BelleWood-Gardens

My Books

Below are descriptions of books that I have authored. If you are interested in purchasing an autographed copy please email me.

Bulbs for Garden Habitats Bulbs For Garden Habitats Timber Press, 2005. $29.95
This book offers a new approach to planting bulbs, based on matching the plants to the garden habitats where they'll thrive and return year after year. Advocating a more natural approach through careful study of a garden's habitat and the bulbs' cultural needs, it suggests adapting the planting scheme to the environment, rather than the usual fall ritual of planting bulbs by the bushel, to flower the first spring but sometimes poorly or never again after that. Choices based on climate and local ecology result in gardens that truly belong where they are sited, and dividends in the form of healthy, thriving bulbs.
" I find the approach chosen by Judy Glattstein innovative and fascinating, the text competent and entertaining."
Herbert Frei, Zurich, Switzerland

"She offers a new approach to incorporating bulbs based on matching the plants to the garden habitats where they will have the best chance of thriving."
Book News, Inc., May 2005
"[Glattstein's] image-filled prose style... manages to educate and entertain concurrently."
Lillie Dorchak, Hunterdon County Democrat May 26, 2005
"Chapter 1: An Introduction to Geophytes. As Glattstein explains this term is a catchall for bulbous, cormous, tuberous, and rhizomatous plants, commonly referred to as bulbs. And she does not miss any. In amazing detail, and quoting gardeners from across the country who have personal experience with each bulb, she reviews the conditions under which each one grows best and the varieties you are likely to encounter, as well as the varieties you may never find! . . . Unlike many "experts", Glattstein does not pretend to have the only or the best answer for each plant. She is open to the diversity of habitats to which a bulb may accustom itself. The climate may impact how deeply a bulb should be planted, or how long it may survive, and certainly whether or not it must be dug over the winter. An interesting read as well as a good reference. "

Consider the Leaf: Foliage for Garden Design Consider the Leaf: Foliage for Garden Design Timber Press, 2003. $24.95
Foliage is the workhorse of garden design, useful in sun or shade, and throughout the year. While perennials flower for a relatively brief portion of the growing season, foliage endures. Using long-lasting foliage as the foundation provides a simple, easy way to enhance your garden's design. "Consider the Leaf" explores the diversity of leaf shapes, size, textures and colors, and how best to combine them to create attractive gardens. An increased awareness and understanding of foliage allows you to add interest to the garden month after month, as you discover the many ways foliage can be used to create a variety of effects from subtle to dramatic. More than 100 photographs provide illustrative examples. Gardeners and landscape designers alike will find this a lively, information-rich, and above all, a useful book.
Karin E. Guzy, Froghaven News Online
"A substantial read for serious gardeners." - Bookseller, January 17, 2003
"Writing in an engaging style that should inspire gardeners regardless of skill level, . . . Glattstein shows her value as an instructor." - Booklist, January 9, 2003
"Consider the Leaf" is a chatty horticultural primer on how to use foliage in garden design. A plantswoman with expertise and a down-to-earth approach, Glattstein reels off plant names and characteristics with opinionated good humor. She makes an excellent case for the use of trees, shrubs, grasses and vines, emphasizing her preference for plants that "pay their way." "In return for room and board (make that planting room and garden maintenance) I want easy-care plants with extended interest," she declares. . . She discusses leaf form and color, contrasting foliage combinations, and the incorporation of hedges, "fedges," knot gardens and topiary into garden design.
Barbara Lloyd McMichael , Kitsap Sun, May 25th, 2003

Sold Out Made for the Shade Barron's Educational Series, 1998. $14.95
Here's reliable information and commonsense advice on creating a beautiful garden under trees and in the shade of buildings. An explanation of the dynamics of shady gardens, and coping with shady sites with wet or dry conditions provides basic information that will assist you in selecting plants for the shady garden of your dreams. There are separate chapters on perennials, shrubs, bulbs, ground covers and more. An appendix on attracting birds to the shady garden and another on coping with deer make this book more than just another plant guide. Approximately 200 full-color photos illustrate a wide range of plants and garden arrangement to help you choose the ones that will please you most.
" If you are looking for a practical book on shade gardening, especially if you have deer, I highly recommend Made for the Shade, by Judy Glattstein.
"Indeed, Made for the Shade is a very practical book. Not only does it describe many types of plants that are suitable for shade, but it also addresses common gardening questions about mulch, compost, fertilizers and attracting birds.
"However, perhaps the thing I like best about this book is it doesn't emphasize the use of azalea and rhododendron in the shade garden. Not only can azalea and rhododendron be rather fussy plants, they are a favorite food of deer. Yet, so many gardening books promote these finicky deer treats as shade gardening essentials, leaving the neophyte gardener feeling like a hopeless failure with no alternatives when the deer devour his or her azaleas. Rather, Judy Glattstein introduces the gardener to the attributes of such wonderful plants as holly grape (Mahonia species), spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and, Viburnum.
"Whether you are a beginning gardener, or more experienced, Made for the Shade has something to offer." - January 7, 2001

