BOOK REVIEWS

Lilies

Pamela McGeorge
Photography by Russell McGeorge
Published by David Bateman
$NZ29.95

PAMELA McGeorge's knowledge of and exuberance for gardening matters - and her husband's keen eye for composition - are well known to readers through the pages of Weekend Gardener. Recently, in WG issue 143, Pamela McGeorge gave us a hint of things to come with her article on lilies, Special Treasures. Her book, out this month, confirms her passion for the Liliaceae family.

The story of lilies is refreshingly retold and their taxonomic complexities cleverly unravelled. The history of hybridisers - among others, New Zealand's J.S. Yeates - is absorbing, as is the analysis of the eight divisions of hybrids in the chapter, Lilies for Today's World. This is also a practical book stacked with planting ideas and tips on propagation.

Add to this chapters on lilies for display, pests and diseases, and an observation from Alberta, Canada, on growing lilies in cold climates (mulch, mulch and more mulch is the key) and you have a comprehensive readable guide.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 145, 2004, Page 28

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH