Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates:
An Illustrated Encyclopedia
By Michael A. Dirr

Following the phenomenal success of Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs, written for gardeners in the climates of USDA Zones 3 to 6, this companion volume is a superlative photographic encyclopedia of trees, shrubs, and vines for “warm temperate” zones.
In North America, these areas (USDA Zones 7 to 11) stretch from the Mid-Atlantic states to the South, include most of Texas and the Southwest, and encompass the entire West Coast, up to western Canada. Many parts of the British Isles, Australia, and New Zealand experience similar conditions.
In a nutshell, any gardener who lives in an area where winter temperatures do not go below 0° Fahrenheit (–18° Celsius) will want this book, and curious gardeners in colder zones may well want to test these select plants in their local microclimates.
This remarkable volume shows both the habit and details - flower, fruit, bark, fall color - of more than 400 species and describes hundreds more cultivars and varieties. Certain genera offer myriad hybrids and selections, and photographs of many of the best of these are included as well -nearly 40 named crapemyrtles, a dozen teaolives, and 11 loropetalums. In all, more than 1400 photographs join with the authoritative text to bring the plants to life.
A southern gardener himself, Dirr begins his book with reflections on his successes and failures in 22 years of gardening in the red soils of Georgia. No gardener will want to miss a “sneak peak” into this great plantsman’s lush garden.
From Abelia to Ziziphus, gardeners will encounter many new and unfamiliar plants that thrive in warmer climates. Suggestions for cultivation and landscape use are based on Dirr’s extensive experience. He gives special attention to hardy palms that can survive outside the subtropics.
The book also reflects the author’s inimitable personality, which holds nothing back when a plant deserves outright acclaim (“If prescriptions could be written for perfect garden plants, this species would come close to filling the order”), backhanded praise (“Use for accent, for novelty, or to drive visitors loony”), or frank condemnation (“Splays to the point of no redemption with time”).
448 pp, 1438 color photos, 1 map, 8 1/2 x 11", hardcover
ISBN: 0-88192-525-X
Publication Date: January 2002