My favorite new "olde book" is Mary Rion's Ladies' Southern Florist, which is a reprint of her original 1860 book. The University of South Carolina Press is responsible for sharing this small, great tome. It's not all about roses, but there are some interesting statements in there. About Climbing Roses she wrote," The best of the climbers are The La Marque, ...., the Prairie Queen, multiflora, and the Greville Rose." It's not a stretch to suggest that what she called the Prairie Queen was Queen of the Prairies (among the other names that Buist used for it in his slightly earlier book on roses. Here is a link that might be useful: A limited view of some pages of Mary's book

I admit I'm an addictive plant book collector and just went to my shelves to see what I had on natives. What I found interesting is that I don't have any books specific to woodland natives, except for some that includes them and some that are about shade but not exclusive to natives. I have lots on prairie plants however. I really need to catalog my books someday - not during planting season though! In addition to the Diekelmann book, these are some of my native gardening books in no particular order: Gardening with Wildflowers and Native Plants published by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record 1989. -a little book of collected articles, still relevant. Jones, Samuel B. and Foote, Leonard E. 1990. Gardening with Native Wild Flowers. Timber Press. 195 pgs. -My first native plant book, and still one of the best. Ladd, Doug and Oberle, Frank. 2005. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers. Morris Book Publishing. 263 pgs. -a very good field guide with excellent photos. Plants grouped by color. Johnson, Lorraine. 1998. Grow Wild!:Native Plant Gardening in Canada. Denise Schon Books. 154 pgs. -Lorraine Johnson is to Canada what Bill Cullina is to the US. A very useful book from coast to coast. Smith, J. Robert. 1980. The Prairie Garden: 70 Native Plants You Can Grow in Town or Country. University of Wisconsin Press. 219 pgs. -charts for habitat, color, and bloom times Wasowski, Sally. 2002. Gardening with Prairie Plants. University of Minnesota Press. 285 pgs. -I consider this the essential book for prairie gardens. Sternberg, Gus and Wilson, Jim. 1995. Landscaping with Native Trees. Chapters Publishing. 288 pgs. -Often we forget about planting native trees. Good info. Daniels, Stevie. 1995. The Wild Lawn Handbook: Alternatives to the Traditional Front Lawn. Macmillan. 223 pgs. -My first book on banning the bluegrass! Funny I live in Kentucky now. Also several local native plant guides and books on planting natives for wildlife habitat. And books on "natural" gardening that showcase natives but include some exotics, I'm thinking of the Druse books in particular. I'm going to have to pick up some of the books you have mentioned. And then get around to cataloging and organizing my library!

Love the tapestry idea! I searched for one a few years back, but could never find one that didn't look cheesy. (It seemed that all of the ones in my budget were the mass-produced sort that just looked like a Wal-Mart throw pillow stretched out!) It seems the *good* looking ones, aged, patinaed, and slightly worn are thousands. I'll have to renew that search. You're right Les, that everything looks smooth in the pic. In real life, though, without the flash washing things out, the wall is *heavily* textured in a sort of hand-troweled plaster look, and the chair is a tweed-type fabric. It almost looks like burlap. Or is the general appearance that seems smooth? Like it just needs more color/balance/texture in general? DH wants an oil painting. DH however would burst at the seams if I actually bought an oil painting. (I don't think he has any idea just how much they can run!) THottie, I never did a thing to the chairs in my den. They're in a room that is used mainly for kids; Wii playing, videos, plopping down after swimming, etc. They're so perfect as-is! Nothing can hurt them. The leather is such good shape, and it's impervious to the spilled Cokes, ground up Cheezits, and wet chlorine derrieres! Since I'm going to Charleston with my mom in a couple of weeks, I'll keep my eyes peeled for something that might work.

Actually, I was asking that question elseforum. One gal suggested to me that it wasn't just Britishims - there really was a lot of actual slang being used, and its one of the reasons she didn't care for it. So...you may be on the right track. Dialect, when its done right and in small doses, is ok for me - and Twain seems to be the happy medium for me. But others - oh I can't think of the name of the book now that everyone was gaga over a few years back. It so was filled with dialect (thinking it took place in Scotland) that I tossed it aside after a few pages. What bothers me more tho is foriegn phrases in a book, when its not translated or easily picked up in context. For a while it seemed like every author had to include some Latin or French to the point that the book would not be understood. Now I notice lots of Spanish - which for me is not a problem - but I still think there's nothing wrong with adding an asterick and a comment below with the translation, even if it can be figured out in context. Not doing so shows a certain arrogance on the part of the author, as well as not caring about the reader.