Tough call, but I would say:
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials by Phillips & Burrell.

Thanks, PattiOH. I'm looking forward to seeing what other folks' choices will be.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening Books

That is an easy one. Sunset Western gardening.

The Garden Primer by Barbra Damrosch

Carrots Love Tomatoes!!! great companion planting book

Green Thoughts by ELEANOR PERENYI

This is a collection of quirky essays. Some of her observations and advice might be dated or off the mark but the book is so beautifuly written I reread it at least once a year.

I would also recommend We Made a Garden by Margery Fish. This is a great personal garden story

I agree with kranberri. Another vote for
The Garden Primer by Barbra Damrosch.
Sally

I collect gardening books and would have a hard time chosing just one. The top contender would probably be Ethne Clark's
Herb Garden Design. Odd in that herb gardening isn't my thing; but the illustrations are beautiful and the design concepts are very well presented.

I'll have to cheat and also bring Ken Druse's The Collector's Garden, because it's so well written and so much fun.

Ogden's "Bulb's for the South" changed my life! I'm reading Hemenway's "Gaia's Garden" now and its given me much to think on for sure!
Mike

Katharine White's *Onward and Upward in the Garden* would have been my choice in January. I am reading it for the third time and it led me to ordering more catalogs and lots of books by other authors. I also used the Garden Watchdog ratings on GardenWeb to determine what catalogs to order. Many of the ones listed in the paperback edition are no longer in existence, but I've supplemented them with others recommended in various sources.

Through Mrs. White I've discovered Elizabeth Lawrence and am now thoroughly enjoying *Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters* between Mrs. White and Miss Lawrence.

I ordered some other books on Mrs. White's bibliography and Lawrence's *Love for Gardening: The Market Bulletins* is also charming and nostalgic. Although many books on the bibliography are shown as out of print, most are available at one of the on-line sources of used books. Don't know if they are blessings or curses since I have to dip into each new one upon arrival, but I'm gradually finishing them.

Ann

My vote is for "The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions and Answers" taken from the NYTimes column Garden Q & A.
I borrowed it from the library so often, my hustand finally went on Amazon and just bought it for me!!
For those who live in NY/NJ/CT I recently bought "The Tri-State Gardener's Guide" by Ralph Snodsmith. Lots of information and pictures.
Happy reading everyone!!

any book by Ruth Stout .. out of print now but sometimes can be found in used books stores.

Tasha Tudors Garden by Tovah Martin. Absolutely, enchantingly beautiful book. Losts of information on creating a fairytale garden. Beautiful!

Anything written by Henry Mitchell.Tamara

I have many, many, garden books but the one that lives on the counter that I use all the time is Sunset's National Garden Book.

Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening and The Harrowsmith Northern Gardener.

The first because he's so positive and enthusiastic, and he has so many simple solutions to garden problems; the second because it provides specific answers to specific problems with almost every type of Canadian soil, plant and climate issue.

Both are very comprehensive and cover almost everything I've needed to know. What they don't answer, I've found a quick search on the Internet will usually solve.

Both also have lots of pretty photos, and the Harrowsmith book has good line drawings too.

All the best,
-Patrick

Anything by Allen Lacy.

Eleanor Perenyi's Green Thoughts. So smart, so much fun, so beautifully written. Second place: anything by Page Dickey, Beth Chatto, Henry Mitchell. There's a fairly new paperback collection of Women Garden Writers that's wonderful - but can't remember the name.

I second "any book by Ruth Stout", she's my hero.Also Square Foot Gardening.

My favourites tend to be how-to's.

"Dry Land Gardening: A Xeriscaping Guide for Dry-Summer, Cold-Winter Climates" by Jennifer Bennett is an excellent book for harsh climates and for those who want to have a great garden but conserve water.

I am just now reading "A Garden for Life: A Natural Approach to Designing, Planting, and Maintaining a North Temperate Garden" by Diana Beresfor-Kroeger. Excellent so far, and altho it has how-to stuff, it also just has a great philosophy towards gardening and the planet.

I want to read "Lilies" by Michael Jefferson-Brown. I understand a new edition will be released soon.

So many books, so little time.

cnid

Just came accross this.
The Garden Primer by Barbra Damrosch - I have tons of garden books but I refer to this one most.
and
The Boston Globe Illustrated New England Gardening Almanac by Carol Stocker.

Hortica and tropica by Graf, both out of print but you can find them on e-bay sometimes.

What flower is that? forget the author Macaboy maybe? Also has several other titles like that, great reference books.

