Horticulturists, students, and dedicated home gardeners will be familiar with Armitage's authority on this topic from his more technical Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials. That volume was singled out as a winner of the Choice Academic Book Award, American Horticultural Society Book Award, and the Garden Writers of America Golden Globe Award. While this new offering is a perfect pictorial companion to the Manual, it also stands alone with its personal commentary and inspiring advice on the most interesting, important, or overlooked plants.

Attractive and easy to use, Armitage's Garden Annuals follows the example of the author's celebrated Garden Perennials and dispenses with the formalities, delving right into the details gardeners most desire. The book is like a private tutorial with a master teacher. Sharpen your pencils and take notes when Dr. Armitage advises, "I expect tweedia to become a bestseller," asks "How many daisies do you know that climb up trellises?" or even concludes "The flowers are boring at best..."

The encyclopedia is rounded out by more than two dozen helpful lists of plants suitable for particular situations or uses, including plants for cool-summer areas, plants for dry situations, edible plants, container plants, shade plants, vines, and flowers for cutting.
Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated (2004-02-01)
Price: $49.95

The author's self-confessed obsession with sunflowers, coupled with an inquisitive mind, combine in a book about the plant's history and cultural impact that's full of interesting asides and little-known facts. Pappalardo gives credit to some of the lesser-known names who have championed the colorful flower's many and varied uses. He charts the sunflower's discovery and gradual integration into various industries, outlining some historical instances in which these flowers have reared their pretty heads. One indelible image, from the German invasion of Russia in 1941, shows opposing tanks cutting down great swathes of sunflowers as they lumber into battle in the fields of Kursk. Pappalardo even makes a connection between sunflowers and the activities of Osama bin Laden, who owned a company in the Sudan that controlled most of the country's exports of sunflower-related products. These stories neatly counterbalance chapters on the plant's history, which introduce characters such as Charles Heiser, the "godfather of sunflower research"; Vasilii Stepanovich Pustovoit, whose breeding and manipulation of sunflower seeds helped give them greater oil content, thus laying the foundations for a lucrative industry; and Peter the Great, who may or may not have been responsible for introducing the plant to Russia, thus dramatically influencing its future economy. In fact, Russia is central to all sunflower-related activity, according to the author, who spends a large portion of the book examining the evolution of the country's sunflower-oil industry. Fans of Mark Kurlansky's Salt (2002) should find much to enjoy here; Pappalardo demonstrates a similar dramatic flair as he makes a strong case for the sunflower's grip on humanity.

Enjoyable and eye-opening. Kirkus Reviews
Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (2008-03-13)
Price: $22.95