As a gardener, I find that my desire for new plants rapidly outstrips my yearly garden budget, so I was delighted to see the wonderful new Ken Druse book, Making More Plants: the Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation. Despite the stylish, sleek cover, this book is not just another pretty coffee table book. I read it from cover to cover three times and constantly refer back to sections of the book.

If you never knew anything about botany, the first chapter of Making More Plants gives a fascinating overview of the science of plants, complete with striking photographs. Once you know the parts of a plant, you can better understand the growing process.

As the book progresses, there are several chapters that deal with seeds. You will learn techniques for seed collection and how to prepare them for the most successful germination. Then, Mr. Druse leads us through the process of sowing seeds and caring for the seedlings as they sprout and grow.

Next, Making More Plants discusses vegetative propagation. There are several excellent sets of instructions that lead you through the making of a sweat box and a misting system. These inexpensive propagators are very easy to construct and they work well. I used the instructions to make a sweat box that rapidly rooted several shrubs.

As he continues the book, Mr. Druse discusses how to propagate using cuttings, layering, grafting, division, and root cuttings. The back of the book includes a useful plant propagation guide.

If I only had one propagation book in my reference library, Making More Plants would be that book. It is well written, informative, and fun to read. The joy Mr. Druse feels when he talks about gardening comes through very clearly in this book. I give it five out of five sunflowers.




Another good book from Mr. Druse: