by Kent Petterson
Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota
By Welby Smith
ISBN 9780816640652
University of Minnesota Press
November 2008
$59.95
It has been over 50 years since C. Otto Rosendahl wrote the book Trees and Shrubs of the Upper Midwest, the last comprehensive flora of the woody plants of Minnesota. With the release last November of Welby Smith’s book Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota, we now have a long-awaited and completely revised guide for woody species identification in Minnesota.
This is a beautiful as well as useful book. Smith has gathered his life’s work on these plants and given us a book to be treasured. The heart of the book is organized around pages that are color marked along the edge by plant genus, listed alphabetically.
Each species within the genus receives two pages of information. The left-hand page is a complete description for the named species, with common name and distribution maps. On the facing right-hand page are color photographs by Smith of that species’ flower, leaf, bark and seed.
My initial look found two nuggets of information included for each species. First, the flower and fruit photographs are dated, so you know when you should be in the field to study those aspects, and second, the description contains derivation information for the species name. This kind of detail shows just how much information regarding each species has been provided in two easy-to-use pages. I’m sure further study will no doubt bring out many more small details that make this book great.
Although this type of book is often thought of as a technical work for professionals, this book’s feel and look will make it attractive to novice users as well. Along with the photos are wonderful botanical illustrations of each species in winter, drawn by artist Vera Ming Wong. Some readers will recall the earlier Wong/Smith collaboration on Orchids of Minnesota, a book that is currently out of print and unavailable even as a used book. With a press run of 3,500 copies, you would be advised to get your copy of Trees and Shrubs before this, too, is out of print.
I have had the opportunity to see many comparable books for other parts of the country and world. My personal opinion is that this book sets a new standard for presentation and production for a flora of this or any type. Published by the University of Minnesota Press with credit to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota deserves a place on your reference shelf. Its price tag might make it a stretch for some, but it is worth the price.
Kent Petterson is the owner of Terrace Horticultural Books, St. Paul, MN. 651-222-5536. terrace@winternet.com. www.terracehorticulturalbooks.com
_________
Welby Smith, author of Shrubs and Trees of Minnesota, will be at Terrace Horticultural Books this Saturday, April 4th, at 1:00 p.m. to sign and discuss the book with our customers. The showroom is open 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. for the day.
Smith’s book will be discounted 20% as will the entire stock of over 16,000 items, including seed catalogs, seed packets, unframed botanical art, ephemera and other interesting artifacts of gardening. Lots of bargains and wonderful usable books for learning how to grow your own food, or develop your own garden.








At a terrific talk given by Donald Mitchell, conservation biologist, Master Gardener, and hummingbird specialist from the University of Minnesota, I learned which flowers not only attract hummingbirds but also give them the most nectar.
Bee Balm (Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’ ) Look for other red-blooming, mildew-resistant varieties.





Last year I grew the inedible, just-for-fun Nipple Fruit (Solanum mammosum) and was pleased that the unusual and knobby yellow fruits kept everybody guessing what they were: Eggplant? Tomato? Squash? The plant itself is large (48 to 60 inches tall) and seemed to need either support or pruning because the fruit is rather heavy. It’s really not too soon to be thinking about Halloween!
Another strange plant that we are selling again this year is a 10-foot vine charmingly called Love-in-a-Puff because of its balloon-like seed pods which contain seeds marked with a tiny heart (hence its Latin name Cardiospermum.) An annual vine with attractive foliage and cute white flowers, Love-in-a-Puff would love to cover any chain-link fence for you.
It is hard to beat Lion’s Ears (Leonotis) for quirky personality. It is a tall, square-stemmed, aromatic annual whose flowers are fascinating at every stage of their development, as their curving orange tubes sprout out of spiny globes. Last summer, I was constantly asked the plant’s name. Kids loved it. Even now, almost a year later, gardeners and neighbors are still talking to me about this one plant. Now that I know that Leonotis is not only a freaky, fun plant but is an exceptionally easy, ever-blooming plant, I plan to buy at least three at the sale (the photo shows what just one little plant quickly turns into!)
If you want to grow a flower that is even more prickly, and perennial, try one of our Globe Thistles (Echinops) this summer. We have a brand new 24-inch steely-blue one called ‘Baby Globes,’ a medium-sized 24- to 48-inch dark blue one called Echinops ritro, and a giant 60- to 72-inch silvery white one called ‘Arctic Glow.’ I rather like ‘Arctic Glow,’ both because monster size tends to increase a plant’s “strangeness factor” and because its colors remind me of an unusual and appealing color-themed garden I saw last summer: silver and various shades of red and pink.
These unusual fuzzy orange flowers called Kangaroo Paws (Anigozanthos) are from Australia, a country that seems to specialize in seriously strange plants, more of which are becoming available to American gardeners every year. This year we will also be selling a red variety — let us know if you like them, because next year we could order them in pink, yellow, green or bi-colored. These Kangaroo Paws are 24 inches tall, just the right size to create an impact in a container, but we could offer ones twice that height if our customers are interested.
Finally, a strange plant actually named ‘Dr Seuss’! It is an Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia) with huge, fragrant yellow-orange blooms, similar to the Brugmansia shown here and newly available at the sale in a gallon container. This tropical tree can be brought inside for the winter — I know this is true because one of my neighbors has a small forest of them in pots in his front yard! There will also be a new peach-colored Angel’s Trumpet.


