s book collection are included on our New Books List for June 13, 2011.
May 30, 2011
2011 CBHL Award Winners and Nominees
Since 2000, the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries has given an award each year for significant works in botanical or horticultural literature. This year, the Arnold Arboretum’s Sheila Connor was a member of the panel that chose the two books honored at this year’s annual meeting.
The award in the technical division has gone to Keywords in American Landscape Design by Therese O’Malley. Keywords is an illustrated, historical dictionary of landscape design vocabulary used in North America from the 17th to the mid-19th centuries, and defines one hundred terms and concepts used in garden planning and landscape architecture.
The general interest category winner is An Oak Spring Herbaria by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi. This illustrated book on herbals is the fourth volume in a series of catalogues that describes rare books, manuscripts, and other works of art conserved at the Oak Spring Garden Library, Upperville, Virginia. An Oak Spring Herbaria includes sixty-three works from the library’s collections.
These two award winners and many of the other nominees are included in our list of 2011 CBHL Award Winners and Nominees.
April 25, 2011
The Wetlands Handbook
edited by Edward Maltby and Tom Barker
Forty-two chapters by international experts from a wide range of disciplines make The Wetlands Handbook the essential tool for those seeking comprehensive understanding of the subject. A departure from more traditional treatises, this text examines freshwater wetland ecosystem science from the fundamentals to issues of management and policy.
Introductory chapters address the scope and significance of wetlands globally for communities, culture, and biodiversity. Subsequent sections deal with processes underpinning wetland functioning, how wetlands work, their uses and values for humans and nature, their sensitivity to external impacts, and how they may be restored. The text is illustrated by numerous examples, emphasizing functional and holistic approaches to wetland management, including case studies on the wise use and rehabilitation of wetlands in farmed, urban, industrial and other damaged environments, highlighting the long-term benefits of multiple use. The Wetlands Handbook will provide an invaluable reference for researchers, managers, policy-makers and students of wetland sciences.
The Wetlands Handbook is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, April 25, 2011.
April 11, 2011
Arboretum Borealis: A Lifeline of the Planet
by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
Nothing on earth compares to the Boreal forest to maintain life on this planet. The vast primeval forest stretches across the northern regions of the world, from northern Canada and Alaska to northern Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. Boreal species can be found in cooler temperate climates everywhere, including Michigan and other cool areas of the United States, and some outliers are even found in the tropics. The circumpolar runoff from the Boreal enriches the seas with nutrients in the spring. The evergreens of the Boreal act as a passive ground coolant. And the needles of the evergreens and the trichomal hairs of the deciduous trees comb the air free of harmful minute particulate pollution.
Arboretum Borealis does for the northern forests of the world what Arboretum America did for the forests of North America. Diana Beresford-Kroeger further describes how each Boreal tree group relates to its natural environment and how these specific trees can be used to promote health or to counteract the effects of pollution and global warming.
Arboretum Borealis reveals the fascinating history of these trees in Native American culture, including their medicinal uses. Finally, Beresford-Kroeger offers practical design ideas and tips—where to plant these trees, what season they look best in, and what native plants complement them.
Arboretum Borealis is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, April 11, 2011.
March 28, 2011
Frederick Law Olmsted: Essential Texts
by Frederick Law Olmsted
Often called the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted was responsible for the design of Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City; Mount Royal Park in Montreal; the Belle Isle Park in Detroit; the Grand Necklace of Parks in Milwaukee; the Cherokee Park and entire parks system in Louisville, Kentucky; and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, to name a few of his most famous projects. His landscape works are enjoyed in 25 states and 3 Canadian provinces. Most of these parks were created during and immediately after the Civil War. This title presents the opportunity to witness the evolution of Olmsted’s design and social philosophies during a time of upheaval in American history.
Sixteen selections, dating from the 1850s to the 1890s, reveal Frederick Law Olmsted’s youthful interests as well as his mature thinking on cities, small residential sites, the history and theory of urban parks, and landscape architecture in general.
