I wanted to look at Tony Lord's book on designing with roses before buying it on amazon. So I borrowed it on interlibrary loan and somehow received the McKeon book instead. There was that sudden rush of disappointment when I went to pick up the book. However, I consider myself fortunate to have made the error.
The first section of the McKeon book does a good job of explaining, in laymen's terms, how roses are categorized and what the specific characteristics of each rose class are. In the second section, There is a straight forward description of planting, pruning and caring for roses. The pruning section gives a description for each category of rose. McKeon also does a good, brief job of describing how to propagate roses by layering and by taking cuttings.
The second half of the book focuses on design for specific types of garden (the cottage garden, container garden, the city garden garden, etc.) Each of these sections gives a diagram and plant list for the garden style discussed and shows how the roses discussed at the beginning of the book actually work in gardens. I will be using the plan for the butterfly garden in a local project.
The limitations of the book include the fact that this book uses plants appropriate to the UK, although most of the plants in the butterfly garden design are perfectly suited to the upper Midwest of the U.S. The USDA hardiness zone is given for most roses discussed. This author has definite preferences for roses she considers the best in terms of beauty and being care-free and her recommendations for modern roses are quite limited; she almost completely dismisses hybrid teas as suitable for the care-free garden and her discussion of Austin roses is too brief. An additional limitation is that some of the wider angle photos showing how roses are used in gardens do not identify the rose that is the focal point of the shot. Also, some of the roses mentioned briefly in the text are not included in the index.
Overall, for a beginning rose gardener, I would consider this a good find or good gift. It is straightforward, does not overburden the gardener with too much technical information, gives useful information about old roses, and has wonderful rose photos; for these reasons I rate it a 4 instead of a 3. Having read this book, I will be able to better appreciate the next bed of antique-appearing roses I encounter.
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Gardening With Roses: Designing With Easy-Care Climbers, Ramblers & Shrubs Overviews
This book gives readers the basics of growing roses and shows them how to choose a species or cultivar that is appropriate for the site and how to incorporate roses into the existing garden plan. Fifteen plans offer useful ready-made garden designs and include a diverse selection of theme gardens. 150 color photos and illustrations.
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