When I have a question, this book is usually my first stop. Information on common species is very comprehensive. However lesser used landscape plants are covered in an abbreviated manner, which sometimes forces me to find other resources (which are not difficult to locate thanks to the large number of cited references).
The indexes of both common and scientific names make this sizable volume easy to navigate and usable. The glossary and sections on morphology and identification are handy, espically for beginners or those of us who have been out of college for a while! Additionally, the thoughtful layout and readable type size make this manual more usable than other similar books I have encountered.
Dr. Dirr has created an excellent volume which is on my short list of horticultural reference works.
The cover claims "Identification" as a primary function of the book, but all the 'Manual' has to offer here is looking up a supposed identity and making a comparison. Pictorial support is quite limited (usually one line-drawing per species, mostly of a single leaf).
What this book does offer is the chance to quickly look up an unfamiliar cultivar, and this is why reviewers call it a "Bible". Any use beyond that will be a bonus.
This text is very easy to use and alphabetized according to botanical name, with a glossary/index in the back to provide the scientific name when only the common name of a species is known. Dirr himself also provides entertaining blurbs on what he perceives to be the plants best (or . . . less than best) assets for landscape usage, and it's always interesting to see another's opinion regarding plants that you know and love. He also gives a list of stunning specimens and their locales that he's come across in his travels, as well as the "champion" (largest known) specimens for a given species.
I have used this (or previous . . . the text is updated somewhat frequently to keep pace with newer cultivars) edition of Dirr's manual for the last ten years as I worked at a major nursery (Waterloo Gardens, Inc.), and I frequently reccomended it to individuals interested in furthering their own knowledge. This text is an excellent reference for the professional nurseryman as well as the horticultural enthusiast, and the time and effort that Dirr puts into this text is equally evident and impressive.
