via solanasucculents.com Jeff Moore may be Under the Spell of Succulents, but I'm under the spell of Jeff Moore--the author of the next succulent book you have got to read. Moore runs Solana Succulents (pictured), a nursery just north of San Diego that I visited a few years ago and loved for its diverse selection of succulents and its combination of wildness (it's not overly manicured) and orderliness.
Under the Spell of Succulents has been out for over a year, but you may not have happened across it because it isn't available on Amazon. Instead of an American publisher, Moore opted for a more obscure overseas press. Random? Maybe, but who cares!--the book's quality is top notch: nice paper, colorful photos (over 800!), and great print quality. It's the kind of book that just feels good when you hold it, and it's a real bargain at $29.99 and 244 pages.
At first, the book's organization is a little perplexing. The 11 main chapters are thematic, some focused on types of planting (vertical gardens, container gardens, succulent bonsai), some on types of growth (variegation, crests), and others on people (collectors, growers). Interspersed between these main chapters are brief "interludes" that focus on a specific type of succulent (cacti, aeoniums, euphorbias, and so on). But when you read the book, the organization starts to make sense. Moore's purpose is not a controlled presentation of succulents. Instead, it's like his nursery: sprawling, idiosyncratic, and magical. For collectors like me, it's the perfect book through which to wander on a fall weekend afternoon. The book's structure compels you to read it in its entirety--if you don't, you'll miss something cool: a page of stunningly variegated agaves, a list of aloes by category (centerpiece aloes, colorful clumpers, etc.), or instructions for planting echeverias in a strawberry pot. The sum effect is really compelling.
The photo choices in Under the Spell of Succulents are likely to appeal specifically to collectors. Moore emphasizes plants that dazzle, including many that have just become popular in the last 5-10 years. He is not super concerned with covering his "bases"--making sure you know all the "classic" agaves, for example. Instead, he shows you plants that make you think, "Whoa, I have got to try growing that!" If you're like me and love being wowed by features like interesting variegation, this is a huge plus. If you're more of a purist and would rather gaze at agave tequiliana or agave americana than at a blue glow or a Joe Hoak, this may not be the book for you.
A jaw-droppingly gorgeous 12-year-old Puya berteroniana blooming in Jeff Moore's yard (photo by Jeff Moore) If the book has a weakness, it's something about which I (lovingly) complained when I reviewed Debra Lee Baldwin's Succulents Simplified: crassulas and haworthias, both near and dear to my heart, get a semi-short shrift compared to, say, aloes. Even so, I wasn't particularly troubled by the omission and know that this is a book to which I will be returning again and again.
Get your very own copy of this masterpiece on Moore's Solana Succulents website, and be on the lookout for his next book, Aloes and Agaves in Cultivation, which will be released in 2016. According to Moore, this next book will "differ from the other aloe/agave books in that 99% of the images are non habitat, but actual plants growing in California, so it will appeal more to the enthusiast."
This enthusiast, for one, can't wait to be under Moore's spell again soon.
Get your very own copy of this masterpiece on Moore's Solana Succulents website, and be on the lookout for his next book, Aloes and Agaves in Cultivation, which will be released in 2016. According to Moore, this next book will "differ from the other aloe/agave books in that 99% of the images are non habitat, but actual plants growing in California, so it will appeal more to the enthusiast."
This enthusiast, for one, can't wait to be under Moore's spell again soon.
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