50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants:
Tough-But-Beautiful Plants That Anyone Can Grow
By Tracy DiSabato-Aust, Published by Timber Press

Garden author Tracy DiSabato-Aust proves low-maintenance doesn’t mean low-interest in new
gardening book!

“This book proves that low-maintenance doesn’t mean low-interest. Tracy has packed the book with traffic-stopping garden stars that require less care and less fuss. Now you can actually find time to enjoy your garden!” --- P. Allen Smith

Tracy DiSabato-Aust has taught thousands of gardeners how to keep their gardens well-tended and beautifully designed. Her first book—The Well-Tended Perennial Garden—is Timber’s bestselling title and widely considered the bible of perennial maintenance. With 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants, she delivers again.

Sometimes you can have it all. No plant is perfect in every situation, but bestselling garden author Tracy DiSabato-Aust has identified 50 showstoppers – perennials, shrubs, and trees – that come close. Each of her personal selections is a dynamic, beautiful choice for nearly every garden, and each is nearly foolproof when it comes to care.

This collection of 50 stunning plants includes some of the toughest plants that anyone can grow. For gardeners with hectic lives, these ornamental plants offer long-lasting bloom, architectural form and texture, and also are cold-hardy, drought-resistant, and virtually pest proof.

In her work as a garden designer, Tracy spent years studying how to make beautiful outdoor spaces with a minimum of maintenance. The plants in these pages are her personal favorites, but she didn’t pick them for sentimental reasons. Each had to pass a minimum test for toughness, beauty and durability; when measured against the following list of important characteristics, each plant had to exhibit nearly all of the following:

• Multi-season Interest

• Striking Foliage

• Long-lasting Blooms

• Outstanding Texture

• Long-Lived

• Tolerant of Heat & Humidity

• Cold-Hardy

• Insect and Disease Resistant

• Low Fertilization

• No Staking

• Infrequent Pruning or Deadheading

• Non-Invasive

• Drought Tolerant

With her combination of wit and common sense, DiSabato-Aust includes her own personal gardening experiences and introduces companion plants that will complement each of her selections.

Author Tracy DiSabato-Aust was a featured guest on Garden Gossip online home and garden radio show on January 24, 2009 from 10am - Noon PST. To meet the rest of the guests and listen to the entire, unedited show, please click here. To listen to Tracy's interview, please double click on the Play Button below.

About the Author – Tracy has earned international acclaim as one of America’s most entertaining and knowledgeable garden writers and professional speakers. She has extensive experience in the United States, and abroad working for over 30 years in the industry, speaking for over 25 years and designing for over 20 years. Her experience includes stints at Longwood Gardens in the U.S., The Montreal Botanical Garden in Canada, the Kalmthout Arboretum in Belgium, and Knightshayes Court in England. She earned a B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture from The Ohio State University. Her first book The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, has been referred to by many as “the bible for perennial maintenance”. Her second book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden, brings her trademark exuberance, expertise, and efficiency to bear on frequently daunting elements of garden design demystifying them with her direct approach. DiSabato-Aust is a frequent guest on national garden television and radio gardening shows. She is a vibrant speaker, and in great demand nationally and internationally, on the lecture circuit. Venues include New Zealand & Australia Landscape Design Conferences, England’s Royal Botanic Garden-Kew, England’s Royal Horticulture Society Garden- Wisley, The English Gardening School, The Oxford Botanic Garden The Smithsonian Institute, The Perennial Plant Association, numerous botanical gardens and professional association meetings. Tracy has contributed articles or been featured in numerous national and international magazines, books, and newpapers. Magazines include: Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Garden Design, & Gardens Illustrated (London, England. The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph in London, England, and The National Post, Toronto Canada have all published articles on Tracy. She has appeared on several gardening television shows including, Way to Grow & Smart Gardening. She is a frequent guest on Martha Stewart Radio. When Tracy is not busy with horticulture adventures she is training and racing as an “All American” at the national and world’s level in triathlons and duathlons.