Country Garden Planner

"Country gardens" are popular these days. They are distinguished not so much by their location or size as by their abundance, informality, and profusion of color. Country Garden Planner shows 19 beautiful incarnations of the country garden--water gardens, scented gardens, shade gardens, dried-flower gardens--with photographs, plant suggestions, and a roughed-in plan for each. There's also a chapter on creating your own country garden, with advice on attracting birds and butterflies, container gardening, and using structures in the garden. The plant suggestions are satisfyingly old-fashioned, and include color, size, and zone information. Country Garden Planner isn't an in-depth planning guide, but the pictures and text are pleasantly harmonious, providing gentle inspiration to would-be bucolic green thumbs.