a how-to guide by Jan Miller-Klein.
A book long in the writing, including hundreds of colour photos from many different specialists in butterflies, moths, bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies, ladybirds and flowers.
Large format, easy to read, dip-into guide with colour-coded chapters on;
which plants to use - each with big colour photo and common name as well as Latin name and growing instructions.
how to identify the most useful and beautiful insects that may come to your garden.
how to make an insectary garden to attract natural pest-predators to your veg. patch so you don't have to use pesticides.
designs to copy for borders, patio pots, deep beds in urban settings as well as in the countryside.
creating different habitats like wildflower meadows,green roofs and dragonfly ponds.
appendices of where to find useful societies, websites, suppliers of plants and seeds and lots, lots more!
Signed with a dedication of your choice by the author (please enter message you would like below)
some reviews and comments;
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the copy of ‘Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and Other Beneficial Insects’.
I had a chance to get a good look at the weekend, and was really delighted with it. The Section on ‘How to Identify Butterflies’ is really one of the best I’ve seen, as someone who is vaguely interested in this area, and the section on Bees was also amazing – I had no idea about the diversity here!
Not really being much of a gardener (and that’s something of an understatement!), I’m sure that some of the finer points about the design and lay-out will have passed me by – but the combination of excellent design and very practical advice is a sure winner. Amazing piece of work.
Very best wishes
Jonathon Porritt
Founder Director
w forumforthefuture.org
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Bob Flowerdew;
I love the concept and can see you have put much work into researching for it, I would have preferred a slightly less large, less DK and a less coffee table book, however the photography is excellent.Still a good effort, well done, Bob I included it as my book of the year recorded in Anne's garden, prog. (Gardener's Question Time Radio4) went out the following week, 3rd and 5th December- I did not hear prog. so perhaps the piece was not included as not all are, best wishes, Bob
Rob Sutton; I have just finished my cover-to-cover read - and it is exquisite! On so many counts you put the stress exactly where I do in my talks, and on so many others I learned something extra about varieties, propagation & garden design.
Dusty Gedge;
I think it is a great - looks good, reads well and an excellent addition to the canon on creating wildlife - well done.
BOOKS REVIEWS
BUTTERFLY www.butterfly-conservation.org SUMMER 2010
Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and
other Beneficial Insects
This is an excellent book from garden designer, writer and passionate Butterfly Conservation volunteer Jan Miller-Klein.
It starts in familiar territory, with profiles on plants that are particularly good for butterflies
through the seasons of the year, but then moves on to more. Much more. There are
informative sections on bees, beetles and other beneficial insects, which provide identification tips as well as detailing the ecological roles played by these creatures and a myriad of ways to encourage them into your garden.There is, of course, lots of information about butterflies and moths, the habitats and resources they require and how to cater for them in your garden. For the more adventurous gardeners there are sections about creating butterfly banks, green roofs, flowering lawns and the brilliantly-titled ‘water-creaturefeature’. And, perhaps, most useful of all, are the numerous garden designs for readers to copy or adapt. These suggest colourful and beneficial planting schemes for plots of all sizes from patio containers to school grounds.
The book is large format and wonderfully illustrated in colour. It’s a practical guide, but
also a fascinating collection of facts, anecdotes, advice from experts and case studies. On top of all that Butterfly Conservation will receive adonation from sales of this book. Richard Fox (Senior project officer, Butterfly Conservation)
Just writing to thank you for my copy of the book and to congratulate you on such a fine work. It looks splendid and I think you did marvellously to get it all together, get all those excellent illustrations and get illustrious people like Dusty Gedge to contribute. I really think it has the makings of a classic and I hope it sells well and gets good reviews. You obviously put enormous work into it, and it pushes forward the genre of wildlife gardening books onto a new level. Marc Carlton.
I have to tell you, I enjoyed the book SO much, and hope I was able to communicate my enthusiasm in the review. You do a wonderful balancing act between the total gardening-for-wildlife brigade who want huge patches of nettles and piles of rotting logs everywhere, and the Robin Lane Fox types whose first instinct is to reach for a can of bugspray. Well done, girl!
Pat Huff, Editor, Plant Heritage (NCCPG)
. I have really enjoyed reading your wonderful new book. I think that it is written in way that is very easy to understand and brings together a lot of information that I have on leaflets that I have acquired from various 'butterfly centres' over the years. I just hope that I can now find the time to transform my garden in some of the ways that you describe. Mike Starkey
Hi Jan
Thank you for sending out a copy of your book to me, at the request of (and as a gift from) my friend. It is an all-time first for me to have a book with a personal dedication, so thank you for taking time to sign the book. That is a lovely touch, and one I really appreciate.
I’m guessing that my friend was prompted to send me the book because I recently sent him photos of two butterflies that arrived in my garden that I had not seen before (silver washed fritillary and speckled wood) and because my garden is well overdue some serious re-planning.
Yesterday morning I took my coffee out into the sunny garden with the intention of dipping into your book. Having started to scan the summaries at the start, an hour later I found had been pulled into the detail and had read almost half of the latter half of the book! How unusual it is to have a book as deeply informative as yours that is so accessible and a joy to read.
Thank you for all the time you put into that book. It was well worth the effort and it is a wonderful resource. Lynne Perry
Dear Jan
I just wanted to let you know how delighted my husband is with the book, which he received today for his birthday. He loves the clarity of the lay-out & the wealth of photographic images & particularly commented on how refreshing & welcome it is to have a book which hasn't been forced into some publisher's format, but achieves so well what it so clearly sets out to do. Although we know a fair amount about gardening for wildlife, the book has much in it that is new to us & so many more photos than one usually finds in similar books.
I'm also thrilled with it, of course, especially as it's almost like a memorial to our old garden, which contained most of the featured plants. Now I'm hoping to create something similar on a much smaller scale in our relatively tiny new garden. I just hope the plants you sent will thrive in our conditions here.
So thank you again,Good wishes,Jenny Dean
Your book is fantastic! We're having our garden landscaped at the moment and most of the ideas have come straight out of your book. It is so user-friendly, it's brilliant. Thanks.
All the best, Iolo Williams.