Frederick Law Olmsted: Essential Texts is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, March 28, 2011.
March 14, 2011
Extraordinary Leaves
by Dennis Schrader with photography by Stephen Green-Armytage
Leaves are everywhere, appearing in an astonishing variety of shapes, colors and textures. They are the unappreciated gifts of nature, worthy of far more extensive study by all.
Through words and images, Extraordinary Leaves provides an insightful tour of one of nature’s miracles. Topics include color, pattern, texture and shape. Among the specific plants covered are coleus, kale, caladium and ferns.
Extraordinary Leavesis included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, March 14, 2011.
February 28, 2011
Hidcote: The Making of a Garden (Revised Edition)
by Ethne Clarke
A new and enlarged edition of the standard reference on an internationally revered English garden and its designer. Known internationally as the epitome of the classic English country garden, it is perhaps less well known that Hidcote’s creator was an enigmatic American. Lawrence Johnston, an expatriate and one of the so-called “Henry James Americans,” a pedigreed member of old New York, left no diaries or significant correspondence. What he did leave, however, is a garden that continues to inspire horticulturists, gardening enthusiasts, and everyone who appreciates the beauty of nature.
First published in 1989, the book was the first biography of Johnston; for this revised and enlarged edition Clarke, the author of 15 books on landscape history and gardening, has collected much new, original material that illuminates the creation of the garden and presents Johnston’s life in the context of the period that set the seal on England’s preeminence in garden design and plantsmanship.
Hidcote: The Making of a Garden is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, February 28, 2011.
February 15, 2011
The Heritage of Trees: History, Culture and Symbolism
by Fred Hageneder
A wide-ranging study of the symbolism and cultural meaning of the tree through history, from the Cosmic Tree of antiquity to modern European, American and Asian customs and beliefs. In the companion volume, The Spirit of Trees, Fred Hageneder captivated readers with a passionate and informed account of the natural life and ecology of trees. The Heritage of Trees evokes forest customs, images and meanings of the forest from the Stone Age to modern times.
The Heritage of Trees: History, Culture and Symbolismis included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, February 15, 2011.
January 28, 2011
William Bartram, The Search for Nature’s Design: Selected Art, Letters, and Unpublished Writings
edited by Thomas Hallock and Nancy E. Hoffman
An important figure in early American science and letters, William Bartram (1739-1823) has been known almost exclusively for his classic book, Travels. William Bartram, The Search for Nature’s Design presents new material in the form of art, letters, and unpublished manuscripts. These documents expand our knowledge of Bartram as an explorer, naturalist, artist, writer, and citizen of the early Republic.
William Bartram, The Search for Nature’s Design is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, January 28, 2011.
January 10, 2011
Raffles’ Ark Redrawn: Natural History Drawings from the Collection of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
by Henry Noltie
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781–1826) is best known today as the founder of Singapore, though he was also a passionate scholar of all aspects of the Malay world. He amassed a superb collection of drawings and manuscripts during his nearly twenty years in Southeast Asia in the service of the East India Company.
Raffles’ Ark Redrawn is a lushly illustrated catalog of the 120 natural history drawings that comprise the Raffles Family Collection, acquired by the British Library in 2007.
The story of these colorful drawings of plants, birds, and mammals is a dramatic one. Chinese and French artists from the island of Sumatra composed the bulk of them during one ten-week period in 1824, in order to replace over 2,000 similar drawings, priceless Malay manuscripts, animal specimens, and living animals (including a tiger specially tamed for the voyage) that perished in a shipboard fire. Accompanied by 130 full-color illustrations, this volume captures an array of historical flora and fauna superbly reproduced for lovers of exotic plants and gardens.
Raffles’ Ark Redrawn is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, January 10, 2011.
