This was a good look at typical plants that grow in the Midwest. Something to have on hand in case your looking to grow some annuals and bulbs in your area. It was interesting and had some good info.

~~~ I receive an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

Midwest Gardener's Handbook is a lovely collection of plants for Midwest gardeners to consider for their gardens. The book is well organized by type (shrubs, annuals, vegetables, etc), with each section is full of different plants and includes tips on planting, harvesting, and caring for each plant featured. The book is full of nice photos and easy to read and reference. I would love to add this book to my garden book collection. I found many worthwhile tips to improve my gardens.

A solid resource for new and intermediate gardeners in the Midwest.

We moved to the Midwest early last year, (after living on the East coast, the PNW, and right outside of Las Vegas, we’re here now and here is a place I never imagined living, and a place I have grown to love). I haven’t had a functioning garden since we lived in WA, and I’m feeling a bit in need of tried and true advice.

I would consider myself a beginner gardener (beginning over at gardening for the first time in 10 years as well as beginning in a new hardiness zone) - I’m planning on gratefully using the knowledge in this book to plant flowers (something I’ve never had an interest in doing before) as well as an elderberry shrub or two (for mead, and syrup) along with our preferred veggies and herbs this upcoming year.

Great overall reference book for the Midwest Gardener. Care tips for plants, shrubs, and trees that grow well in the Midwest. Also has basics on starting seeds, pruning, and soil prep.

The month-by-month guides are great for my Virgo gardening-brain.

This is a fine gardening book, especially for new gardeners. It reminds me very much of gardening books I bought in the 20th century, and a million of them. It covers very conventional gardening -- chemical pesticides, fertilizers, the most common perennials and annuals you'll find everywhere, very traditional looking gardens and expansive weed-free lawns, etc. There is a fairly detailed listing of common perennial and annual flowers, with a color photo for each and basic growing information.

Honestly, I gravitate towards more sustainable gardening books and more focus on things like native plants, no till gardening, planting for wildlife, edible landscaping, organic gardening, fun projects, natural landscapes, etc. This really seems like it would be suited for your slightly pretentious mother in law, if she'd never gardened before and was going to buy everything at Home Depot. Not that there's anything wrong with any of that. It will work well for people who like perfectly manicured lawns and RoundUp, which is most of my neighbors, so it's likely to be a good fit for many people.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Midwest Gardener's Handbook is a reformatted and updated 2nd edition of the midwest gardening guide by Melinda Myers. Originally released in 2013, this edition is due out in March 2022 from Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint. It's 256 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is an accessibly written information dense regional gardening guide specifically aimed at gardeners in the midwest USA: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas , Michigan, Minnesota , Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and environs. The information is arranged in a sensible manner with chapters arranged thematically. An introduction about the benefits and challenges midwestern gardeners experience, followed by: annuals, bulbs, groundcovers, perennials, shrubs (& trees), and vegetables & herbs. The chapters are thorough and contain specific recommendations with both specific cultivars as well as general seasonal task lists for each chapter. Cultivars are referred to by botanical (Latin) nomenclature as well as common name to facilitate sourcing and reduce confusion.

The book is -full- of full color photographs for inspiration and clarity. One of the high points for me with this volume were the useful and specific appendices - pruning, building up beds, winter protection, raised beds, zone maps, and other resource information.

Four and a half stars. This would be a good choice for public and school libraries, gardening groups, community/allotment gardens, suburban gardeners, homeowners, etc.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.