A-Z of garden plants, the American Horticultural society

Tropical Flowring plants, a guide to id and cultivation. Kirsten Llamas

Now if I can find a decent bromeliad id book I'll be happy!

Tally HO!

LILACS BY JOHN FIALA. THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN ON THE SUBJECT OF LILACS.

I'm currently re-reading some of my favorites

A Woman's Hardy Garden by Helena Rutherfurd Ely
This was published in 1920. It concentrates on mixed, informal plantings which was not the rage at that time.

The Border in Bloom by Ann Lovejoy
Great reading. Not a listing of plants but descriptions and items about each season in bloom for the border, both the triumphs and the challanges

The Well Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust
Pictures, planting and caring instructions for a lot of different plants.

These books are just fun to pick up and read. I have all kinds of books that are about specific plants, names, picutres, etc. So favorites change as I go along. I love my books by Graham Stuart Thomas and Ruth Stout also.

Ann in Montana

Here is a link that might be useful: A Woman's Hardy Garden

Gun to head and only one, probably a first edition of Rodale's "The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening." (Later revised editions were not as good.)

The Well Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust

Elliot Coleman and Ruth Stout for four season gardening and less work gardening.

I third, or is it fourth-? Barbara Damrosch The Garden Primer I refer to it often. Comprehensive, full of excellent advice, and she's an entertaining writer.

Also --Graham Rice, Discovering Annuals. Not huge amounts of advice on how to start plants, but delicious photos, excellent writing and wonderfully opinionated! Started me growing all kinds of unusual things from seed.

For pure charm and joy-- Beverly Nichols, Down the Garden Path. One of those "I bought a house and knew nothing about gardening..." Along the lines of 'A Year in Provence' but about the garden, and much better! The copyright is 1932 but it's been reissued in the US by Timber Press (ISBN 0881927104)

I'll second the Tasha Tudor. So gorgeous and enchanting.

I'm also a big fan of Henry Mitchell and Allan Lacy.
But what about Mrs. Greenthumbs? Her first one is so very funny. and inspiring. How often do you laugh out loud at a gardening book. (Mitchell when he's in one of his grumps does elicit chuckles but who can forget Mrs. Greenthumbs mixing Mai tais, entertaining relatives, cursing magenta?)

I give her book to new gardeners and tell them, read it and adopt this attitude and your garden will be a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

I also give a copy of Jeff Cox's 100 Perennial All Stars. Terrific.

Also loved, loved the Larkwhistle book. Patrick Lima and John Scanlan.
One garden through the year with terrific insights and tips. Beautiful.
This one truly inspires. Maybe the favorite.

Hi
My favourite two would be
RHS Encyclopedia of PERENNIALS by Graham Rice

and Christopher Lloyd's GARDEN FLOWERS
both books great reads.
Cheers R in New Zealand.

Because I have such limited space in my townhome, and I *love* to grow my own veggies/herbs, my indispensable, invaluable book that I read nearly every day is:
"The Bountiful Container" by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey.

Really valuable if you want to grow veggies/fruits/herbs in containers

My favorite would have to be Gardening Success with Difficult Soils by Scott Ogden. When you live on limestone and the temperature hits 100+, this book is great!

Being relatively new to perennial gardening, I spen much time in the library.... I would have to say my favourite thus far is:

Perennials: The Gardener's Reference
CArter, Becker and Lilly

A hefty tome but filled with great information including colour photographs to help identify the less commonly requested perennials, and good information for care throughout the season. I especially enjoy the *problems* section so that I can indentify issues early and not risk the remainder of my garden.

Have to go away for a long time? Well, if the "go away" site wasn't a penal institution, I'd take Jill Nokes'How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest (ISBN 0-292-75573-2). The instructions on propagation are great, and there are growing instructions and descriptions of each plant's characteristics as well. I have used her book extensively for several years, and have had more success propagating than my garden can handle! If the site were a penal institution, I'd try to find a book on "Espaliering, Stairsteps up a Wall."

My absolute favorite is Felder Rushings' "Tough Plants for Florida". I have used it so much the binding is breaking down!!

Ann Lovejoy's 'The Mixed American Border.' A rich source of design information. Bought it on amazon.

I do not have one favorite, but right now I have enjoyed reading the new Viburnum book by Michael Dirr.

Here is a link that might be useful: The book

I keep rediscovering an older book by Robert Kourik, How to design and build your edible landscape naturally. All sorts of interesting tables of information and digressions on roots.

For inspiration (growing and making things), of all the books on my shelf of herb books, the one I most often use is Lesley Bremness, The complete book of herbs, because of the great format and photos -- info is easy to find, concise, but includes extra tidbits that other pretty books don't.