Volume 3, Issue 5
The Miller Library Top 20
an annual feature by Laura Blumhagen

What have our library users borrowed recently? Since April 2015, more than half of our most-borrowed items have been local, Pacific Northwest Connections Collection resources, many written by local authors about native plants, wildlife and gardens. Our borrowers take on challenging projects, from raising a "wild child" (giving children outdoor learning opportunities at every age) to planting dry shady areas. They study fascinating topics, from Frida Kahlo's garden to Seattle's 1850 flora. Several new local works, a botanical art tome, and a film make the top twenty very diverse this year. We hope you will be inspired to use and borrow these yourself.

1. Planting the dry shade garden Graham Rice; photography by Judy White and Graham Rice.
2. The plant lover's guide to ferns Richie Steffen and Sue Olsen.
3. The princess and the peas Caryl Hart, illustrated by Sarah Warburton.
4. Encyclopedia of northwest native plants for gardens and landscapes
Kathleen A. Robson, Alice Richter & Marianne Filbert.
5. Trees and shrubs of the Pacific Northwest  Mark Turner and Ellen Kuhlmann.
6. Plants of the Pacific Northwest coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska
compiled and edited by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon; written by Paul Alaback ... [et al.]
7. The flora of Seattle in 1850: major species and landscapes prior to urban development
Raymond Larson.
8. How to raise a wild child : the art and science of falling in love with nature Scott D. Sampson.
9. Trees of Seattle Arthur Lee Jacobson.
10. Restoring the Pacific Northwest: the art and science of ecological restoration in Cascadia
edited by Dean Apostol and Marcia Sinclair; Society for Ecological Restoration International.
11. Native plants in the coastal garden: a guide for gardeners in BC and the Pacific Northwest April Pettinger with Brenda Costanzo.
12. How plants work: the science behind the amazing things plants do Linda Chalker-Scott.
13. Rain gardens: managing water sustainably in the garden and designed landscape
Nigel Dunnett and Andy Clayden.
14. Landscaping for wildlife in the Pacific Northwest Russell Link.
15. The botanical garden Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix.
16. Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest Mark Turner & Phyllis Gustafson.
17. Penguin and Pinecone: a friendship story Salina Yoon.
18. Flora illustrata: great works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical Garden edited by Susan M. Fraser and Vanessa Bezemer Sellers; foreword by Gregory Long.
19. Frida Kahlo's garden edited by Adriana Zavala, Mia D'Avanza, and Joanna l. Groarke.
20. Women in the dirt [DVD]: landscape architects shaping our world a film by Carolann Stoney, also producer and director.

Display features landscape plant recognition

When you visit the library, be sure to look for the book display near the north windows. This season we spotlight landscape plant recognition, including a broad range of plant identification and basic botany titles. From time to time we might lose track of the distinction between acuminate leaves and those with a cuspidate tip, or need to see a picture of a cladodromous leaf beside a rectipennate leaf so that we can remember which it is we're trying to identify. Lucid descriptions and clear line drawings make The Kew Plant Glossary, pictured at right, a key resource for students, librarians, and curious gardeners alike.

Featured new item: Container Theme Gardens
reviewed by Brian Thompson

It’s time to plan and plant your summer container gardens. But what plants will you select? Container Theme Gardens, a new book in the Miller Library, will help you choose, with 42 different designs that will meet almost every need: sun or shade, flowers or foliage, ornamentals in your favorite color or a mini-kitchen garden that will fit on your balcony, deck, or windowsill.

Salad greens and herbs are naturals for this treatment; more unusual are plants grown for their berries or for making tea. Other selections are designed to attract: hummingbirds, butterflies, even your kids. Best of all, this is only the newest book in our excellent collection on containers that will help you plant a garden no matter how limited your space or time!

New to the Library