The number of new gardening books published each year is truly staggering. In an effort to help you sort through the thicket we would like to offer a few suggestions selected from books currently in print:

• Armitage, Allan M. Armitage's Garden Perennials, Timber Press


• Dirr, Michael A. Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, Timber Press


• Harper, Pamela & McGourty, Federick Perennials: How to Select, Grow and Enjoy, HP Books A bit dated but still a fine introductory book


• Heger, Mike & Whitman, John Growing Perennials in Cold Climates, Contemporary Books Mike is a great plantsman and nurseryman

• Armitage, Allan M. Herbaceous Perennial Plants: A Treatise on Their Indentification, Culture and Garden Attributes, Stipes Publishing


• Bryan, John E. Bulbs, Timber Press


• Clausen, Ruth & Ekstrom, Nicolas Perennials for American Gardens, Random House Published in 1989, this book has become a bit dated but it is still one of the better general references on perennials


• Dirr, Michael A. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Stipes Publishing


• DiSabato-Aust, Tracy The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques, Timber Press The best garden maintenance guide. If you spend more than three hours a week working in perennial gardens you need this book

The modern New England landscape bears almost no resemblance to the landscape that greeted the early colonists. It is important to remember, however, that the pre-colonial landscape was not strictly "natural" as the native residents of North America had been manipulating it for centuries.

• Cronon, William Changes in the Land: Indians. Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, Hill & Wang


• Heinrich, Bernd The Trees in My Forest, Harper Perennial


• Marchand, Peter North Woods: An Inside Look at the Nature of Forests in the Northeast, Appalachian Mountain Club Books


• Wessels, Tom Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England, Coutryman Press

A very large number of worthy books have been left off this list but these books represent the essential skeleton of a gardening library. One thing to keep in mind when selecting books is that gardening is a very local activity. Be cautious about gardening books written by authors whose gardening experience primarily comes from regions very different from that of New England.