Definitely the best resource out there for gardeners of any experience level - whether your thumb be green or not.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for allowing me to have a copy of this book to read and review. I'm a gardener and I love it. It is one of my favorite hobbies. I've been gardening for just a few years now so when I see a book like this I welcome the suggestions and advice. I really liked this book. It had ideas, plans for different light requirements and tons of beautiful pictures of flowers and garden ideas! I thought it was a complete guide for somebody like me who loves to garden and is forever learning. Great book!

The Proven Winners Garden Book is a garden design and tutorial book from plant breeders and suppliers, Proven Winners. In the springtime all of the big box stores and a fair number of independent retailers sell bedding packs and flats of plants for home gardeners to take home and set out in their gardens and containers. In North America, a large proportion of these are from Proven Winners.

Due out 19th Feb 2019 from Timber Press, it's 188 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is an appealing and well photographed book. There is inspiration to be found here. I liked a lot of the container plantings especially. These designs and combinations utilize easily sourced plants so readers can get -exactly- the pictured result with -exactly- the same plants as pictured. For readers who are bewildered about what to plant and what plants (and colors) to combine to get an effect which won't startle or offend the neighbors/housing association, this book has some good answers.

People spend a fortune and a lot of time on their gardens. This book will get new suburban gardeners up to speed relatively painlessly and without panic.

This is definitely written with the new gardener in mind. Experienced gardeners who are used to spending a month or more sequestered with the new seed catalogues in the depth of winter probably aren't going to have any epiphanies over this book. There's enough basic info here to get started. The authors have covered designing with and planting bedding packs from their own brand. There's a lot of emphasis on spot planting containers and coordinated plantings. The plantings are decorative. There's no discussion on edible plantings or xeriscaping. Vegetables are not covered.

There is a resource listing (for NA gardeners), a bibliography, and an index.

Three stars, probably four+ for people who want to buy packs of plants, plant them in their balcony window boxes and get a consistent result without a lot of effort or expense.

Thank you Netgalley and Timber Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is filled with photos and information directed at the beginning gardener. It discusses soil preparation, sun verses shade planting, wind and its effect on the garden, as well as microclimates.

The most useful information is the “recipes” for planting combinations in the landscape as well as containers. The recommended plants are all the Proven Winners brand, however.

There was useful information on fall purchase and planting of perennials as well as recommendations for discouraging deer from feasting on valuable garden plants.

The photos are very helpful as far as determining color, plant size, height and fullness. It is an appealing book to peruse on a cold winter day when thoughts wander to spring planting, which seems so far away.

A great overview on both landscape gardening and container gardening (flowers, not food). I'm a total newbie who moved into a house with an already landscaped backyard--but I'm pretty sure a lot of the plants are in the incorrect spots to flourish long-term. This book helps put it all into perspective and guide you toward the best decisions for the space and region you have.

The back section on container gardening was the most helpful for me, as I have limited space and no enthusiasm or desire to uproot the pre-existing plants I have--if they live through the year, that is. I was also happy to see the different types of plants and stands and what works best with which plants and sunlight exposures.

Very, very helpful, and the photographs were stunning!

I'm an avid gardener who chooses to purchase plants vs planting seeds. When buying plants at most big box stores, you are buying the Proven Winner brand. So who better to give advice and share information and ideas with home gardeners? The authors provide experienced instruction on how to prepare your flower beds for plants and keep your plants growing. We invest a lot of time and money into making the outside of our homes beautiful with plants and flowers. Make your time and money count with expert advice. I've now planted two large butterfly gardens as well as several mixed annual/ perennial beds. This book saved me a lot of frustration by eliminating the guess work on where to plant and how to keep my plants healthy. It is a clear winner for all gardeners.

This is a great reference for use in designing your garden and/or container plantings. It contains several “recipes” for different types of gardens along with 20+ “recipes” for containers. I will definitely be referring to the Hot and Sunny recipe for my hot and sunny backyard. There are many beautiful photos. It would be a good addition to anyone’s collection.

This book gives great insights about how to make a winning garden. Parameters such as observing how the garden is affected by the environment (sun, wind, water, ...) but also how to affect your perspectives with decisions on scale, accessories...

Twelve garden recipes are shown in the book, giving great suggestions for inspiration.

Covering the basics from (literally) the ground up, this book makes home gardening seem accessible and fun. Lots of practical advice, charming illustrations, full-color photos, and "recipes" for different types of gardens.

I'm sorry to say I was quite disappointed in this book. First of all, I didn't realize it's basically one big ad for the Proven Winners brand of plants, fertilizer and garden supplies. It contains "recipes" for garden designs for both garden spaces and containers, calling for exact numbers of their plants. There are extremely specific plans for filling xx amount of space with xx many of each variety of purchased garden plants from their line.

Not only is it disappointing that it's formulaic garden plans with only their plants, but they're boring plants that are overused and uninspired. Every photo reminded me of an overdone 1990's subdivision. Ugh. Petunias, hostas, etc. are arranged to artificial perfection, looking more like something you see in front of a Home Depot than a beautiful garden spot.

As an organic gardener who loves heirloom plants and natural designs, this was not a good fit for me.

I viewed a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

My review is already live on Goodreads. I will post it on my book review blog (www.bugbugbooks.com) and on Amazon on 1/22/19. Thanks!

This book is super basic. It is divided into three main sections. The first section gives foundational garden advice (e.g., you should prune your trees! you should compost!) without giving much guidance on how to accomplish any of it.

The second section gives twelve "garden recipes." In other words, it offers twelve different landscape designs that are very space-specific. So, for example, there's a front walkway design, a hot and sunny garden design for a rectangular space along a picket fence, and a deer-resistant garden design in the middle of a sprawling front yard. I like that each design gives helpful info like what plants to plant, when to plant them, when they will bloom, directions for planting, and a (very helpful) planting map. I was able to learn a bit about planning a garden in general, but, still, the designs are very site-specific.

The third section gives twenty-five examples of container designs. I was excited for this section the most, because I'm trying to learn how to make visually beautiful container arrangements. But I found the examples in this section to be boring and mostly uninspiring. I did like the Fourth of July container (petunias, fountain grass, and gerber daisies) and the Midsummer Color container (dahlias, petunias, and sweet potato vines). But most of the designs looked off to me, like the proportions and color combinations weren't quite right.

I'm sorry to say that this book was not a favorite of mine. Too basic, yet too specific at the same time. And it doesn't have much helpful information for either the beginning or seasoned gardener.

I will admit I'm a fan of "Proven Winners" plants. They tend to be good quality. So, I was curious to see what this book would contain. The introduction proposes it would be a good guide to the beginning gardener. However, I don't think it can say that it's the one book a beginner should have. The first section on the garden environment (soil, topography, water, sun, wind) is quite minimal. While there is another chapter that includes more details on soil fertilization and composting, I find the instructions given there to be simplistic and often favoring use of the "Proven Winners" brand products, rather than focusing first on sustainability. For these reasons, I'm not sure I'd recommend this as a basic gardening reference.

But, if the beginner is looking for help with selecting plants to create a visually pleasing design, then this book could be a "winner" The last 2/3 of the book contains 12 garden "recipes" (designs) and 25 container "recipes." These could provide some excellent inspiration for the beginning gardener.