Landscaping with Herbs

We think of herbs as food, or as medicine, but we don't often think of them as aesthetic objects. Gardeners are taught to grow herbs for a reason--these are plants that should be harvested. The author of Landscaping with Herbs, James Adams, aims to show readers how to appreciate herbs as decorative plants. He wants to illuminate their hidden potential, their "other half." Because herbs are so integral to our lives, Adams believes they should be more integral to the garden, sharing in a gardener's landscaping fantasy as much as tulips or magnolia trees.

This coffee-table book is mostly text, with a few scattered photographs, and the prose is a dense mixture of ideas. A chemist by trade, Adams has a complex mind, even going so far as to classify "the volatiles that we perceive as odors released by both flowers and foliage." One highlight: a section on the many ways to landscape a fragrant herbal garden, scattering jasmine and rosemary so that each garden room is flooded by a distinct natural perfume. --Emily White