December 2010
Gymnosperms of the United States & Canada
by Elray S. Nixon, illustrated by Bruce Lyndon Cunningham
What is a gymnosperm?
The word gymnosperm literally means “naked seed” (gymno=naked, sperm=seed). Gymnosperms have their seeds exposed unlike flowering plants, the angiosperms, which have their seeds enclosed in an ovary (i.e., fruit). The word angiosperm derives its meaning from angio=vessel, sperm=seed.
Pine trees are the most often cited example of a gymnosperm. But what about the other gymnosperms? How do we know when we see one? Do all gymnosperms have cones? These questions and many others are answered in Gymnosperms of the United States & Canada. Abundant illustrations, easy-to-follow keys, and clear descriptive text make this guide a great resource when learning about the gymnosperms in your area.
Gymnosperms of the United States & Canada is included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, December 2010.
November 2010
Up the Garden Path: Thelwell’s Guide to Gardening
by Norman Thelwell
When the family of Corliss Knapp Engle generously donated her extensive book collection to the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, this gem appeared alongside the scholarly tomes and excellent reference works.
We chose to highlight Up the Garden Path because while the other titles reflected Corliss’ vast gardening and plant knowledge, this little book speaks to her delightful wit, which we most sincerely miss.
Up the Garden Path was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, November 2010.
October 2010
Trees and Forests – A Colour Guide
by Bryan G. Bowes
Trees are one of the dominant features of our existence on earth and play a fundamental role in the environment. This book aims to give the reader an overview and understanding of trees. Subject areas covered include ecology and conservation, tree anatomy and evolution, pathology, silviculture, propagation and surgery. The different chapters cover trees from various world habitats, from northern boreal and montane coniferous forests to tropical and subtropical rainforests. The book is fully illustrated throughout with the highest quality colour photos. It will be useful to professionals and students in plant science, plant biology, ecology, conservation and to those working in forestry and arboriculture.
Trees and Forests – A Colour Guide was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, October 2010.
August 2010
Botanic Gardens: Modern Day Arks
by Sara Oldfield
All life depends on plants but they are often taken for granted in our everyday lives. It is easy to ignore the fact that we are facing a crisis, with scientists estimating that one third of all flowering plant species are threatened with extinction. Botanic Gardens: Modern Day Arks considers the essential conservation role of botanic gardens. Chapters feature gardens from around the world, including the UK, US, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Uganda, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and China, revealing how a global network is striving to save our botanical heritage. Comments and photographs from the botanists involved lend an important personal angle to the text and reveal the important but little-known work that goes on behind the scenes of these beautiful gardens.
Botanic Gardens: Modern Day Arks was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, August 2010.
August 2010
The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition
by William Robinson
First published in 1870, The Wild Garden envisioned an authentically naturalistic approach to gardening that is more vital today than ever before. William Robinson advocated for the use of hardy, locally adapted native and exotic plants arranged according to local growing conditions. The Wild Garden was ground-breaking and hugely influential in its day, and is stunningly relevant to 21st century gardeners and landscape stewards seeking to adopt sustainable design and management practices. In addition to the complete original text and illustrations from the fifth edition of 1895, this expanded edition includes new chapters and 125 color photographs by award-winning photographer and landscape consultant Rick Darke. His new material places wild gardening in modern context, underscoring Robinson’s importance in the evolution of ecological design and illustrating an inspiring diversity of contemporary wild gardens.
The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, August 2010.
July 2010
Unbounded Practice: Women and Landscape Architecture in the Early Twentieth Century
by Thaïsa Way
With the establishment of landscape architecture as a profession in the late 19th century, women have influenced the discipline through their expertise as gardeners, designers, horticulturalists, and fine artists. Their impact is widely seen and felt today in landscapes all across the world. It is surprising, then, that the history of women in landscape design has received relatively little attention. Thaïsa Way corrects this oversight. Describing design practice in landscape architecture during the first half of the twentieth century, the book serves as a narrative of women such as Beatrix Jones Farrand–Arnold Arboretum consulting landscape gardener from 1946 to 1950–and of the practice as it became a profession.
