We have both. The Dirr is a manual of known plants, not a taxonomic guide to identifying unknown specimens.

You may want to go to a good college library and read the standard Bailey and see if it suits you first, then if you can work with it, purchase the product knowing there are literally thousands of cultivars introduced since then. And find a good key on The Internets and use that.

Dan

But still buy Dirr. You might check the internet and see if you can find it for less. I'm just a regular old gardener, but I pick up my Dirr a hundred times a year to look up something, or re-read a favorite passage. That might be the description of the Kousa's berry's which goes something like this "edible but I prefer snickers"

The man is irrepressible.

Thanks both for the responses. I think I will look at both books at the library to get a better feel for each one. It would seem though, from the comments here, that I'll end up eventually acquiring both, it's only a question of which first.

I've read some passages from Dirr, similar to the "edible but I prefer snickers" comment and have concluded that he is the "Roger Tory Peterson" of the plant world. Don't know if either of you are birders at all, but what I'm referring to is the ability to characterize the "nature" of bird or plant, rather than just give an academic sort of description. I found this tremendously helpful in identifying birds early on, and its entertaining as well! It conveys the specific charm of the plant or bird, which is much of what we want to know usually. Is the tree "majestic" or is it "delicate", etc? In his birding guides, Peterson describes a chimney swift as "like a cigar with wings". I've always remembered it and have never since failed to identify a chimney swift!

Thanks again for the responses!

Amy

find myself spending hours upon hours scouring the internet where certain information is available about one species, and different info. available on the other plant in question, making a comparison difficult.
====>>>

hey amy ... IT SUMMER ... turn off the computer and go play in the soil ... dirt is what will be all over you when you are done ....

books and the internet are wonderful....>>>> FOR WINTER ...

but dont waste so many hours in the dark house ...

my best suggestion .. locate every labeled plant collection within 100 miles.. and start taking some road trips ... and see this stuff in person ... sorry but i can not help you in central NY ... with suggestions ...

good luck ... with your quest for knowledge.. but dont waste summer .. life's to short to play on the computer too many hours when the weather is nice ..

ken

ps: i usually plant the things.. and then do the research .... dirr's various books are the standard ....

Amy, check out Sunset Garden Books. I use the 'Sunset Western Garden Book' for all my gardening needs. It's exactly what you need, no doubt about it.

Dax

Any good shelf should have Sunset on it as well. Surely this topic could be an entire thread, filling the 150 replies limit no problem.

Dan

For differentiating species you would definitely want manuals and guidebooks with keys and an emphasis on diagnostically significant characteristics.

Such as the Bailey manual. And for much greater coverage of hardy trees and shrubs, Rehder's manual.

Some years ago Spongberg was supposed to be working on an update of or replacement for the Rehder manual but I have never seen anything about that coming to fruition. Too bad.

Have not see the latest Dirr manual but so far the pattern has been for the quantity of material to be impressive - until you dig into it more deeply.

But neither Dirr nor Rehder allow you to key out a specimen. The way I read the OP is she is looking for a good key.

Normally at this point I recommend a 2-year college hort class then plant tax and that should be more than enuf for a home gardener to have the best yard on the block, and that'll get you pretty far down the road toward a Master Gardener cert as well.

Dan

Rehder's manual has keys.

That's not my memory of it at all, but age and kids do that to you.

Dan

I find the Dirr text to be the most used book in my collection. I refer to it constantly and it looks it - my softbound edition is in two pieces, missing its cover, coffee stained and with many dog-eared and tagged pages :-) And the longer I use it, the more I recognize the large gaps it contains, although I still wouldn't be without it. But it would not be a great help to identification without having some idea for what you are looking at in the first place. I can't imagine Sunset's Western Garden Book being the slightest bit of help in this regard - it pertains primarily to plants common to the west coast states, has very brief descriptions of the plants, virtually no photos and only rudimentary drawings of some plants (not all) and little to no discussion of most cultivars. For an ID aid, I'd look elsewhere.

Either a text with a good key (noted previously) or a basic plant ID course (local trade schools or tech colleges with hort programs should offer them. Perhaps same with Master Gardener programs.) is essential if you are starting from ground zero.