With their bold foliage, exuberant colors, and luscious scents, exotic plants ignite curiosity and thrill the senses. Fortunately for gardeners in the world's temperate regions, it's not necessary to live in the tropics to experience spiky agaves and brilliant cannas. With some 1500 species and cultivars described, the "Encyclopedia of Exotic Plants for Temperate Climates" covers many plant groups, including aroids, bananas, gingers, bromeliads, cacti, yuccas, ferns, and palms. Detailed cultivation advice enables gardeners of all levels to make informed choices from an expansive plant palette. Over 500 color photos enhance this inspirational and authoritative resource.

About the Author

Will Giles draws upon a lifelong passion for exotic plants. Originally trained as an artist, he was working as an illustrator for botanical books and magazines when a series of travels in the 1980s reignited his desire to cultivate his own exotics. He returned home to England's east coast determined to grow a vast range of exotic plants in his own back yard, and despite his home country's decidedly temperate conditions, his Exotic Garden in Norfolk has become a mecca for gardening enthusiasts. He has appeared on a wide range of British TV programs and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Gardeners' World Magazine, and Garden Answers. Will Giles has led plant tours in Caribbean, Japan, and Portugal's Madeira Island, and currently serves as vice president of Norwich in Bloom.

Reviews

This lavishly illustrated guide to the bold foliage, exuberant colors and heady fragrances of exotic plants will inspire any local gardener to experiment with zonal denial and plant more spiky agaves, bold cannas, and hardy banana and palm trees. ... The luscious photos of these unusual plants will seduce any gardener into planting a bed of these wild and exotic specimens. If your landscape needs a wake-up call, this book will be its three-alarm siren. -- Marianne Binetti Seattle Post-Intelligencer 20071107 Here's the book for you if you're a hopelessly adventuresome 'envelope-pusher' in the garden. -- George Weigel Harrisburg Patriot-News 20071115 Drawing on his experience running the acclaimed Exotic Garden in the very temperate Norwich, England, author Will Giles demonstrates how plants that supposedly shouldn't survive in temperate areas can be persuaded to prosper in the most dubious places. -- John Akeroyd Garden Compass 20080401 A feast for gardeners who love a challenge and who embrace Giles' adventurous spirit, his sense that the garden should be a place of fun, pleasure and fulfillment. ... If his enthusiasm doesn't get you, his gorgeous color photographs will. -- Ethel Fried Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer 20081025