Flowering Bulbs for Dummies Flowering Bulbs For Dummies® IDG Books Worldwide, 1998. $16.99
This book is for gardeners savvy enough to know there's always more to learn. Get all the dirt on growing brilliant flowering bulbs from traditional tulips to exotic fritillaria and many, many more. With down-to-earth advice and step-by-step instructions, you'll quickly and easily make any space more colorful with bulbs. Whether you are on new ground with bulb gardening or firmly rooted in this perennial passion, here's one guide that's sure to help. To every season from winter's end into spring, right through summer and into fall - bulbs, bulbs, and more bulbs are those buried treasures that will beautify your garden (but only if you plant them first!)

Enhance Your Garden with Japanese Plants Enhance Your Garden With Japanese Plants. Kodansha America, 1996. $25.00
Azaleas, flowering cherry trees, peony, lily, pachysandra - for centuries Japan has been the source of some of the most popular and commonplace plants in our gardens. Useful for both novice and expert gardener alike, my book will help you find trees and shrubs, woodland perennials and sun-loving herbaceous plants, vines and ground covers, even plants for rock and water gardens to beautify your garden regardless of its style. My book describes hundreds of plants with useful information on how to select and care for them. Information on the climate and geography of Japan will help you match plants to your growing conditions whether you live in the hot and humid Southeast or chilly North country. Nearly three dozen color pictures and 33 black and white botanical illustrations accompany the in-depth descriptions of the plants.
"Serviceable North American guide to Japanese plants, and suffice to say the review (allowing for the difference between UK and US garden fashions and practice) of 600+ native plants is excellent." UK review: July 17, 2014

Waterscaping Waterscaping: Plants and Ideas for... Storey Books, 1994. $18.95
Do you have a soggy spot in your lawn, or a swale or ditch that is occasionally wet and sometimes dry? Often considered a problem, you can create a beautiful, flower-filled garden in places such as these. My book on water gardening explores the whole range of wet sites. There is lots of information about designing and planting pools and ponds. As well, there is information about both sunny and shady sites with moist to wet soil: wet meadows, marshes, swamps and bogs. There's even a chapter on water gardening in containers, another chapter that takes you on "visits" to a handful of water gardens both large and small. Information on how to plant and care for water gardens gives you necessary advice to maintain the water garden right from the start. Colorful illustrations and line drawings add to the book's appeal.
WATERSCAPING is a valuable book to own! Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2000
"This book goes beyond the typical water garden book. It not only tells how to create a water garden, but tells how to deal with damp gardens that occur naturally. Many other garden books suggest to drain the garden if it's waterlogged, but this book helps evaluate the site and suggests native plants to enhance the area. If I had to choose only 1 book to own for garden ideas in my damp garden area, this would be the one. This is a must-have if you are blessed with a damp garden!"

Sold Out The American Gardener's World of Bulbs Little, Brown and Company, 1994. $24.95
It is unfortunate that too many gardeners pay attention only to spring-flowering bulbs. This attractive book with 90 color illustrations explores a wide diversity of familiar and uncommon bulbs for the circle of seasons. It begins in late winter and early spring, and includes the big three of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. There is a chapter on native North American bulbs, several chapters on hardy and tender summer bulbs before concluding with autumn flowering bulbs. Basic information on buying, planting, and tending bulbs accompanies information on how to place and combine bulbs with other plants. This book emphasizes how to design a garden using bulbs in combination with other plants throughout the year. Filled with practical information and fascinating horticultural lore.

"Released just as Connecticut gardeners get ready to plant daffodils and tulips, Glattstein's book provides a detailed look at all sorts of bulbous plants, from allium to zephyranthes. The depth and breadth of the information may be daunting to the novice, who might be better served by the concise summaries in most gardening encyclopedias, or even by those little sheets of paper enclosed with bulb orders. After all, you can sum up the planting of daffodils fairly easily: Plant in October, about 6 to 8 inches deep, in a sunny, well-drained spot. But anyone with more than a passing care about gardening would treasure this generous compilation about bulbous plants or, as Glattstein calls them, geophytes, a relatively new term that more accurately reflects the broad range of plants with specialized underground food-storage structures that include bulbs, corms and tubers.
24 September, 1994 Peter F. Sleight, an editor on The Hartford Courant's state desk,
is an avid gardener at his home in Willington. His reviews of garden books will appear monthly.

