New Mexico gardeners have long needed this book--a careful guide to the trees, shrubs, ground covers, and smaller plants that thrive in the state's many life zones and climates. In a state where the altitude varies from 3,000 feet above sea level at Carlsbad, to 13,000 feet at Mount Wheeler near Taos, where the annual rainfall is anywhere from 7 inches at White Sands to 30 inches in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where the soil is loose and gravelly, or thick and hard, or dark and rich, this guide, organized by regions and specific cities, will be especially useful. It also includes information on adjacent areas in Colorado and Arizona and in El Paso. In addition to the top hundred-plus species for each location, the author provides suggestions for more adventurous gardeners and information on historic landscapes around the state. He also points out a favorite well-planned and well-maintained garden or landscape that is open to the public in each community.

A landscape architect in Albuquerque for twenty-five years, Baker Morrow is intimately acquainted with how things grow in New Mexico. He is also generous in sharing his personal preferences. He mentions the species he likes "for their toughness, adaptability, and sturdy beauty in a difficult climate," and also the ones he admires for "their cheerfulness and their ability to grace our lives with shade, with helpful protection from the wind, and an endless series of wonderful colors." With many hundreds of native and exotic species readily available, no New Mexico gardener can afford to be without this book.