Orchids fascinate. Parts of the orchid flower have shapes unlike any other flowering plant, and the sheer number of species means that their variety is seemingly endless, with an ability to interbreed and create ever more fantastical forms. Extraordinary Orchids reveals some of the bizarre life-styles and interactions that botanists have uncovered amongst different categories of orchids: the epiphytic orchids, the ground-dwelling ones, the insect-mimicking ones and those whose lifestyles are so closely bound to their interactions with insects and birds. Many orchid common names refer to the shape-shifting forms of the orchid flower - the 'man-orchids' or 'monkey orchids' are so called because of their resemblance to the primate form. Orchids lend themselves to depiction, and botanical artworks of them abound. Who could resist painting or drawing such intriguing shapes? Sandra Knapp examines each category of orchid in turn and all are illustrated with stunning artwork from artists such as Ferdinand and Franz Bauer, Arthur Harry Church, Sydney Parkinson, Henry Fletcher Hance, John Russell Reeves, and images taken from James Bateman's The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala.

This volume discusses gardens as designed landscapes of mediation between nature and culture, embodying different levels of human control over wilderness, defining specific rules for this confrontation and staging different forms of human dominance. The contributing authors focus on ways of rethinking the garden and its role in contemporary society, using it as a crossover platform between nature, science and technology. Drawing upon their diverse fields of research, including History of Science and Technology, Environmental Studies, Gardens and Landscape Studies, Urban Studies, and Visual and Artistic Studies, the authors unveil various entanglements woven in the past between nature and culture, and probe the potential of alternative epistemologies to escape the predicament of fatalistic dystopias that often revolve around the Anthropocene debate. This book will be of great interest to those studying environmental and landscape history, the history of science and technology, historical geography, and the environmental humanities.

This book is the first study of the portico and its decorative program as a cultural phenomenon in Renaissance Italy. Focusing on a largely neglected group of porticoes decorated with painted pergolas that appeared in Rome and environs in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, it tells the story of how an element of the garden-the pergola-became a pictorial topos in portico decoration, and evolved, hand in hand with its real cousin in the garden, into an object for cultural emulation among the educated patrons of early modern Rome. The liminality of both the portico and the pergola at the interface of architecture and garden is key to the interpretation of these architectural and painted forms, which rests on the intersecting frameworks of the classical tradition, natural history, and the cultural identity of the aristocracy. In the mediating space of the Renaissance portico, the illusionism pergola created an art gallery, a natural history museum, and a virtual garden where one could engage in leisurely strolls, learned conversations, appreciation of art, and scientific investigation, as well as extensive travel across time and space. The book proposes the interpretation that the illusionistic pergola was an artistic formula for the early modern perception of nature.

Grow your way to happiness with this practical handbook for a more sustainable life. Whether you have a large country garden or a small backyard in the city, this essential guide to the 'Good Life' will help you on your journey to becoming more self-sufficient - which is something we all need to be thinking about. Climate change, industrial farming with its reliance on chemicals, rising food prices, fears over food security or just a desire to spend more time outdoors - there are many reasons driving people towards homegrown food and self-sufficiency. Growing your own fruit and vegetables, preserving your produce and generating your own energy are all covered in this thrifty guide by the original 'Tom and Barbara', Eve and Terence McLaughlin, who wrote the first edition of this book in 1979. This information-packed book has expert advice on growing, harvesting, storing and preserving your produce. You can brew your own beer and learn how to bottle, cure, smoke and pickle your produce to make it last longer. The book features easy-to-follow instructions for DIY tools and equipment to save money, reduce energy consumption and cut back on waste. Learn how to plan your site, explore the best planting times and methods, discover how to grow a variety of vegetables, fruit and nuts, and how to deal with pests and diseases. As well as growing your own food, the book also covers the basics of keeping livestock - including chickens, ducks, goats and pigs - and how to harness alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power. Putting your own food on the table and playing your part in creating a more sustainable future is hugely rewarding and also has health benefits - the physical exercise of planting and harvesting, the mental wellness that comes with spending time in nature, and the reduction in chemicals in the food you eat - there is so much in this activity that fosters greater wellbeing. Whether you're planning a move to full-blown self-sufficiency or are just curious about what's involved and want to take your first steps to growing your own food, this essential guide has everything you need to know.

Writing landscapes inevitably occurs in dialogue with a long textual and pictorial tradition, but first-hand experience also provides key stimuli to many writers' accounts. This monograph employs a comparative lens to offer an intervention in debates between literary scholars who focus on genre and those cultural geographers who are concerned that self-perpetuating literary tropes marginalize practical engagements. Suggesting that representation and experience are not competing paradigms for landscape, Daniel Weston argues that in the hands of contemporary writers they are complementary forces building composite articulations of place. In five case studies, Weston matches a writer to a mode of apprehending place - W.G. Sebald with picturing, Ciaran Carson with mapping, Iain Sinclair with walking, Robert Macfarlane with engaging, Kathleen Jamie with noticing. Drawing out a range of sites at which representation and experience interact, Weston's argument is twofold: first, interaction between traditions of landscape writing and direct experience of landscapes are mutually influential; and second, writers increasingly deploy style, form, and descriptive aesthetics to recover the experience of place in the poetics of the text itself. As Weston shows, emergent landscape writing shuttles across generic boundaries, reflecting the fact that the landscapes traversed are built out of a combination of real and imaginary sources.

