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Southern African Plectranthus: The Art of Turning Shade to Glade

Indigenous, fast-growing, herbaceous perennial plants, Plectranthus have become increasingly popular with gardeners throughout the world as shade garden and indoor plants. They are a gardener's dream plant: being semi-succulent, they are easy to root, tolerate shade and light, neglect, drought and disturbance. They cope in conditions ranging from moist to intensely hot and arid and, being free flowering and aromatic, they provide the garden and home with fragrance year round. They are suitable for hanging baskets and containers and, being fast growing, make excellent ground and wall covers, with the bonus of producing flowers in Autumn in South Africa, when most other flowering species are dormant.

The book is aimed at the gardener, indigenous plant enthusiast and botanist alike. It offers the reader a concise history of the origins of this plant group and deals with the use of Plectranthus as garden and indoor subjects, giving general horticultural advice that includes propagation and pot planting. The group's environmental adaptations, ethnic uses, natural reproduction and distribution in southern Africa are also covered, and a key simplifies the species' identification. Notes on each species explain the derivation of the botanical name and give a short description of the plant, including its flowering time, diagnostic features, habitat and cultivation. Each species is accompanied by a full-colour illustration in its different forms.

THE CONTENTS:
Foreword Dr L E Codd
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: The history of Plectranthus
Chapter 2: Searching for Plectranthus
Chapter 3: Plectranthus in the garden
Chapter 4: The indigenous shade garden
Chapter 5: Plectranthus cultivars and their breeding potential
Chapter 6: Distribution and ecology
Chapter 7: The genus Plectranthus in Southern Africa
Chapter 8: The species in Southern Africa
List of synonyms
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

THE AUTHOR:

Ernst van Jaarsveld is the full-time curator of the Botanical Society Conservatory at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. He holds a National Diploma in Horticulture and a Masters Degree in Botany. He is the recipient of the Senior Captain Scott medal from the Academy of Science of South Africa, the Dudley D'Ewes medal from the Botanical Society, and the Hans Herre medal from the Succulent Society of South Africa. A well-respected author, he has published a number of books, including Succulents of South Africa (Tafelberg); Waterwise Gardening (Sunbird); Cotyledon and Tylecodon Handbook (Umdaus); and the semi-scientific Gasterias of South Africa (Fernwood Press).

THE ILLUSTRATOR:

Vicki Thomas, a botanical illustrator, has published artwork in numerous scientific journals. In 1993 she was awarded a Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society and in 2000 received a Silver Medal from the first Kirstenbosch Exhibition of Botanical Art. Her artworks feature in Dr Shirley Sherwood's book, A Passion for Plants - Contemporary Botanical Masterworks and in South African Botanical Art: Peeling Back the Petals (Fernwood Press). Recently her work has been selected for inclusion in The Highgrove Florilegium, recording the flora in the Prince of Wales's garden. She is a founder member of the Botanical Artists' Association of Southern Africa.

SPECIFICATIONS:
176 pages, hardcover with dustjacket, 300 x 230 mm (portrait), 60 botanical plates and 70 colour photographs

ISBN: 978 1 874950 80 6

Price (excl. shipping):   R: 295.00  £: 21.85  $: 36.88  €: 26.82

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