OK, the holidays are coming… so as well as suggest that the books of my own down there in the left hand column would make great gifts, I’m going to pick a few more over the next four days.

First, today, is the new and expanded edition of The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust which may not get the coverage it deserves as unfortunately many reviewers are discouraged by their magazine or website from reviewing revised editions of existing books. Not so here and I have to say that this edition is a big improvement on its earlier incarnation. This is, basically, a guide to growing perennials in the form of a detailed discussion of the principles and practice of planting and maintenance with a plant-by-plant A-Z encyclopedia discussing specific requirements.

The first edition was good as far as it went - and of course the problem was often that it didn’t go quite far enough. I found that many of the plants I looked up in its encyclopedia were simply not there and this, I'm afraid, has not been improved. I’ve not compared every single page in the two editions but as far as I can see there no new additions, not even in heucheras and echianaceas  where there have been many new introductions some of which need specific care. So unfortunately many good perennials are not mentioned, heucherellas and tiarella cultivars are not covered, grasses are all lumped together and ferns fail to feature. Instead, there are twenty seven identical pages at the back which comprise a Perennial Maintenance Journal in which readers can record their own experiences. Good idea – but one page and encouragement to photocopy it would have been ideal and we could then have had twenty six more pages of Tracy’s invaluable advice on specific plants.

But the pictures are far better and far more numerous with explicit before-and-after pairings which are very convincing. And how refreshing to see a practical book illustrated with many clear practical pictures and not solely with pretty plant portraits which are unhelpful in a practical context. The pictures are also better integrated into the book than in the earlier edition, and the paper quality and printing is improved.

This is an invaluable and groundbreaking book and an amazing 130,000 people bought the original edition; this new editions builds on its success. It’s taught me a lot. But in the next revision, can we have an expanded A-Z of plant-by-pant practical advice - or perhaps turn an expanded practical encyclopedia into a whole book? I highly recommend The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, you can order it in North America here, and in Britain here. I suggest you do so.