The Undaunted Garden:
Planting for Weather-Resilient Beauty
by Lauren Springer
Colorado garden writer Lauren Springer has learned a thing or two about gardening in harsh climates and presents her findings in this out of the ordinary guide to continental U.S. landscaping.
The Undaunted Garden offers a new philosophy for American gardening and the tools to achieve handsome year-round gardens in challenging environments. The instruments for this success are uncommonly tough and attractive plants that are well adapted to extreme conditions.
"A nation of bold pioneers and innovators withers when it comes to adventurous gardening and plants the same few dozen plants in the same few dozen ways," Springer complains.
She challenges that stubborn, cowardly mind-set with successful examples of herbaceous perennials and bulbs that thrive despite the dire predictions of their hardiness zone designations.
Determined to create new gardening models for continental North American gardeners to follow, Springer demonstrates how to choose plants for a particular garden space and microclimate that are both "in tune with the natural forces" and beautiful.
Illustrated with more than 250 color photos, the text discusses the use of annuals and perennials, seasonal changes and low-water plantings. Detailed profiles of 64 plants, many of them never before considered by landscape gardeners, fill out the 244-page softbound version of this gardening classic.