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	Bulbs For Garden Habitats Timber Press, 2005. $29.95 This book offers a new approach to planting bulbs, based on matching the plants to the garden habitats where they'll thrive and return year after year. Advocating a more natural approach through careful study of a garden's habitat and the bulbs' cultural needs, it suggests adapting the planting scheme to the environment, rather than the usual fall ritual of planting bulbs by the bushel, to flower the first spring but sometimes poorly or never again after that. Choices based on climate and local ecology result in gardens that truly belong where they are sited, and dividends in the form of healthy, thriving bulbs. " I find the approach chosen by Judy Glattstein innovative and fascinating, the text competent and entertaining." Herbert Frei, Zurich, Switzerland "She offers a new approach to incorporating bulbs based on matching the plants to the garden habitats where they will have the best chance of thriving." Book News, Inc., May 2005 "[Glattstein's] image-filled prose style... manages to educate and entertain concurrently." Lillie Dorchak, Hunterdon County Democrat May 26, 2005 "Chapter 1: An Introduction to Geophytes. As Glattstein explains this term is a catchall for bulbous, cormous, tuberous, and rhizomatous plants, commonly referred to as bulbs. And she does not miss any. In amazing detail, and quoting gardeners from across the country who have personal experience with each bulb, she reviews the conditions under which each one grows best and the varieties you are likely to encounter, as well as the varieties you may never find! . . . Unlike many "experts", Glattstein does not pretend to have the only or the best answer for each plant. She is open to the diversity of habitats to which a bulb may accustom itself. The climate may impact how deeply a bulb should be planted, or how long it may survive, and certainly whether or not it must be dug over the winter. An interesting read as well as a good reference. "
	Consider the Leaf: Foliage for Garden Design Timber Press, 2003. $24.95 Foliage is the workhorse of garden design, useful in sun or shade, and throughout the year. While perennials flower for a relatively brief portion of the growing season, foliage endures. Using long-lasting foliage as the foundation provides a simple, easy way to enhance your garden's design. "Consider the Leaf" explores the diversity of leaf shapes, size, textures and colors, and how best to combine them to create attractive gardens. An increased awareness and understanding of foliage allows you to add interest to the garden month after month, as you discover the many ways foliage can be used to create a variety of effects from subtle to dramatic. More than 100 photographs provide illustrative examples. Gardeners and landscape designers alike will find this a lively, information-rich, and above all, a useful book. Karin E. Guzy, Froghaven News Online "A substantial read for serious gardeners." - Bookseller, January 17, 2003 "Writing in an engaging style that should inspire gardeners regardless of skill level, . . . Glattstein shows her value as an instructor." - Booklist, January 9, 2003 "Consider the Leaf" is a chatty horticultural primer on how to use foliage in garden design. A plantswoman with expertise and a down-to-earth approach, Glattstein reels off plant names and characteristics with opinionated good humor. She makes an excellent case for the use of trees, shrubs, grasses and vines, emphasizing her preference for plants that "pay their way." "In return for room and board (make that planting room and garden maintenance) I want easy-care plants with extended interest," she declares. . . She discusses leaf form and color, contrasting foliage combinations, and the incorporation of hedges, "fedges," knot gardens and topiary into garden design. Barbara Lloyd McMichael , Kitsap Sun, May 25th, 2003
Sold Out	Made for the Shade Barron's Educational Series, 1998. $14.95 Here's reliable information and commonsense advice on creating a beautiful garden under trees and in the shade of buildings. An explanation of the dynamics of shady gardens, and coping with shady sites with wet or dry conditions provides basic information that will assist you in selecting plants for the shady garden of your dreams. There are separate chapters on perennials, shrubs, bulbs, ground covers and more. An appendix on attracting birds to the shady garden and another on coping with deer make this book more than just another plant guide. Approximately 200 full-color photos illustrate a wide range of plants and garden arrangement to help you choose the ones that will please you most. " If you are looking for a practical book on shade gardening, especially if you have deer, I highly recommend Made for the Shade, by Judy Glattstein. "Indeed, Made for the Shade is a very practical book. Not only does it describe many types of plants that are suitable for shade, but it also addresses common gardening questions about mulch, compost, fertilizers and attracting birds. "However, perhaps the thing I like best about this book is it doesn't emphasize the use of azalea and rhododendron in the shade garden. Not only can azalea and rhododendron be rather fussy plants, they are a favorite food of deer. Yet, so many gardening books promote these finicky deer treats as shade gardening essentials, leaving the neophyte gardener feeling like a hopeless failure with no alternatives when the deer devour his or her azaleas. Rather, Judy Glattstein introduces the gardener to the attributes of such wonderful plants as holly grape (Mahonia species), spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and, Viburnum. "Whether you are a beginning gardener, or more experienced, Made for the Shade has something to offer." - January 7, 2001
