Details lacking in book on growing native plants> Author’s range of geographical regions too broad

100 EASY-TO-GROW NATIVE PLANTS FOR AMERICAN GARDENS IN TEMPERATE ZONES, by Lorraine Johnson, Firefly Books Ltd., 1999, 160 pages, paperback, $19.95.

Plant books are as individual as gardens and gardeners themselves. Plants that may appeal to me may not entice anyone else, except perhaps a butterfly or a hummingbird or an earwig or two.

So for some, author Lorraine Johnson’s new book “100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants” will be a beautiful collection of exceptional photographs and detailed information. To me, the photographs are, indeed, luscious, but some of the details are lacking.

Johnson opens the book with a brief description of her gardening philosophy and gives her definition of native plants as those that “grew in a region prior to European settlement.” From the start, the reader understands that this collection is for politically correct gardeners. If you love chemical fertilizer and genetically altered plants, this book won’t be very appealing. I, myself, had twinges of feeling like Dr. Frankenstein just because I like hybrids.

Johnson does trumpet the many benefits of a native garden: little weeding, little watering, little work. But she also admits that native plants don’t appeal to everyone because most are less formal and many are, quite frankly, plain weedy.

Having bought a slew of gardening books over the past decade, I have learned that it pays to be extremely picky about the type of book in which to invest. The strikes against Johnson’s book are hard for me to overlook: She covers too broad a range of territories and some of the plants she lists aren’t necessarily hardy to the entire “native” region in which she places them.

The book covers three huge geographical areas of the Northeast, prairies and Northwest, all of which extend north into Canada. Johnson says that listing the zones of native plants isn’t necessary because if it’s native, it’ll grow there.

I beg to differ. Consider the New England aster. Its range is listed as prairies and Northeast, which is true. However, the New England aster is reliably hardy only to Zone 4 of the U.S. agricultural hardiness zone chart. This excludes a wide portion of northern Maine, which is Zone 3, and a lot of eastern Canada included in Johnson’s designated Northeast range.

Of course, Johnson does admit that the reader should do more research to find out if a plant she lists as native is actually native to your local area, but it would be better if this book didn’t try to be all things to all gardeners across the better portion of the northern United States and southern Canada. Plus she recommends getting a wildflower guide for your region, which will further pinpoint whether something she lists actually will grow in your yard. Somehow the idea of spending more money on more books to research the first book doesn’t do much for me.

There are a few interesting facts, such as that dandelions and Queen Anne’s lace were brought over by European settlers, or the one about bloodroot seeds being dispersed by ants. Plus, the book mentions plants’ attractiveness to butterflies and other wildlife.

If you have decided to grow only native plants in your yard, then this book is a small start in that direction. Or you could look for a wildflower book specific to Maine instead. It might save you money and disappointment in the long run.

Janine Pineo is a copy editor and gardening columnist at the