Book Concepts:
GARDENING, LANDSCAPING, BIRDSCAPING
The “friends” portion of Neil Soderstrom & friends features highly regarded authors and author/photographers. Initials in parentheses below match initials following each concept/title and correspond to author names in boldface here. Author bios appear alphabetically on the “Author Bios” page of this website.
Karan Davis Cutler = (KDC)
Thomas S. Elias = (TS)
Barbara W. Ellis = (BE)
Anne Halpin = (AH)
Neil Soderstrom = (NS)
We can supply concept paragraphs on titles that interest you. At your invitation thereafter, we could send full proposals and, in some cases, completed or nearly completed manuscripts and photo thumbnails. For most books, we could supply most photos ourselves at volume discount and handle supplemental photo research as well.
Note: To ensure confidentiality of some of the titles at this stage, we’ve withheld wording that would inspire burglary.
CARING FOR YOUR OUTDOOR SPACE & FURNISHINGS: Plants & Gardens, Lawns, Decks & Patios, Walls & Fences, Paths & Driveways, Containers, and Outdoor Furniture. All homeowners need this information, whether they do the work themselves or hire for it. (AH)
CLEAR YOUR INDOOR AIR WITH PLANTS: small-to-medium format, full color, 96 book pages. (AH)
COLOR HARMONIES: A GUIDE TO FLOWER SELECTION. (AH)
COLORMATCH: HOUSE & GROUNDS (AH)
COLOR-THEMED PLANTS & COMBINATIONS (AH)
COMPLETE GUIDE TO GARDENING TERMS & TECHNIQUES. This will be a revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara Ellis’s classic, Complete Gardener’s Dictionary. (BE)
EMILY DICKINSON’S FLOWERS & OTHER SMALL FRIENDS: High school and college literature courses often overlook the importance of gardening in Emily’s life and writing. In fact, she studied botany formally and created a large labeled pressed-flower collection she called her “Herbarium,” now archived at Harvard. In addition, she enjoyed tending plants in the conservatory attached to her parents’ house and customarily pressed flowers into her letters. This book would combine Dickinson’s garden-related prose and poetry with photos of the actual flowers and wildlife she mentions. We could also include a section on simpler flower-pressing crafts, as well as tips on creating a labeled pressed-flower collection like Emily’s. (NS)
EXPERT GARDENERS SHOWED ME HOW (NS)
FAVORITE PLANTS OF FAMOUS PEOPLE (AH)
50 EXTRAORDINARY FLOWERING PLANTS (AH)
FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN TREES, by Dr. Thomas S. Elias, former Director of the National Arboretum, is a rights-reverted recent classic available for republication in updated third edition. The original 948-pp, small-format edition contained more than 1,000 exquisite line drawings of 800+ native trees, with labeled identification features. It also included illustrated identification keys, as well as maps showing native ranges. However, to reduce the page count to about 550 pages, while increasing the book’s appeal as a true field guide, we recommend republication as separate Eastern and Western editions. In the proposed editions, Dr. Elias will supplement the original information on importance to wildlife and commerce with advice on landscaping uses and cultural information, including the best cultivated varieties. He’ll also address effects and likely trends in tree hardiness resulting from global warming, which is allowing some species to move northerly and into higher elevations, while also causing regional die-offs owing to reduced rainfall. More than 85 percent of the book’s original line art is available without fee. A sample copy of the second edition shown is available upon request.
FOOLPROOF FLOWERSCAPES: The Easy No-Fail Way
to a Perfect Flower Garden. A unique, easy-to-follow and, yes, foolproof system for designing a professional-quality flower garden. A great guide for new gardeners and a timesaving system for experienced growers based on eight simple steps that anybody can follow in designing the garden of their dreams. (AH)
FREE PLANTS, photo compilation of propagation techniques that any gardener can easily follow, whether from seed, cuttings, or divisions.
