box543's Full Review: Neil Sperry - Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texa...
When you live in Texas, you come to grips pretty quickly with the fact that, in the summer, everything green dies. Okay, well, maybe not everything, but pretty darn close to it. So, why does anyone in this state try having green living things? And how to they keep them green and living? The answer is Neil Sperry.
Background
Growing up, Saturday and Sunday morning meant eating breakfast with the family and listening to Neil Sperry's gardening show on the radio. People from all over the state would (and still do) call into his show asking about everything from "I live in East Texas, what should I plant on the West side of my home?" to "My roses have yellow spot on the leaves - what is it?" Mr. Sperry always had advice and usually an answer and solution to offer as well.
My mom bought his gardening book (autographed, first edition) back in the late-1980s - after she resigned herself to the fact that we weren't going to move anywhere more hospitable. My mom loves gardening and has a green thumb. Having grown up in Ohio, though, she wasn't used to such harsh summers and not being able to grow the pretty flower gardens she was used to. Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening offered suggestions as to what to plant for color or shade and generally helped my mom steer clear of things that would instantly die at the first heat blast of the summer. My mom still has this book and uses it.
This past fall, my husband and I bought our first house. Like my mom, I love gardening. For me, even weeding can be a relaxing way to forget about work and relieve stress. Our house had some nice flowerbeds with great potential, but they needed help. How would I know what to plant? How could I diagnose that problem with the crepe myrtle? I knew the answer: Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening.
The Book - Second Edition
We went to Home Depot, and there it was nestled among the other gardening books. I almost missed it! The size of the book has doubled since my mom's edition - about 12 inches tall by 9 inches wide. The second edition is 388 pages long; the pages are glossy with tons of full-color photos of the plants. The pages also have nice wide margins, which helps me since I have the habit of making notes in my gardening books. My husband commented that it almost looks like a coffeee table book.
The book has several sections including plants and diseases. The plants are groups into categories (trees, shrubs, fruits/vegetables, perennials, etc.) like any good gardening book should be. Most plants have an accompanying photo. All descriptions include pertinent information about shade and water. If there's anything usual about a plant (like a disease its prone too), this is listed as well. There's a photo to accompany most of the disease too. (Turns out our crepe myrtle had powdery mildew.) And Mr. Sperry also includes instructions on caring for the sick plant and a list of products to use, where appropriate.
The language is easy to read and understand. Procedures, such as tree pruning, have easy to follow diagrams and instructions. The text isn't all dry reading; you'll get to know Mr. Sperry through his writing, since he makes commentaries on subjects such as "tree-topping" (when you cut off top of a tree as if you were giving it a buzz cut) - a practice that he despises.
I paid $35 for my copy; the list price is $36.95. In my opinion, it's worth every penny. I've seen Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening listed on Amazon.com for around $25. I'm sure if you look around, you can find other discounts off of the cover price elsewhere. However, if you're in a hurry and need the book ASAP, any home and garden store or nursery in Texas should have copies on hand for sale.
I've never had any other books on gardening in Texas. I did buy a couple of Louisiana-specific gardening books when I lived there, however. Neil Sperry's book is much more detailed and attractive than either of those books.
Overall
I highly recommend this book for anyone who lives in Texas and wants to garden - and have his/her plants survive. Mr. Sperry's advice is invaluable and has saved me time and money (not to mention heartbreak) when it comes to knowing what to (and not to) plant in my yard.
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