Does anyone have any books they would specially recommend on the Flowers, Gardeners and Plant Collectors of North America? I have discovered people like Claude Barr and Lester Rowntree and have a few other titles garnered from AGS Book Sales (the ones that no-one wants anymore because they only have black and white illustrations! But they are still fascinating to read). Having been brought up on the famous names in British gardening it would be good to become a bit more cosmopolitan. I picked up 'California's Wild Gardens - A Living Legacy' at the Natural History Museum a couple of years ago and have become keen on learning more of this remarkable flora (particularly having 'discovered' so many species in seedlists like Ron Ratko's that I had never heard of). Nurserymen and gardeners often have a particular eye for plants over botanists and thus reading Janis Ruksans book on collecting and growing bulbs is so gripping, as are reminiscences of growers like Will Ingwersen and, more recently, Jim Jermyn (Edrom Nursery). Really good writing on plants is quite rare (probably most of it is already in the Quarterly!), but would be nice to encourage.