	Flowering Bulbs For Dummies® IDG Books Worldwide, 1998. $16.99 This book is for gardeners savvy enough to know there's always more to learn. Get all the dirt on growing brilliant flowering bulbs from traditional tulips to exotic fritillaria and many, many more. With down-to-earth advice and step-by-step instructions, you'll quickly and easily make any space more colorful with bulbs. Whether you are on new ground with bulb gardening or firmly rooted in this perennial passion, here's one guide that's sure to help. To every season from winter's end into spring, right through summer and into fall - bulbs, bulbs, and more bulbs are those buried treasures that will beautify your garden (but only if you plant them first!)
	Enhance Your Garden With Japanese Plants. Kodansha America, 1996. $25.00 Azaleas, flowering cherry trees, peony, lily, pachysandra - for centuries Japan has been the source of some of the most popular and commonplace plants in our gardens. Useful for both novice and expert gardener alike, my book will help you find trees and shrubs, woodland perennials and sun-loving herbaceous plants, vines and ground covers, even plants for rock and water gardens to beautify your garden regardless of its style. My book describes hundreds of plants with useful information on how to select and care for them. Information on the climate and geography of Japan will help you match plants to your growing conditions whether you live in the hot and humid Southeast or chilly North country. Nearly three dozen color pictures and 33 black and white botanical illustrations accompany the in-depth descriptions of the plants. "Serviceable North American guide to Japanese plants, and suffice to say the review (allowing for the difference between UK and US garden fashions and practice) of 600+ native plants is excellent." UK review: July 17, 2014
	Waterscaping: Plants and Ideas for... Storey Books, 1994. $18.95 Do you have a soggy spot in your lawn, or a swale or ditch that is occasionally wet and sometimes dry? Often considered a problem, you can create a beautiful, flower-filled garden in places such as these. My book on water gardening explores the whole range of wet sites. There is lots of information about designing and planting pools and ponds. As well, there is information about both sunny and shady sites with moist to wet soil: wet meadows, marshes, swamps and bogs. There's even a chapter on water gardening in containers, another chapter that takes you on "visits" to a handful of water gardens both large and small. Information on how to plant and care for water gardens gives you necessary advice to maintain the water garden right from the start. Colorful illustrations and line drawings add to the book's appeal. WATERSCAPING is a valuable book to own! Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2000 "This book goes beyond the typical water garden book. It not only tells how to create a water garden, but tells how to deal with damp gardens that occur naturally. Many other garden books suggest to drain the garden if it's waterlogged, but this book helps evaluate the site and suggests native plants to enhance the area. If I had to choose only 1 book to own for garden ideas in my damp garden area, this would be the one. This is a must-have if you are blessed with a damp garden!"
Sold Out	The American Gardener's World of Bulbs Little, Brown and Company, 1994. $24.95 It is unfortunate that too many gardeners pay attention only to spring-flowering bulbs. This attractive book with 90 color illustrations explores a wide diversity of familiar and uncommon bulbs for the circle of seasons. It begins in late winter and early spring, and includes the big three of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. There is a chapter on native North American bulbs, several chapters on hardy and tender summer bulbs before concluding with autumn flowering bulbs. Basic information on buying, planting, and tending bulbs accompanies information on how to place and combine bulbs with other plants. This book emphasizes how to design a garden using bulbs in combination with other plants throughout the year. Filled with practical information and fascinating horticultural lore. "Released just as Connecticut gardeners get ready to plant daffodils and tulips, Glattstein's book provides a detailed look at all sorts of bulbous plants, from allium to zephyranthes. The depth and breadth of the information may be daunting to the novice, who might be better served by the concise summaries in most gardening encyclopedias, or even by those little sheets of paper enclosed with bulb orders. After all, you can sum up the planting of daffodils fairly easily: Plant in October, about 6 to 8 inches deep, in a sunny, well-drained spot. But anyone with more than a passing care about gardening would treasure this generous compilation about bulbous plants or, as Glattstein calls them, geophytes, a relatively new term that more accurately reflects the broad range of plants with specialized underground food-storage structures that include bulbs, corms and tubers. 24 September, 1994 Peter F. Sleight, an editor on The Hartford Courant's state desk, is an avid gardener at his home in Willington. His reviews of garden books will appear monthly.