Does anyone have the American Horticultural Society's Prop..

propagation guide? The complete title is: "American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques" It's from 1999 and the retail is $35.00. I found it on Amazon for $23.00. There are a few other on propagation so I was wondering if anyone had a book on propagation that they particularly like.

Thanks, Jennifer

This message was edited Apr 1, 2008 8:31 PM

Michael Dirr's book is great, but more expensive. It's about woody plants. It's very specific about what rooting hormone strengths to use, when to take cuttings, succes rates, seed, etc.

The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue Culture : A Practical Working Guide to the Propagation of over 1100 Species, Va by Michael A. Dirr and Charles W. Heuser


http://davesgarden.com/products/gbw/c/537/

I didn't even think to look in the "Bookwork" section. Thanks : )

I just bought this book on Amazon, and I have barely been able to put it down. It answers so many questions I've had about plants. It really explains things well...such as how plants reproduce in the wild and how it relates to making them reproduce in cultivation... and it has fantastic illustrations. I'm so happy I found this book! I highly recommend it!

Awesome. I found it on Amazon too. I love them! I will definitely be buying it after your glowing review.

I have this book and I coulnt' live without it!!!

I still have a textbook from college called Plant Propagation (Principles and Practices) by Hudson T. Hartmann, Dale E. Kester and Fred T Davies, Jr. Mine is the fifth edition by Prentice Hall.
It is the best textbook I have ever seen for propagation. Even a beginner can understand the text with all the pictures to show how to do all kinds of cuttings..........
I went back to school in 1989......

Ken Druse "Making More Plants" is excellent too.

I have a book by Ken Druse called "The natural shade garden", and I find that the pictures are beautiful but there is very little relevant cultural info....how is his propagation book?

I found Druse very instructive. Many techniques are covered from soft to hard tissue cuttings (ones I am most interested in), grafting, cold frames, nearing frames, hows and whys of plant botany and propagation, and like you said "beautiful pictures". There are lots of good books on propagation and this is one I wanted to add to my collection. There are also lots of free stuff on the net which helps a lot too.

I have two other books by Druse as well since he has an eye or knack for the unusual. Cultural information can be gleaned from other sources. Another inspirational book (not on propagation) is Lee Bailey's Country Flowers. which got me fired up for gardening.

Yes, I've got it, and read it. Found it to be "generally useful" overall, but if you're looking for detailed information on a specific plant/specie/variety, I haven't found it to be particularly helpful. In truth, I don't see how it could be. Too big a topic for this slim volume . For example, I've got a very nice Tecoma stans that I'd like to propogate, so I looked it up expecting to get detailed guidance: Here's what I got...in a "box" that you had to really look for, "Take greenwood and root cuttings as for Catalpa (see p. 77). Sow seeds as for Catalpa." Since I don't grow catalpa, and know nothing about them, I passed, and went to Plant Files. Got what I needed to know much more quickly and efficiently. One more sad word for the efficiency of the "web" over the printed word. It does, however inadvertantly, provide a very knowledgeable guide as to where to look for more in depth data...I'm glad I've got it. Shows me where to look...it's very thoughtfully organized.