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Although Fall is upon us and Winter is just around the corner, it is not too early to begin thinking about next year's garden. Winter affords us all a wonderful opportunity to catch up on our reading, planning and organizing for next year. One absolutely wonderful source that I have found is the Cornell University Extension Service. They have a large number of very inexpensive booklets on a wide variety of subjects. You can browse through their offerings and find whatever interests you. Another big plus in my book is that their listed prices include postage and handling.
If you don't have access to the Internet you can reach them at: Media Services Resource Center, Cornell University, 7 Cornell Business and Technology Park, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Because they are located in New York their garden/plant books tend to favor those things that will do well in New York State. Therefore the majority of their information also applies to our area.
I recently received two wonderful booklets from the Extension Service. The first is Common Wild Flowers of the Northeast (Catalog Number 187E990, $2.25). This little booklet packs in an amazing amount of information. There is an excellent glossary of terms with a nicely done line drawing that depicts all the different parts of the plant. The main body of the booklet identifies over 30 common plants. They are identified by their common name, their Latin name, and also have a listing for when they bloom and which plant family they belong to. There is an excellent drawing accompanying each description. One of the useful things about the descriptive section for each plant is that in addition to describing the plant, the booklet tells the location where it is most likely to grow. For a large number of the plants there is further descriptive language about the edible nature or medicinal qualities of the plants or if it is considered completely poisonous. This booklet is a definite must-have for any budding naturalist (great to take on a walk with the kids) or anyone who is just interested in knowing what the name is of that pretty orange flower growing in the far corner of the yard.
The other booklet is Sequence of Bloom of Perennials, Biennials, and Bulbs (Catalog Number 141IB196, $2.00). I must confess that I am a bit bewildered each year when it comes time to plant these sorts of flowers and bulbs. What color is it, how tall is it, or when it will bloom? Almost every year I have at least a few choice cuss words for myself when I find that I have planted something tall in front of something shorter. Or I planted one entire section of the garden where everything blooms at once. I then get to look at dirt or decaying vegetation the rest of the time. This booklet solves that problem. The list is comprised of over 250 plants with each plant identified by its common and Latin names. It also lists the height, color, periods of bloom, and any remarks relating to what type of location or any special treatment it needs. This book is clearly one of the most useful resources for a flower gardener to ensure maximum exposure of the flowers and perennials that they plant.
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