Setting a new standard in gardening compendiums, Botanica is one of the most comprehensive illustrated guides to gardening ever published. More than four years in the making, it contains descriptive entries for over 10,000 plants arranged in A-Z order by genus, and is complemented by more than 6500 vivid full-colour photographs. The integration of exquisite photography with in-depth profiles of annuals and perennials, trees and shrubs, alpines, bulbs, palms and ferns, orchis, cacti and succulents, lawns and ground covers, and vegetables and herbs the world over makes Botanica an indispensable resource for serious gardeners everywhere. Created by a team of specialty plant experts, gardening writers, and photographers from around the world, this essential guide to includes entries with detailed plant descriptions and covers such wide-ranging topics as cultivation requirements, propagation and pruning, pests and diseases, and hardiness zones. Also found in this major references are such practical features as page headings and margin markers (allowing readers to quickly locate specific plants), special spreads on camellias, dahlias, rhododendrons, roses, and other major groups, a complete glossary of botanical and horticultural terms, and an extensive index of common names and synonyms for all plants in the volume. R.G. Turner Jr. is a garden designer and educator. He has taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. Formerly the consultant editor for The Nature Company Guide to Natural Gardening, American editor for The Ultimate Plant and Gardening Book, and a contributing editor to the Sunset Western Landscaping Book, he is now the Editor or Pacific Horticulture, one of the country's top garden magazines. He travels extensively to study gardens, plants, and wildlife in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia.