Resources
for
Gardeners & Growers
Books & Links

Maine Organizations • Other Organizations • Maine Suppliers
Other suppliers • Plant Info • Good Books • Credits
Additionally, many of our member's websites have considerable
information about growing and caring for plants.
Links below marked with an asterisk are MMGGA members.

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Maine Agencies, Organizations & Offices

Maine Department of Agriculture: Division of Plant Industry
Maine's plant regulatory agency, responsible for protecting the State's plant resources from the introduction and spread of regulated insects and diseases. You will find up-to-date information on pests and diseases, along with the IPM approach to control it.

Get Real, Get Maine Maine Dept. of Agriculture's growers promotion website.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Every gardener should have this site bookmarked; it is the most valuable resource for gardeners in the State of Maine.

Piscataquis County Extension Office

Penobscot County Extension Office

Ornamental Horticulture Council

Master Gardener Program

MOFGA the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, in Unity, Maine.

Maine Arborists Association

Maine Christmas Tree Growers Association

Maine Golf Course Superintendants Association

Maine Landscape and Nursery Association

Maine State Florists' and Growers' Association

The Maine Soil Testing Laboratory operates out of Deering Hall at UMaine Orono. Greenhouse or field soil tests are $15 each. Website has form for ordering soil sampling kits; lab is open 8-5, M-F. Find more details at the Greenhouse Talk forum.

Plant Pest Identification at the Univ. of Maine Cooperative Extension Pest Management Office Insect and Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

Testing for Oil, Gas, & Synthetic Organics (PCB, PAH, etc.) at the State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory.

Pest Management, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Pest Management Office has the primary responsibility for coordinating Integrated Pest Management (IPM) efforts within the State of Maine. Their website has many links to pest and disease fact sheets, pest reports, etc.

List of Maine's County Extension Offices.

Greenhouse IPM at the University of Maine.

Greenhouse links page from the University of Maine.

Four Seasons Farm, Eliot Coleman's and Barbara Damroch's website, in Harborside, Maine.

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Out of State Agencies, Organizations & Offices

University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

University of Vermont Cooperative Extension

University of Ohio Cooperative Extension

USDA Cooperative Extensions By State

American Horticulture Society

National Gardening Association

Garden & Nature Sites

USDA Home Gardening Page

Perry's Perennial Pages Look here to find valuable information on perennials along with on-line gardening courses. The Herbaceous Perennial Course is excellent; consider having your staff complete this course.

Central Maine Weather

New England Greenhouse Conference & Expo

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Maine Suppliers

Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion, Maine. An employee-owned Maine company, offering seeds & supplies.

FEDCO Seeds, a consumer/worker cooperative in Clinton, Maine, offering seeds, woody plants & supplies.

Living Acres in New Sharon, Maine. Offering Living Acres' Greenhouse Mix, a compost-based OMRI-approved potting soil that gives plants a strong root system. Living Acres offers many excellent organic soils and fertilizer products to help your plants thrive.

*Griffins of Maine, Inc. in Gray, Maine. Everything for greenhouses.

*Allen, Sterling & Lothrop in Falmouth, Maine.

*Greenhouse Supply of Maine GreenHouse Supply, Inc. distributes multi-purpose structures made by HARNOIS, a leader in efficient, productive and healthy structures.

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Out-of-State Suppliers

Garden Molds Check out their top quality Milky Way Molds for making long-lasting stepping stones.

Proven Winners High performance plants to improve your garden. They offer gardening advice, combination recipes for containers and hanging baskets, as well as a plant search engine.

Sunny Border A great perennial resource web site; pictures and specific plant requirements for all the perennials they carry.

Green Methods a family-owned New Hampshire small business; biocontrols, including beneficial insects, mites, nematodes, and microbes. Their catalog and website have encyclopedic information about pests and predators and how to tip the balance in your favor.

High Mowing Seeds a family-owned Vermont small farm and seed business offering a wide range of organically grown seeds, many produced on small New England farms.

*Rimol Greenhouse Systems, Inc. in Hookset, N.H.

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Plant Information

www.pauleckepoinsettias.com Great site for Poinsettia information.

www.ecke.com Poinsettia Care Guide.

www.fungi.com Mushroom information headquarters.

www.botany.com Botany Encyclopedia of Plants.

University of Connecticut Plant Database

USDA Plant Database

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USA)

New England Hardiness Zone Map.

Walters Gardens Features a fantastic perennial plant data base which includes photos, specific plant requirements and the companion plants that will compliment one another.

Donahue's Clematis, The #1 clematis propagators. This web site contains all the answers to your questions about the beautiful clematis plant.

Simply Beautiful Offers gardening advice, combination recipes for containers and hanging baskets, and a plant search engine for Simply Beautiful plants.

UCONN Plant Data Base A searchable data base containing trees, shrubs and vines. Search by Latin name or common name; results with photos and cultural information.

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Books

Allison, James. Water in the Garden. Bullfinch Press, 1991, ISBN 0-8212-1839-5. Plan before you build! A complete guide to the design and installation of ponds, fountains, streams and waterfalls.

Brickell, Christopher and Judith D. Zuk, Eds. The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. DK Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-7894-1943-2. A 20-pound tome with a hefty price tag, and worth every penny. No professional horticulturist should be without it. Sell your firstborn child and buy this book.

Bloom, Adrian. Winter Garden Glory. Harper Collins, 1993, ISBN 0-00-412892-3.

Bloom, Adrian. Summer Garden Glory. Harper Collins, 1996, ISBN 0-00-412-7447.

I bought these two volumes by the noted British horticulturist simply because of the breathtaking photography. Well, and because he autographed them for me.

Bubel, Nancy. The New Seed Starters Handbook. Rodale Press, 1988, ISBN 0-87857-747-5. Well, it was "new" when I bought it. Self-explanatory, comprehensive, still a classic.

Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. DK Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-7894-1067-2. Of the 26 herb titles on my shelf, this is far and away the most thorough and comprehensive. Full color photos, treatment guide, specific instructions for herbal preparations. Lavishly illustrated.

Coleman, Eliot. The New Organic Grower. Chelsea Green Pub., 1995, ISBN 0-930031-75-X. Includes info on low cost greenhouses, movable greenhouses, row covers inside greenhouses and much more.

Cusick, Dawn. Wreath Making Basics. Sterling/Lark, 1993, ISBN 0-8069-0279-5. Over 80 full-color photos and detailed directions.

DeWolf, Gordon P., Jr., Ed. Taylor’s Guide to Perennials. Houghton Mifflin, 1986, ISBN 0-395-40448-7. The beauty of this volume is that photos are grouped by color. When all your customer can say is, “It’s pink and it blooms in spring,” show her the pink section and she will find it!

Dirr, Michael A. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing, 1990, ISBN 0-87563-347-1. The landscaper's bible. Hardiness zones compiled by Arnold Arboretum.

Dreistadt, Steve. Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs: an integrated pest management guide. U. of California Pub.3359, 1994, ISBN 9-781879-906181. Insects, diseases, nematodes, management, trouble-shooting, all with full-color photos.

Foster, Steven & James A. Duke. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America. Peterson Field Guide Series, Houghton Mifflin, 1990, ISBN 0-395-46722-5. Kudzu, Senna, Sassafrass, even Hoary Puccoon.

Garland, Sarah. The Herb Garden. Penguin Books, 1984, ISBN 014-046-6908. The emphasis here is on history and garden design, lavishly illustrated. I am charmed by this delightful book; I revisit it every year along about February, just for the inspiration.

Greene, Hertzberg and Vaughan. Putting Food By. Penguin Books, 1991, ISBN 0-452-26899-0. The comprehensive guide to food preservation, the only one you need.

Hill, Lewis. Cold-Climate Gardening. Garden Way Publishing, 1987, ISBN 0-88266-441-7. Strategies to extend your growing season.

Hill, Lewis. Secrets of Plant Propagation. Garden Way Publishing, 1985, ISBN 0-88266-370-4. Self-explanatory; even has a chapter on tissue culture. This information is probably available on line, but it’s handy to have it in one place and at your fingertips.

Mack, Norman, Ed. Back to Basics: how to learn and enjoy traditional American skills. Reader’s Digest Assn, 1981, ISBN 0-89577-086-5. Great fun to dip into for information on rug braiding, spinning & weaving, beekeeping, soapmaking, solar power and other skills for self-sufficiency.

Osborne, Robert. Hardy Roses: an organic guide to growing frost- and disease-resistant varieties. Garden Way Publishing, 1991, ISBN 0-88266-739-4. An inclusive reference (wintering, culture, insects and diseases, propagation) with glorious color photos and useful charts.

Watson, Benjamin. Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables. Houghton Mifflin, 1996, ISBN 0-395-70818-4. You’ve noticed I am drawn to color photography and these are luscious examples. More important, with the growth of Monsanto, Syngenta and other biotech multinationals, it’s becoming increasingly urgent to grow and save your own seeds. Everything you need to know is here. FEDCO (see above) is a great local source for heirloom varieties.

Whealy, Kent, Ed. Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory. Seed Saver Publications, 1989, ISBN 0-9613977-6-4. An inventory of nursery catalogs listing all fruit, nut and berry varieties available by mail order in the U.S. Detailed description of each cultivar, with sources.

Whitner, Jan Kowalczewski. Stonescaping: a guide to using stone in your garden. Garden Way Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-88266-755-6. Stones are the anchors of a garden. Easy-to-follow directions for walls, paths, terraces, focal points etc. with line drawings.

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Credits