John Bryan's substantive revision to his original magnum opus published in 1989 — selected by the American Horticultural Society as one of the 75 great American gardening books— provides expanded coverage of some 230 genera and a staggering number of species, varieties, and cultivars. Genera are treated with detail appropriate to their importance, with information on history, classification, culture, propagation, pests and diseases, uses, and species and cultivars. Detailed encyclopedic plant listings are complemented by an equally comprehensive pictorial presentation. Not only are there more than 1100 color photographs — many showing the plants in their natural habitats — but there are also 43 color reproductions of botanical illustrations from 19th-century issues of Curtis's Botanical Magazine and other publications, taken from the author's extensive collection.

John E. Bryan is a horticultural consultant, lecturer, and television personality. He also publishes a monthly gardening newsletter and leads annual garden tours to Europe and South Africa. John has written and edited several books on bulbs, including Bulbs (2002). He gardens in the Bay area of California.

"This book has it all when it comes to bulbs...It's a reference book to covet. The author, former vice president of Oregon Bulb Farms, clearly loves his subject."—Kym Pokorny, Oregonian, December 12, 2002