GARDEN PLANNER & 3-YEAR JOURNAL, an essential organizer, planner, and record keeper, this journal would be “evergreen,” in that it wouldn’t become dated. Owners could begin making entries in any month for 36 consecutive months.(NS & others)
GARDENING FOR FREE, OR ALMOST: Propagation techniques whether from seed, from cuttings, from divisions, from layering, as well as clever recycling of everyday things for garden use.
GARDEN PLANTS THAT RESEMBLE THEIR (COMMON) NAMES: Bachelor’s Buttons, Bearded Iris, Bleeding Heart, Elephant’s Ears, Foxglove, Grape Hyacinth, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Lamb’s Ears, Red-hot Poker etc. (AH)
GREAT PUBLIC GARDENS NEAR NEW YORK CITY (various authors)
GREENEST LAWN & GARDEN, avoiding harmful chemicals (AH)
GREEN RENEWALS: GARDENS FOR THE SOUL (AH)
GROWING NORTH AMERICA’S FAVORITE PLANTS, by Barbara Ellis, is a rights-reverted classic, originally published as a Taylor’s Guide by Houghton Mifflin in 1998. Unlike most encyclopedias, the entries in this useful title emphasize selection secrets (species for shade/sun as well as early to
late bloom, for example) and give specific site, soil, planting requirements, and landscape use for each. Entries also
include “Care Through the Season” details, including when
to divide, how to propagate, pruning needs, and dealing with potential problems. This book is now available for updated republication with continued emphasis on organic methods; newly popular species and cultivars; and native plants and their cultivars vs. invasive aliens that escape from gardens
and threaten native ecosystems. The original large-format edition with more than 400 color photos ran 342pp. (BE)
GROW IT IN A WINDOW BOX, including boxes on decks, porch rails & fencing (AH)
A GUIDE FOR NEW GARDENERS
HANDS OF GARDENERS, photos and interviews (NS)
HOME GROUNDING: NURTURING THE SPIRIT THROUGH NATURE (AH)
HORTICULTURAL NAMES: An Entertaining Guide to Pronunciation & Meanings, U.S. bias (author to be announced)
HOW TO GROW EVERYTHING. The complete reference
for gardeners, this book offers thorough but concise,
easy-to-follow directions for growing hundreds of plants: annual and perennial flowers, bulbs, herbs, vegetables,
vines, fruits, shrubs, and trees. Includes pruning and
training as well as lawn care. (AH)
LANDSCAPING FOR PRIVACY (AH)
LANDSCAPING TO ATTRACT BIRDS (KDC)
LESSONS FROM A GARDENING PRO (AH)
MORNING GLORIES & MOONFLOWERS, all about vines—the special effects department of the garden (AH)
OUTDOOR HOUSEKEEPING (AH)
POTSCAPING 1, 2, 3: An Easy Way to Create
Gorgeous Containers. There’s an art to creating lush, beautiful container plantings, and anyone can learn it. Author Anne Halpin designs and plants gorgeous containers for her clients in the Hamptons. In this book, her method makes mixing and matching of plants from different colors and categories as easy as following a kitchen recipe. (AH)
SUPERMARKET PLANTS: How to Select & Care for Them (KDC)
20 EASIEST LANDSCAPING PROJECTS (NS)
10 EASIEST EVERGREEN TREES TO GROW (NS)
10 EASIEST EVERGREEN SHRUBS TO GROW (NS)
UNINTENDED USES FOR EVERYDAY THINGS: Among the most popular articles in home and garden magazines are those presenting clever recyclings and repurposings submitted by readers. Some of these devices serve better than commercial products; some do the job when no commercial product is available. And many employ resourceful, often humorous, combinations of disparate components and products. (NS)
YARDWORK ELECTRIFIED: Battery- and AC-powered
means of eliminating noisy, noxious gas engines from yardwork, whether for mowing, woodcutting, wood splitting, wood chipping, hedge shearing, grass trimming, tree pruning, hauling, tilling, cement mixing, or yard and garden carpentry—even solar-powered riding lawnmower/tractors. (NS)