It is one thing to produce tomatoes or pumpkins - or any other fruit or vegetable for the table - as they come into season, but it becomes another when you realise that most crops in the garden arrive in gluts with no more to be had for another year unless you do something about it. This book shows you how to make the best use of your highly nutritious, home-grown produce. Bob begins in the garden, showing you how to achieve a more continuous crop as well as how to extend your harvest. He then steps into the kitchen to demonstrate the best way to preserve and cook your crop by bottling, drying, jamming and smoking it. He uses his intimate and comprehensive knowledge of each crop to advise you on how best to treat it and store it. Try making fruit leathers, which are great for kids; freeze your own apple juice so you can have it every day of the year; experiment with making liqueurs and wines; preserve nuts in chocolate, and many, many more ingenious ideas.

Published originally by Kegan Paul in 1935, this vital work by the western master of Japanese flower arranging covers all aspects, schools and historic styles of this important art form. An indispensable book for all those many people worldwide who practice this art.

A comprehensive and lushly photographed guide to growing and using healing plants, including recipes, from the founder of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine This is the ultimate reference for anyone looking to bring the beauty and therapeutic properties of plants into their garden, kitchen, and home apothecary. Both informative and accessible, it covers how to plan your garden (including container gardening for small spaces); essential information on seed propagation, soil quality, and holistic gardening practices; 30 detailed profiles of must-know plants (including growing information, medicinal properties, and how to use them); foundational principles of herbalism; step-by-step photographic tutorials for preparing botanical medicine and healing foods; and 70 recipes for teas, tinctures, oils, salves, syrups, and more. Packed with sumptuous photography, this book will appeal to home gardeners who want to branch out to culinary and medicinal herbs, home cooks and those interested in natural wellness, and novice and skillful herbalists alike.

Westcott's Plant Disease is a reference book on diseases which attack plants. Diseases of plants are found on most all plants including trees, shrubs, grasses, forage, fruits, vegetables, garden and greenhouse plants as well as native wild flowers and even weeds. Plant Disease Handbook identifies various types of diseases which are known to invade these plants located throughout North and South America. The recordings include diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, viroids and nematodes. Causal disease agents are described and illustrated in many cases and diseases and disease control measures are also discussed. A book such as this is never finished since new reports of diseases are continuously reported. This includes new diseases and previously known diseases which occur on both presently recorded plants and on new plants found to be susceptible to diseases. Westcott's Plant Disease provides a reference and guide for identification and control of these plant disease problems.

First published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Grow Your Own Fruit and Vegetables is Lawrence D. Hills's ground-breaking book on all aspects of fruit and vegetable growing. It was widely praised on its publication and remains a classic text in the world of organic gardening. 'Its great merit is that one feels that every operation described has been personally carried out by the author and selected as the most satisfactory after due consideration of traditional methods. The treatment of each plant is described from start to finish with sense, relish and humour; there are many fascinating analyses of vitamin and mineral contents and nutritional values, of different vegetables and fruits; and there is excellent advice on picking, harvesting, as well as on cooking ... it is the best practical guide to the subject that has appeared for years, and the author is not concerned with argument or philosophy, only with growing produce well.' Country Life 'There is no better guide to non-chemical gardening than Lawrence D. Hills ... He is exceptionally well read and a good practical gardener into the bargain, not a very common combination, and no doubt because of his wide-ranging knowledge he is more balanced in his views than some advocates of all-organic gardening ... Where I find Mr Hills most stimulating is in his highly personal approach to fruit and vegetable varieties and his recommendations based on such commercially unfashionable criteria as flavour and food value. There is a wealth of information here which would be difficult to find in any other single book.' A. G. L. Hellyer in the Financial Times

Australia's complex, beautiful and diverse flora is showcased in stunning botanic gardens across the continent. Through exquisite colour photographs taken at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) or during field trips with the National Seed Bank, Fanny Karouta-Manasse celebrates the minute and intriguing details of these plants. This second edition of Discovering Australian Flora explains how plants are displayed in the ANBG according to themes and provides clear and simple geographical, historical and botanical information, including descriptions of plant characteristics. It also describes the unique features of Australian flora, such as their reliance on fire and ability to survive in poor soil, and looks in detail at the two dominant genera in the Australian landscape -Eucalyptus and Acacia. Extensively updated with new photographs and a new chapter on conservation, this beautiful book offers detailed insight into Australia's native flora. It will appeal not only to visitors to the ANBG but to anyone with an appreciation and passion for nature's beauty and the wonders of Australia's botanical treasures. Features Contains beautiful photographs including new photographs for this second edition Explains the five plant groupings used by the Australian National Botanic Gardens Includes a photographic list of the plant families found in the Gardens

The re-creation of the great garden at Hatfield House has been one of the most exciting and closely observed garden enterprises of the last thirty years. Now, at last, it is recorded and displayed in this revelatory book. Sue Snell has been photographing there for years, and with the help of the dowager Marchioness she now presents the fruit of her labours in a book that will excite and amaze all who have an interest in one of Britain's greatest gardens - now once again worthy of its great architectural, botanical and historical heritage. There will be an exhibition of Sue Snell's work at the Museum of Garden History to coincide with publication.

