for easy and successful propagation

Plant Propagation-Alan Toogood

The best I've seen!

~Dusty~

I agree with Dusty! As soon as I have a little "pin money," I am buying it. (Kept it WAY too long from the library!)
Kay

Yes, the Toogood book is very good. But it's concise and not illustrated much. If you are not highly experienced with propagating, you might want to start with the American Horticultural Society's book on Plant Propagation. Lots of photos and plants are broken out by type. I say get them both!

For seed collecting, you might want to look at Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. It's aimed at garden plants, but she breaks it down by plant family so you get a good feel for the botany. And many flowering plants are in the Compositae,which she does cover.

Oops. No one noticed that I am a lunatic, having confused Toogood ( which _is_ the AHS book) with Creative Plant Propagation by Peter Thomas. So yes, Toogood is the first choice.