We've all seen gorgeous perennial gardens packed with color, texture, and multi-season interest. Designed by a professional and maintained by a crew, they are aspirational bits of beauty too difficult to attempt at home. Or are they? The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden makes a design-magazine-worthy garden achievable at home. The new, simplified approach is made up of hardy, beautiful plants grown on a 10x14 foot grid. Each of the 62 garden plans...

Essential Perennials helps you decide exactly which plants will bring you the beauty you want and will thrive in the conditions you can provide. Trusted garden experts Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher focus on what every gardener needs to know. For each plant you'll find flower color, season of bloom, foliage characteristics, height and width, light requirements, and hardiness and heat sensitivity. You'll also learn cultural tips, the...

A garden designer and plant breeder, Oudolf designs gardens that use perennials exclusively, eschewing the current trend toward high-maintenance mixed borders of perennials, annuals, and shrubs. He values perennials for their form and texture, emphasizing structure as the most important aspect in successful garden design. The color of flowers comes in a distant third after the form of the plant and the shape of the leaves; Oudolf's motto is "a successful...