Customer Reviews

Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll admit, I've not been a fan of Rodale ever since the horrific encounter I had with 'Rodale's Complete Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening'. It had little to no useful info, yet, for some odd reason, many pages.
However, opinions can change, and you should try to give others a second chance.
My DH picked this book up for me on a business trip, knowing I didn't yet have a good herbal book.
Once I flipped through it, I realized I held a treasure.
This book should be a part of everyone's library on herbs.
Nearly everything you would want to know on growing and using herbs in contained in this volume, from common sage to uncommon marshmallow. This work was exactly what I was looking for- containing practical uses for herbs- medicinal, cosmetic, and culinary.
As for the quality, it is wonderful. There are colour pictures and black and white sketches of every herb, and the pages are semi-gloss. It definitely contains useful information and is worth every penny. Buy this one, you won't be disappointed.

Well, I must say that this book is good value. I like the very detailed descriptions of the plants, the details on the plant including history, uses, medicinal, and the folklore. It does seem a bit odd that the other sections like "herbal baths", "Dangers of Herbs", and "Gardening with herbs" etc are also sorted alphabetical with the plants themselves but whats wrong with a differnt style. I like how they label certain plants on the first page as toxic, or possible carcinogen etc clearly.
The one thing I'm a bit dissapointed with is that there isn't a really big push for the precautions with each herb. There is a section warning about the use of herbs and how someone shouldn't just take herbs at home for ailments, but for each individual herb there doesn't seem to be a real caution with them unless its considered a real toxic herb. But as far as the others I felt there wasn't enough of a sense of this plant can cause harm if its used impoperly or mistaken for something else. Though I suppose they just mentioned that all in the one section.
However, over all I am absolutely amazed with the book and the information contained within. Definitly worth it.

And I've looked over quite a few

The illustrations and writing are very good and tasteful, and the information provided by the book are very valuable and interesting, and very very thorough. Each plant in the book has its attributes described, an illustration that gives you an idea of what it looks like, its history, its uses, and very thorough notes about propogation and cultivation. There are very interesting topic sections on dyes, fragrance, and so on.

The only complaint I might have is that they didn't include enough plant.

This book is perfect for the beginner and a great reference for the experienced herb gardener..I couldnt imagine not having this book in my collection..I use it almost everyday..

This book has *fabulous* illustrations of the plants it details - something usually lacking from herbal books by way of plant identification. The plant descriptions and suggestions for use, as well as the old lore associated with each one are all very useful, and well formatted for easy lookup.

The only thing it doesn't have is the same thing most herbal books lack: complete and comprehensive information on the dangers of certain herbs - although I understand that the reason is that since this isn't a licensed medical text, they're not allowed to present thier information as actual medical advice, and so some of the precautions fall under that umbrella. As with any book on herbs, the reader must remember that the information, especially the warnings, are not necessarily complete.

That said - this is a really useful book with lots of great information, that you'll be glad to add to your herbal library at home.

I am a professional horticulturist who provides advice to commercial growers. This is the first book I recommend to anyone who is considering growing herbs commercially. It has been around for a long time and revised a time or two. It is not perfect (the perfect herb book doesn't exist yet), but if you are building a herb library, this book deserves a place there.

Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs is the best herb resource I have ever found, and that is saying a lot, since I own over twenty, and have checked many others out from my local library. It is thorough, interesting, more complete than any other text (no herb book can be complete - it would be thicker than a telephone book!), and always enjoyable to read. Reading it as a child was the initial inspiration for my love of herbology. Most entries start with stories about the plant, or a short talk about it's particular history. Some of those stories are better than most I see in print.
If I could, I would give this book a ten star rating. If you are starting out in this field, this is the place to start. This book is my bible

This would have to be the most complete, easy to read book on the subject of herbs that I have come across. From propagation to cultivation through to harvesting and using, this book covers the lot in great detail. The big asset of the book is that everything is described in such a way that the beginner gardener (me) will have no trouble following. As well as the individual listing of each herb, the lists of uses for the herbs have been very helpful. Culinary gardens, formal gardens, theme gardens, medicinal gardens, herbs for fragrance, dyes, essential oils, you name it and it’s mentioned in this book.

No matter how hard I search, I've yet to find the "perfect" book on herb use and herb growing. This book isn't perfect, but it does have some real strengths.

Rodale's ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERBS is organized in a strange way--everything, and I mean everything--falls into alphabetical order. For example, "Gardening with Herbs falls between "Foxgloves" and "Garlic" and "Growing Herbs" falls between "Grindellia" and "Hawthorn."

The book is printed on semi-gloss paper so it will stand up to use and not crumble in a few years. Each entry contains line drawing illustrations and a few sections of the book are highlighted with color photos.

The plant profiles are succinct, covering topics such as 'history', 'cultivation' and 'uses.' Many entries contain material from other sources such as Maud Grieves' A MODERN HERBAL Vols. 1-2. Some information is repeated without attribution or verification. I always find "They say" and "It is thought" offputting, while I appreciate direct citations of which there are many in this book.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA covers some topics not readily found in other books. The most useful of these is a compendium discussing the "Dangers of Herbs" (located between "Dandelion" and "Deadly Nightshade." The editors have compiled the FDA listing of "tricky" herbs (could kill or cure depending on use) from PREVENTION magazine, as well as similar ratings from James Duke's CRC HANDBOOK OF MEDICINAL HERBS, Jean Rose's HERBS AND THINGS, and Varro Tyler's THE HONEST HERBAL. You realize on reading this section that everything is relative.

The biggest problem with the misuse of herbal remedies is the misclassification of plants by the practicioner. To be an herbal healer one simply must understand botany. The second biggest problem is conflicting information about what a plant will or will not do based on singular accounts (which could be the result of a misclassification of plants or a misapplication of the plant extract). The third problem is idiosyncratic plant and human interaction. One man's poison can be another man's elixer. As with synthetic drugs, each individual has a unique chemical compostion and the herb in question may or may not be effective, or in some cases may provoke an allergy. Of course, there are some herbs that are downright deadly as every mystery reader knows.

This wouldn't be a Rodale book with out a section on "Pests" and "Pest Control" or the synergistic and conflicting effects of various plant combinations in the garden. This information and the sections on poisonous attributes make the book worth it's cost. All I can say about plant combinations can be summed up to this...plant catnip. You'll have to read the book to find out which kind.

This enclopedia is very informative. It gives a very scientific, dictionary view of herbs.

Although, I found it lacking in only one area..and that was seasonal care of the herbs. If it did, then being a beginning gardener, I didn't recognize it.