3 GLORIOUS GARDENING BOOKS
A fresh crop of new gardening books are now vying for a place on your coffee table. We’ve picked three that all deserve to be there. Each book a work of art, with exquisite photos inspire you and fascinating insights and ideas that you might consider for your own real or fantasy garden.
Leaf through gardens created by some of the top designers in the world today, including Jinny Blom and Madison Cox. Dig deep into private celebrity gardens you would otherwise never get to see. Revel in historical garden masterpieces.
Whether you garden yourself in real life, enjoy visiting gardens, or just dream of gardens, these books are sure to get your sap flowing. Check them out below.
“The Thoughtful Gardener: An Intelligent Approach to Garden Design Hardcover,” by Jinny Blom, marries artistry with functionality, offering an inside track into the mind of one of the most sought after and admired garden designers of our time.
Blom is considered by many to be a horticultural celebrity. She began her London based landscape design practice in 2000 and has since designed hundreds of gardens all over the world, with commissions in the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East and the USA.
She has designed four award-winning gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, including one gold medal. Her ‘Healing Garden’ was developed in collaboration with The Prince of Wales. She also was commissioned by Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale
Blom has been nominated Woman of the Year an unprecedented three times for her services to society, including her role as Artist in Residence at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
The book is loaded with lush photos and ideas. Blom shares her philosophies, visions, thought processes, and methods. She links it all to the historical precedents she follows for each garden locale. And while her knowledge and skill are exceptional, it is her creativity that sets her apart.
Self-taught, Blom’s aesthetic sensibilities draw on her own personal heritage -- her great grandfather was an an Impressionist painter. Her training as a transpersonal psychologist and psychotherapist inform her designs as well. She prefers to mix native plants with introduced ornamentals.
“Written with wit and insight, it sets out an approach to design that is intuitive, thoughtful and holistic – a philosophy that is clearly successful and clearly manifest in this designer’s beautifully executed gardens. It is a book that will make you think about design, about landscape and nature, and about the benefits of engaging with a garden yourself.”
- House & Garden
“The Thoughtful Gardener,” at once a lavishly illustrated coffee-table tome and a friendly hands-on primer, offers a glimpse into some of the most magical gardens in the world…
- Architectural Digest US
“The Secret Gardeners: Britain's Creatives Reveal Their Private Sanctuaries,” by Victoria Summerley, with photos by Hugo Rittson Thomas, presents captivating portraits of 25 British celebrity gardening passionistas, including artists, designers, actors, producers, composers, playwrights, sculptors, and fashion designers.
Gorgeous photos, with fascinating essays, offer a glimpse of gardens and their famous gardeners that the public would otherwise never get to see.
The Secret Gardeners featured in the book include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anish Kapoor, Jeremy Irons, Cath Kidston, Terry Gilliam, Prue Leith, Ozzy Osbourne, Sting, Julian Fellowes, and Rupert Everett.
“These are sublime confections, graced with stone-edged rills, Italianate pergolas and intricate grass labyrinths. This is a highly enjoyable book - armchair garden visiting at its very best.”
- Gardens Illustrated
“The Secret Gardeners is a WONDERFUL book. Just beautiful. It will live, page open, on my coffee table.”
- Prue Leith
“The Gardener's Garden,” by Toby Musgrave & Ruth Chivers presents a collection of over 250 of exceptional gardens from around the world designed by leading garden designers, horticulturalists and landscape architects, from the 14th century to the present day.
Lavishly illustrated with over 1,200 stunning images, each garden is expertly described in detail, pointing out planting features of note. The gardens range from famous to obscure, from ancient to modern, from formal to wild, from public to private.
Musgrave is an authority on garden history, with several books and UK-based TV programs to his credit. He is faculty lecturer in garden and plant history at the Danish Institute for Study. Chivers is a garden writer and a designer in her own right.
Madison Cox, who wrote the book’s introduction, has designed gardens for prestigious clients and locations, including Sting, Michael Bloomberg, and Marella Agnelli.
"Many publications have claimed to be the ultimate garden book. This new global survey of gardens may have actually achieved that distinction."
—Garden Design
"Weighty and wonderful, this lavishly illustrated new book will make a handsome gift for the dedicated gardener in your life (or for yourself)."
—The American Gardener, The American Horticultural Society
"Horticultural eye candy."
—Globe
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