GROWTH has nearly come to a halt (yippee!) and soon its time for gardeners to take to their armchairs and dream of new seasons, new beginnings. Two of the best books for the truly committed gardener have been published this week, perfect as gifts and appealing enough to make it worth the risk of experiencing road rage today as you head to the nearest book shop.
The first is the Royal Horticultural Society's compendium of garden plants and flowers, at £55 the most comprehensive and well researched encyclopaedia you will find. A serious gift for a loved one; an even more serious indulgence for yourself.
Considerably more florid is A Flower for Every Day, by Nigel Colborn, a coffee table book with the most stunning photographs (Quadrille Books, £19.99). It may sound like a corny idea, but it describes over 365 plants which will flower in succession as the year unfolds, from flowering trees, through shrubs, perennials and bulbs. Colborn is a highly regarded plantsman, although in this case, the photography outshines the text.