The arrival of a new book by Allan Armitage is always a significant event and, having produced my own big fat book on perennials, the arrival of a revised edition of Armitage’s Garden Perennials (Timber Press) is especially intriguing.

The first thing to say is that it looks great. All the pictures, all 1300 of them, are by the man - impressive in itself - and their quality is excellent. And his writing style is relaxed and infectious.

It’s also important to say that this is not an encyclopedia. It’s Allan Armitage’s personal choice of perennials. That’s fine, I respect his choices – we all know that he has a good eye for a good plant and with so very many perennials out there, and more and more arriving on the market all the time, we need plantspeople with insight to guide us to the best. Unexpectedly, Allan’s personal choice includes a few bulbs – Colchicum, Narcissus and Zephyranthes, for example, but no tulips or hyacinths, scillas or chionodoxas - and, even more unexpected, Clematis of all kinds..

Still, I’ve been dipping into this book ever since it’s arrived a few months back, and it’s become elevated to the nearby “reach for” shelf. But while the book is full of examined experience and insight, I’m a little baffled by some of the plant names. Hardy chrysanthemums are called Dendranthema, a name swept away in 1999 when botanists decided that changing the name of one of the most popular plants on the planet was, of course, a brief moment of madness. The change back to Chrysanthemum was even reported in the New York Times.

Also, the many and multicolored hellebores we’ve seen recently are covered under Helleborus orientalis. But these hellebores only feature such wonderful colors because they're hybrids, other species are in the mix. Hence the name for them: Helleborus x hybridus, a name first used in 1894 but which, to be fair, has only been widely used since 2001.

The other significant plant name issue of recent times, moving Cimicifuga into Actaea, doesn’t arise – neither are included.

It’s also only fair to point out that while gardeners on both sides of the Atlantic can appreciate the photography and the relaxed and insightful descriptions, this is largely a book for North American gardeners.

However, this is a book that will interest everyone who loves perennials, in spite of the nomenclatural oddities and the very personal selection.

Tuberous Begonias are amongst the most flamboyant of flowers, their impact from a distance is dramatic, yet close inspection reveals a wealth of detail.

Top exhibitor Jack Larter has written a book packed with the practical advice that exhibitors appreciate to help them grow better blooms, with plenty of good pictures of growing techniques and the resulting flowers in all their glory. For new as well as experienced exhibitors this book is invaluable. North American readers may be unfamiliar with some of the products and techniques but they'll find plenty of valuable new ideas.

But in recent years there’s been a massive growth in the use of new types of tuberous begonias for containers, the Million Kisses Series for example, mostly based on Begonia boliviensis. This is a short book, so it would have been good to fit them in. But for growers of flamboyant traditional begonias this is a very useful book.

• Excellent detailed advice on growing and showing
• Plenty of good pictures of the plants and growing techniques

Tuberous Begonias: An Essential Guide by Jack Larter is published by Crowood Press.

The British Garden Media Guild held its awards lunch this week and I'm delighted to say that Transatlantic Gardener was a finalist in the Blog of The Year category for the second time. The winner was Mark Diacono for his Otter Farm Blog (left, click to enlarge). Congratulations Mark. Here's what the judges had to say:

"Mark Diacono’s blog from Otter Farm is highly personal, entertaining, beautifully written and full of diverse elements – some educational, some just plain funny. Most recently these include Mark attempting to play cricket with pigs to a description of him trapped sweating in a tractor cab after having run over a wasps’ nest. He fully exploits the medium using not only timely, well-wrought words, but also beautiful photography and video clips. The site is easily negotiated and packed with interest."

Quite right.

The other worthy finalists were:

James Alexander-Sinclair for Blogging from Blackpitts
Dawn Isaac for Little Green Fingers
Lia Leendertz for Midnight Brambling

All are well worth reading - whichever side of the Atlantic you're on. Interestingly, apart from the loss of often entertaining but sometimes excruciating Mathew Appleby's Gardening Blog, the list of finalists was almost the same as last year. All these blogs combine good writing with smart ideas.

I was also especially pleased to see Nigel Colborn receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, be sure to check out his Silvertreedaze blog, and Which? Gardening (for US readers, this magazine is like a horticultural Consumer Reports) won the award for Garden Publication of The Year.

Lots of worthy winners, all examples of good horticultural communication. You can check out all the winners on the Garden Media Guild Awards page.