Do you have a source for a good, pocket book-size plant name reference book for in the "field"? I have one that I use to ID wild birds and it is fairly complete. While that is not possible with plants as new varieties come out all the time, is there a reference book that you find the most complete and a book source that you like when the internet is not available?

I have the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers (Easter Region) which is adequate for my needs.

Thanks, Greene. I guess "field" is the wrong choice of words. I would like to have a book to ID my yard plants, as well as have one to take a long to various arboretums and nurseries.

Guess the smart phone is the current way to go. Maybe they have an app for that.

Guess it all depends on how big the pocketbook is! I have one purse that could hold Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants!

Probably what will help you most is something like Simon & Schuster's Guide to Garden Flowers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/067146678X/
(sorry about the long url) or maybe this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671222473/ which may be more comprehensive in a concise package.
These are the same size as their insect guides--too big for a pocket, but good for a purse. 4" x 7" x 1 1/2" thick.
Or, try: The Flower Expert by D. G Hessayon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SRWFS8/

There's a whole series, and they are all a good size to carry to a garden.
All of these have good photos and drawings.

My problem with using the smart phone in the garden is, I can't read the screen in full sunlight. Maybe the next upgrade will have an improvement on that...
Hope that helps!

Wildflowers of Houston and Southeast Texas by John and ,Gloria Tveten, is a good book for local wildflowers.

I have a big project of ID-ing all my plants. I don't have access to the internet at work all the time, well, as long as I am supposed to be working. My memory is not always up to par on certain days. OK, OK, on most days! I would like to get the names of my plants recorded while I have half a mind. The books you recommended are on order from Amazon, Cindi. Thanks for that. I was able to get used ones 4/$1.7 so basically I paid the postage.

Ah, Cheryl, that can be a huge project - good winter project. I initially just willy-nilly plopped things into the ground, then at some point started keeping track of what/where, which grew over the years, and now have a pretty extensive database of my own (26 Word files, one for each alpha, with photos, location, and where I purchased, etc.). I then utilized the "My List" feature on this site, and so far have been very pleased with that. Not sure if I'm willing to ditch my personal database although double-cooking the books is a mite time consuming. @Dave is there a way to print our own personal lists from ATP, complete with the thumbnail and comments section? I haven't explored this on site, but that would be a great feature for me. I usually print a hard copy of my database annually which I keep in a looseleaf binder to reference during the growing season, making hand notes of changes, deaths, new tips, problems, etc. which I then transfer to the computer as I have time. I did notice that the comment section in My List appears to be specific to my plants and doesn't cross over as a general comment (who cares if I got the plant from my neighbor and it's in the west barn bed...). I really like having ready access to much better photographs as well as more complete care available at ATP. Winter project...

Yes there is a print friendly version of your list. Works great.

Thanks, I will play with that. It may well be I don't need to be duplicating efforts.

Cheryl, if you get stuck, or before you get stuck, just take a photo of your unknown plant and post it here on the plant I.D. forum! There's a lot of us who enjoy identifying plants.
( Here's a secret: shhh...I used to work as an estate gardener, and people would call me to come identify plants in their yards. Some had moved into houses with existing landscapes, and some had gardeners who planted unusual plants. Sometimes I was stumped, and had to consult my books. The cool thing was, I got PAID to do this! There's nothing better than spending time doing what you love, and getting paid for it. )
And here's another bit of happy news...today I went to a native plant sale, and they had a room full of gardening books for sale! Suggested donation was $5 each! I limited myself to just 6, and one was SIGNED by Penelope Hobhouse! Oh, happy day!

@Rick Corey-- Thank you

@Cindi, book recommendations are precious indeed!

That's half the value of most college courses: pointing out what books to read, in what order, for specific interests.

Unfortunately, life is too short and our budgets are too limited to just ready EVERYthing!

I was thinking of suggesting condensing some of the recommended book titles into a "sticky", but in which forum? Maybe the "Recommendations" page could have a subsection for "Recommended Books" separate from "Recommended Companies". What do you think, @Dave?

After the list of Recommended Books got long enough, it might benefit from splitting into sections. Or maybe add searchable tags from the beginning, like "soil improvement", "plant guides", "perennials", "annuals", "vegetables", "farming", "livestock", "landscape design", etc.

I like the idea, Rick and we've been throwing around ideas for improving the Recommendations feature.

Thanks!

I don't know what mechanism would promote the following, other than "energetic members". But I seems to me that many threads contain great information scattered through them, (not always related to the thread title), that could be extracted and condensed into a one-post Sticky or a short Idea. One one or two entries in a Recommendations database or thread.

P.S. Some forums have multiple Sticky threads that might benefit from being condensed each into one post, then perhaps combined into one Sticky "Reference Thread".