BOOK
REVIEWS
Bulbs
for New Zealand Gardeners and Collectors
By Jack Hobbs and Terry Hatch
Published by Godwit Press, Auckland, New Zealand, 1994
Reviewed by Des Riach
In
recent years there has been an unprecedented upsurge in the publication
of horticultural and gardening books by New Zealand authors for
New Zealand conditions. Trees and shrubs, particularly New Zealand
natives, roses, rhododendrons, camellias, etc., have all been generously
dealt with.
Until 1991, with the
publication of the Hugh Redgrove-edited book on bulbs and perennials,
this subject had been largely ignored, apart from garden magazine
articles.
Bulbs for New Zealand
Gardeners and Collectors is published on quality paper and
is a delight to follow, particularly in the largest section of the
book devoted to the description of 120 genera and 800 species of
bulbs.
The genera are listed
in alphabetical order in upper-case letters highlighted in blue
and clearly separated from the last-described species of the previous
genus.
There are chapters on
bulbs in their native habitats and in cultivation in both garden
and containers, on propagation, on pests and diseases, and
for the non-botanically knowledgeable on what constitutes
a bulb.
The authors have trodden
with great skill through the minefield of nomenclature using, where
possible, current names from the most up-to-date authorities. They
admit that many of these changes are not yet universally accepted,
and that it is undoubtedly disconcerting to find an old friend pictured
with an unfamiliar name printed beneath. With some exceptions, the
authors have provided the best known synonym with the name change,
to minimise confusion. There is the odd spelling mistake, more likely
a printer's error than the authors'; and how refreshing to see the
generic name Chlidanthus correctly spelt and not, as it
is so often written, Childanthus.
In most cases the photography
is excellent, making the species easily recognisable. I wonder,
will the manufacturers of colour film ever be able to provide a
product capable of accurately capturing the glorious blue of Chionodoxa
forbesii or C. sardensis?
Rarely is a book published
that completely satisfies or is without error, and this book is
no exception. Illustrations are most frequently pointed out to the
reader as "opposite above" and "opposite below"; and then there
is the odd transposition. Perhaps fewer pages could have been devoted
to dahlias and begonias there are innumerable books written
on these. Far better to have given these pages to genera omitted
altogether, i.e., Merendera, Bellevalia, Eremurus,
or to have expanded the number of Colchicum species described
to include some of the more dainty members, e.g., C. cupanii,
kesselringii, triphyllum, etc.
There is the publisher's
nightmare come true on page 153, where after a description of Ranunculus
cortusifolius the reader is directed to an illustration of
a Rhodopohalia, the R. cortusifolius illustration
having been omitted. And is that really an illustration of Arisamea
triphyllum on page 52?
The presence of scent,
pleasant or otherwise, is mentioned for a number of genera and species,
but what of Tigridia vanhouttei? A good description is
given, but there is no mention of the foul smell the flower emits
on a warm day.
Some guidance is given
as to the ease or invasiveness of some of the species, notably in
the genera Allium and Oxalis. It should be noted,
however, that seven of the Allium and nine of the Oxalis
species described are listed by MAF as prohibited imports into New
Zealand in the latest proposed import regulations.
The publishers consider
"that this book brings the subject to the attention of gardeners
and collectors". Dedicated collectors, I am sure, will have already
graduated to monographs of their favourite genera. For the keen
gardener, whose knowledge of bulbs extends only to those available
at the local garden centre, this book (despite the drawbacks outlined)
should prove an invaluable introduction to the beauty and diversity
of the world's bulb flora.
The book is rounded off
with an excellent up-to-date bibliography, an index, and a useful
list of New Zealand and overseas suppliers of bulbs and seeds.
Horticulture
in New Zealand: Journal of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture
1994 5(2): 25
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