A good hosta coffee table book doesn't have to have much information in it. It doesn't have to be written by a hosta expert. It doesn't have to be up to date. It just has to be visually attractive.
You can find very nice hosta coffee table books at discount or used book stores. Wander through the section on gardening books and flip through books on hostas or on shade gardening until you find one or two that appeal to you. It's a very cost effective way to find this kind of book.
If, on the other hand, you want to grow hostas, you need a different kind of book altogether. You need a gardening book. You want a book that tells you how to choose hostas, how to plant and care for them, how to categorize them by size and how to propagate hostas.
Because there are new methods of hosta propagation and many, many new varieties of hostas, your hosta gardening book needs to be up to date, and it needs to be written by a hosta expert.
Your hosta gardening books will probably also work very well on the coffee table. Can you even imagine a hosta book without color pictures of the beautiful plants? It needs to have a section of photos to help you identify hostas you already own, and to plan for the ones you want to add to your collection.
Whether you are looking for a hosta coffee table book or a hosta gardening book or both, there are many good books available. Here are a few:
Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid. (ISBN 0881922013). This book includes information on 3500 varieties of hostas.
Hostas by Rosemary Barrett (ISBN 1552978869). Barrett has been growing hostas for years, and shares her expertise.
The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas by Diane Grenfell and Mike Shadrack (ISBN 0881926183). A new, beautifully illustrated book by two British hosta experts.
The Hosta Handbook by Mark Zillis (ISBN 0967944007). Okay, this one doesn't make a good coffee table book. It is, however, a complete reference for anybody who loves hostas.
You can never have too many good Hosta Books! Visit your local bookstore and pick up something for yourself to enjoy today.
