This book addresses both the aesthetic qualities of grasses in private gardens and the opportunities and challenges of using them in wild and constructed public landscapes. All the true grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, and cattails that possess ornamental merit or that can contribute to ecological plantings are described, and practical matters of propagation, growth, and maintenance are also covered. More than 1000 stunning photographs show details of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part.
Rick Darke is a landscape design consultant, author, and photographer based in Landenberg, Pennsylvania. He was a member of Longwood Gardens' staff for twenty years, first as assistant taxonomist and then as curator of plants. Darke received the Scientific Award of the American Horticultural Society, and his landmark work, The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, earned a Book Award from the American Horticultural Society.