From the Library

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum has an extensive library devoted to broad horticultural themes. Many reference books fill its shelves, but it also houses numerous children's books, nature guides, and books about gardeners and their gardens. It also houses an extensive collection of historically significant volumes.

On-Line Card Catalog

As announced in the Virtual Gardener column, we have begun implementing an on-line card catalog that members can browse and use to borrow books. Read here for information about our library's online card catalog and how it may be used by Members.

Click here to go to the On-Line Card Catalog

Book Reviews

Here are book reviews of volumes in our collection. Also take a look also at the column, the Virtual Gardener, a how-to for finding horticultural information via the computer.

Gardening in Deer Country
by Vincent Drzewucki, Jr.

For those who are busy and do not have much time to read, there are small books out there. The one I recommend is “Gardening in Deer Country” by Vincent Drzewucki, Jr. As the title denotes, this is a subject of interest.

How many of us have mourned the loss of hotsa, the favorite of deer. We could spray them with repellant, but with the rain this year it’s almost a futile task.

This book tells you what deer dislike. Also interesting facts about deer (15 million in U.S.). How to make the right selections of annuals, shrubs, perennials, trees, etc.? There are black & white drawings of plants, with hardiness zones (most seem to be NJ area), and concise descriptions of these plants, sun preference, bloom time, how deer react to them.

I have many of these plants in my garden, untouched by deer.

Mary Alonso

Continuous Bloom
By Pam Duthie

“Continuous Bloom” is a wonderful tool to use when planning a new flower garden. You simply have to page through each month, picking the flowers you love that have the light requirements you’re looking for and note their height and width. There are plenty of selections for all kinds of conditions within each month. This is a fun way to ensure that you’ll have “continuous bloom” in your garden all year round.

This book is really nice because it has a lot of valuable information and good color pictures. The format is very easy to use, it just makes sense! The book is divided into chapters for each month of the year. Each page has a picture of a plant that blooms within that month. Under the picture is information containing: plant type, zone, flower color, foliage type, bloom length, height and width, light requirements, soil type and other helpful tips (such as “this plant combines well with…”) I find the layout to be extremely helpful. It is very clear and concise.

There is even great information for the tougher months of October, November, and the winter season. At the end of the October chapter is a list of over forty-five plants that are still blooming in the “continuous bloom” garden. November’s chapter is called “The Last Hurrah!” and it addresses getting the garden ready for winter, composting, achieving color and interest in winter, as well as interplanting bulbs. The winter chapter is all about armchair gardening – and we all know about that! The final chapter is filled with great tips and there are appendices with helpful charts.

I think this book is a delight to work with when planning a new garden or just injecting some color into an existing one. Enjoy!

Reviewed by Beth Hemmer

Cucumber Soup
By Vickie Leigh Krudwig

The story was about a big cucumber falling onto an ant’s hole. All different kinds of bugs helped the ants try to get it off. It was fun finding out how they were finally able to move it. I thought it was cool that there were interesting facts about bugs on each page. At the end, the ants had a big celebration and made cucumber soup for everyone. The book even has the recipe for the cucumber soup in the back. I would like to try to make it. I would recommend that everyone read this book. It was exciting.

Reviewed by Dana Leigh Hemmer - 6yrs. old