Crocosmia and Chasmanthe

About this book

A descriptive list of more than 400 Crocosmia cultivars concludes the complete horticultural account of the genera. Superb watercolours of the species and many of the more-important cultivars are complemented by pencil sketches of each species in its native habitat.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Peter Goldblatt is the B.A. Krukoff Curator of African Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Throughout his botanical career he has concentrated his attention on the Iridaceae and has shown particular interest in its African members. John Manning was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and has been a research scientist in the Compton Herbarium at the National Botanical Institute, South Africa, since 1989. He works at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, one of the world's great botanical gardens and an important center for research on the African flora. Although he has studied the anatomy, embryology and seed development of plants in diverse families, including the Fabaceae, Proteaceae and Stilbaceae, he has focused his research more recently on the Iridaceae, collaborating on various research projects with Peter Goldblatt. Together they have investigated the evolution and pollination biology of the African genus Lapeirousia and the systematics, pollination systems and evolution of Gladiolus in southern Africa. John and Peter have coauthored several books, including Gladiolus in Southern Africa and various wildflower guides to the southern African flora, the most recent of which was Wildflowers of the Fairest Cape (Redroof Design and Timber Press, 2000). John is also an accomplished botanical artist and photographer; his drawings have been published in numerous books and scientific journals. His most recent book, The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs, was coauthored with Peter Goldblatt and Dee Snijman. Gary Dunlop is a practicing architect. He has an enthusiastic interest in a wide range of plants, with an emphasis on Asiatic, Southern Hemisphere, and woodland plants. He has put together significant collections of many unusual and neglected as well as common genera, ranging from South African sun lovers through antipodean alpines to moisture- and shade-loving plants, mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. The collections of plants provide year-round interest, with something in flower every day of the year. Gary received no formal training in botany or horticulture, other than from the most effective master, experience. His interest in gardening developed with making a previous half-acre garden from scratch, which soon become too small. He now gardens informally on a 3 -acre plot on an exposed hilltop that has relatively shallow, lightly acid soil, with intrusions of the underlying dolerite forming natural rock features. The garden is located in County Down, Northern Ireland, just above Newtownards at the northern end of Strangford Lough, where a surprising diversity of plants thrive despite, at times, the climate. His time is also spent actively researching many of the genera that he has collected, particularly those which are not well covered in horticultural or even botanical literature. He has had published a number of articles on a diverse range of plants.