Unbounded Practice was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, July 2010.
June 2010
The Great Trees of Dorset by Andrew Pollard and Emma Brawn, with photographs by Colin Varndell
A celebration of one of Dorset’s greatest glories. With names like Billy Wilkins, the Posy Tree and Judge Wyndham’s Oak, Dorset’s ancient trees are amongst its most precious living treasures. At least two pre-date Christianity, one is the widest oak in the country. The Martyrs’ Tree has been named one of Britain’s ‘top ten’ trees. Today Dorset’s veteran trees support a rich and often internationally rare wildlife, and are at last being recognised as living icons of national importance.
The Great Trees of Dorset was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, June 2010.
May 2010
Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide
by Peter Del Tredici
Peter Del Tredici‘s lushly illustrated field guide to wild urban plants of the northeastern United States is the first of its kind. While it covers the area bounded by Montreal, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Detroit, it is broadly applicable to temperate urban environments across North America. The book covers 222 species that flourish without human assistance or approval. Rather than vilifying such plants as weeds, Del Tredici stresses that it is important to notice, recognize, and appreciate their contribution to the quality of urban life.
Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, May 2010.
April 2010
New Trees: Recent Introductions to Cultivation
by John Grimshaw and Ross Bayton
“A wealth of new trees are now thriving in the United Kingdom thanks to our changing climate. The transformation in the treescapes of the United Kingdom, Europe and North America over the very short period of the past 30 years is highlighted . . . an essential reference work for all serious gardeners and anyone interested in trees or the origins of garden plants.”
–Kew Publishing and the International Dendrology Society
New Trees was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, April 2010.
March 2010
Camellias
by Yin-Chun Shen
“This book contains a detailed introduction to the ancient records of Chinese camellia culture and history, an introduction to the history of the development of western camellias, and an introduction to the traditional camellias found in Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand. This book not only brings new knowledge to the horticultural world but also promotes the collaboration of East and West in the form of cultural exchange.”
–from the introduction by Barbara Coates Tuffli, President of the American Camellia Society.
Camellias was generously donated by the author along with his titles on azaleas and Chinese bonsai. It was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, March 2010.
February 2010
Roses: A Care Manual
by Amanda Beales
While it may be true “A rose is a rose is a rose,” roses come in all sorts of colors, perfumes, shapes, and sizes, for every taste and nearly every possible situation. In fact, choosing which variety to plant is almost as intimidating as growing these fragrant but temperamental beauties. The easily accessible information here takes the guesswork out of selecting, planting, tending, and propagating roses. Nearly 200 varieties are classified by their predominant characteristics–modern climbers, hybrid musks–and then analyzed with respect to their appearance, habits, and suitability to your own garden. Techniques needed to keep a rose in good shape and suggestions for specific garden conditions will aid the inveterate rose grower yet ensure that even the newcomer can grow roses with confidence, while the hundreds of sumptuous color photographs guarantee this book a prized place in the library of rose lovers everywhere.
Roses: A Care Manual was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, February 2010.
January 2010
Wilson’s China: A Century On
by Mark Flanagan and Tony Kirkham
Features photography from The Ernest Henry Wilson Archive at Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library.
Ernest Henry Wilson was the foremost plant collector of his generation, responsible for introducing over 1,000 species to our gardens in the West. The authors of this book reveal Wilson’s adventures through excerpts from his own writings as well as describing their own experiences tracing his journeys in the wilds of China today.
Through Harvard’s Open Collections Program, many manuscript items from The Ernest Henry Wilson Papers have been digitized. These instructions explain how to see all of Wilson’s photographs that have been digitized and are available on VIA, Harvard’s catalog of images.
Wilson’s China: A Century On was included in our list of New Books Available in the Library, January 2010.