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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 22, 2008

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Leeann Lavin: 718-623-7289, leeannlavin@bbg.org
Kate Blumm: 718-623-7241, kateblumm@bbg.org

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Releases Newest All-Region Guide: The Wildlife Gardener's Guide

The Wildlife Gardener's Guide

Available February 2008

A Must-Have for Anyone Who Wants to Attract and Keep Birds, Bees, and Other Animal Life in the Garden


Brooklyn, NY—January 22, 2008—Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) announces the release of its newest All-Region Guide, The Wildlife Gardener's Guide, devoted exclusively to the art and science of enlivening a garden with the presence of birds, butterflies, and other captivating creatures.

If gardeners can have only one book about attracting wildlife, this is it. This concise guide recommends ten specific projects and provides countless tips that will make any garden a refuge for wild creatures. Inside, readers will find helpful information on the best bird foods and feeders, lists of plants that are attractive to the wildlife in every region, garden plans, and much more. In short, The Wildlife Gardener's Guide contains everything necessary to create a garden that wows winged friends like birds, butterflies, and hummingbirds, as well as human visitors—no small accomplishment at a time when plants and animals are facing increasing pressure from human activities.

The Wildlife Gardener's Guide is authored by Janet Marinelli, former director of publications at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, who has written extensively on conservation issues. According to Marinelli, "The presence of wildlife makes a garden come to life in an extraordinary way. I'm happy to offer gardeners of all skill levels a variety of projects they can embark on in order to attract wildlife to the garden—whether it's making an existing garden more attractive to wildlife or creating a brand-new planting from scratch." She added, "Ultimately, I believe it is best to plant species native to your region in a wildlife garden. These species have a proven track record, because they are the plants with which birds, butterflies, and other native animals have coevolved and survived over the millennia."

The Wildlife Gardener's Guide is divided into ten chapters, each one with step-by-step instructions for a garden project that will transform any property into a refuge that provides wild creatures with all their daily needs: food, water, and safe places to hide, rest, and nest. Readers will learn how to make their flower border a magnet for lovely swallowtails and hummingbirds, discover how to create a "stopover garden" where weary warblers and other migrating songbirds can rest and refuel, find advice on the best feeders, birdseeds, and birdhouses, and more. Each gardening project includes lists of plants with proven wildlife appeal, organized by region for easy reference.

What's inside:

Compact, information-packed, and featuring superb color photos, The Wildlife Gardener's Guide offers all the information readers need to cultivate the presence and well-being of wildlife in the garden—and contribute to the health of the surrounding natural environment by doing so.

Janet Marinelli is the former director of publications at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She has written extensively about biological invasion and other conservation issues. Her latest book, Plant (Dorling Kindersley, 2005), showcases 2,000 species worldwide that are threatened in the wild but alive and well in gardens and makes the case that gardens can play an important role in saving plants. Since its debut in the U.S., the book has been published in more than a dozen countries around the world. Marinelli has won numerous awards for her writing, including the American Horticultural Society's prestigious American Gardener Award for writing "that has made a significant contribution to horticulture."

New York Times Book Review called BBG's handbook series a "brilliant collection of little gardening handbooks...Each one takes a small bite of subject matter and chews it thoroughly...the mix of common sense, practical advice and, on occasion, pointed debunking...makes these slender volumes do the work of books twice their size and three times their price. And what the handbooks...lack in acreage they make up for in authority."

Ordering Information

The Wildlife Gardener's Guide (ISBN-10: 1-889538-37-X) is available at a discount direct from Brooklyn Botanic Garden's online store at shop.bbg.org, or by calling 718-623-7286. It is also available in bookstores and at garden centers for $9.95 in the U.S./$12.95 in Canada. For wholesale ordering information, call Sterling Publishing Co. at 800-367-9692 or visit its website at www.sterlingpub.com. To receive a free brochure of current and past handbook titles, call 718-623-7241.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden handbooks have been published continuously since 1945. They are the only series of popular gardening books published by a botanic garden in North America. Written by top gardening experts and packed with spectacular color photos, All-Region Guides offer 120 pages full of ideas on how to make your garden beautiful, bountiful, and ecologically sensible.