"This long-awaited book is a must read for anyone interested in the science underpinning current and future practices in the cultivation and postharvest management of ornamentals... This informative book will certainly take its rightful place in the working collection of anyone interested in continuously expanding and deepening their existing knowledge on ornamentals."
Dr Lynn Hoffman, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Ornamental plants are plants grown for decorative purposes. They include cut flowers, bulbs, potted plants, shrubs and trees for gardening and landscape design. Like other crops, ornamentals face challenges such as biotic and abiotic stresses as well as the need to develop more sustainable, 'climate-smart' methods of cultivation. This collection reviews the rich range of research addressing these challenges.

Part 1 discusses advances in understanding plant physiology, genetic diversity and breeding techniques. Chapters cover recent research on how plants respond to abiotic stress, ways of exploiting genetic diversity to improve target traits, advances in both conventional and marker-assisted breeding techniques, as well as their use to produce abiotic stress-resistant varieties. Part 2 surveys advances in cultivation techniques in such areas as nutrition, irrigation, protected cultivation and integrated disease management.

With its eminent editor and international range of authors, Achieving sustainable cultivation of ornamental plants will be a standard reference for university researchers in ornamental and horticultural science, government and other agencies supporting the ornamentals sector, as well as companies growing and supplying ornamentals.

Dr Michael Reid is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Horticulture in the University of California-Davis, USA. Professor Reid is also Leader for Technology and Innovation at the US Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture which seeks to support smallholder horticulture in the developing world. He has an international reputation for his work on understanding senescence in cut flowers and how this understanding can be used to maintain post-harvest quality. Amongst his Awards are the Alex Laurie Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science and the Alan Armitage Award from the Speciality Cut Flower Growers Association. He has authored over 250 publications, is former Editor-in-Chief of Scientia Horticulturae and has worked with growers in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Central and South America as well as in the USA.