Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening: A Gardener's Guide to Growing Flowers, from Today's Favorites to Unusual Varieties

Get garden-tested guidance for beautiful blooms with this comprehensive, practical, and gorgeously illustrated study of the art of growing flowers.

In Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening, author Matt Mattus offers expert tips on growing both annuals and biennials (including native and heirloom species) based on his decades of first-hand experience in his own garden and greenhouse, made popular on his blog Growing with Plants. Accompanied by lush photography, every variety or species presented includes detailed information and tips that go beyond the very basic information typically available on the seed packet or a nursery tag. You'll discover:

• Basic growing methods, including how to start seeds, soil, sowing, hardening off, transplanting, and growing on.
• Advice for growing a wide range of different flowers, organized by blooming season, including annuals from seed, summer bulbs, vines such as wisteria, and even blooming shrubs like lilacs.
• In-depth profiles for a selection of flowers that include more-detailed growing techniques along with their histories and varieties.
• Pro tips, including how to grow challenging annual poppies and biennials from seed and forcing flowers for winter blooms.

Just a small selection of the flowers covered: heirloom and exhibition chrysanthemums, larkspurs and annual poppies, delphiniums, peonies, lilacs, and wisteria. Bulbs include spring and summer bulbs such as anemone, ranunculus, tulips, lilies, gladiolus, and cut flower dahlias, while winter indoor bulbs cover every aspect of forcing bulbs indoors like narcissus, amaryllis, South African bulbs--and even how to force Lily of the Valley.

Whether you're interested in raising a small cut-flower garden, enhancing your flower border or containers, or just admiring the beauty of flowers, Mattus has it covered.

Matt Mattus is an American visual designer, artist, horticulturist, and futurist. He is also a third generation gardener of his family property in Massachusetts and the author of Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening. Matt's popular gardening blog, Growing with Plants, has garnered recognition in leading lifestyle magazines and is frequently voted a top five gardening blog. It has won many national awards and nominations and has earned a loyal following of fans. He has served for three years as a trustee of the Tower Hill Botanic Garden (Boylston, MA), is Vice President of the 175-year-old Worcester County Horticultural Society, sits on the board of theTower Hill Botanic Garden as a trustee, and is also President of the prestigious North American Rock Garden Society. Matt is very active in many plant societies and is a popular speaker at botanic gardens, specialist plant societies, and at horticultural conferences. For 28 years, Mattus was employed by Hasbro, Inc. in creative roles ranging from Creative Director to Visual Futurist in their top-secret Innovation and Invention Lab. Currently, Matt lives in Worcester, Massachusetts.