Beans are easy to grow, easy to cook, delicious, nourishing and beneficial for us and the planet. Growing your own beans not only helps you build healthy soil in your garden, it also provides you with a nutrient-rich diet. Beans can play a role in reducing the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer - they are good sources of protein, fibre, folate, iron and potassium - and they can reduce your carbon footprint and food miles as well! This fascinating book brings together Susan Young's 10 years of experimentation with multiple varieties of beans. She clearly explains how to sow, grow, harvest, dry, store and cook them, and shares her six 'must grow' varieties. Go on a tasty culinary journey around the world and discover a range of colourful and historic beans, from the pink 'Fagiolo di Lamon' of Italy to the black and white 'Bosnian Pole' bean. Learn which varieties are best for eating fresh from the pod and those that are best for drying and storing for later use. Beans offer year-round nutritious meals, and dried beans can be the star of the show with their fabulous diversity of flavours, colours and textures.

Garden history is more than the study of individuals such as 'Capability Brown' who created estates for a wealthy elite. A new approach, which includes insights from geology and archaeology, the perspectives of social class and gender, the history of art and architecture, science, technology and literature, is changing our perspective so that we can see gardens and gardening within wider social, economic, political and cultural contexts. Landscapes were created, formed and interpreted by town dwellers, women and lesser-known gardeners and designers as well as the 'great men' of the past. Based on papers given at a conference at the University of Birmingham, and written by distinguished scholars who are also writing for a wide audience, these essays highlight the wealth of recent research into landscape and green spaces in the West Midlands. The book ranges from the Picturesque movement in Herefordshire to William Shenstone's unique ferme ornee at The Leasowes, near Halesowen and the aspirational gardens and allotments of the Quaker ironmasters at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. Other contributions celebrate women's entrepreneurial activity in the nursery trade, chart the uncovering and restoration of a hidden eighteenth-century landscape at Hagley in Worcestershire and explore the lost Vauxhall pleasure gardens in Birmingham, which were established as a commercial venture in the eighteenth century. An examination of Victorian public parks reveals how their aesthetics were shaped by architecture made from the products of manufacturing industry while a study of three modest suburban estates considers how local industrialists shaped the environment of south Birmingham. The relationships between health, medicine and green spaces are explored through an analysis of the role of 'therapeutic landscapes' in late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century Worcestershire. Enhanced with maps, plans and black-and-white and colour illustrations, this is a volume of important scholarship that places the West Midlands at the heart of landscape history.

In Postcards from the Hedge, Jill Appenzeller reflects on life, family, and human nature in the context of her ever-changing garden. The book is a collection of vivid vignettes that span all four seasons as well as decades of memories both in and out of the garden. From Gossip Girls, the story of the neighborhood kids organizing a garden club, to I Don't Want It Perfect I Want It Tuesday, about all the things that never get done in life as well as in the garden, this is the story of humbling failures and unexpected surprises, of friends and friendships, and the gift of being present in the moment. Filled with humorous anecdotes and surprising insights. Postcards from the Hedge explores what gardening can teach us about ourselves and the world we live in.

What was a "garden" in medieval and early modern British culture and how was it imagined? How did it change as Europe opened up to the wider world from the 16th century onwards? In a series of fresh approaches to these questions, the contributors offer chapters that identify and discuss newly-discovered pre-modern garden spaces in archaeology and archival sources, recognize a gendered language of the garden in fictional descriptions ("fictional" here being taken to mean any written text, regardless of its purpose), and offer new analysis of the uses to which gardens - real and imagined - might be put. Chapters investigate the definitions, forms and functions of physical gardens; explore how the material space of the garden was gendered as a secluded space for women, and as a place of recreation; examine the centrality of garden imagery in medieval Christian culture; and trace the development of garden motifs in the literary and artistic imagination to convey the sense of enclosure, transformation and release. The book uniquely underlines the current environmental "turn" in the humanities, and increasingly recognizes the value of exploring human interaction with the landscapes of the past as a route to health and well-being in the present.

No matter how small your space, green-fingered Sam Corfield (aka The Hairy Horticulturist) shows you how simple it is to grow your own edible garden. Covering over 50 roots, shoots, flowers, leaves and fruits, he'll guide you through his foolproof three-step method of sow-grow-gather, while providing useful tips and tricks along the way. Showcasing delicious vegetables, fruits and herbs that anyone can easily grow at home, Sam will also introduce you to some more unusual and colourful veggies (like purple carrots, rainbow radishes and cucamelons!) to show just how exciting growing-your-own can be. Whether you have a small garden, balcony or windowsill, Sow Grow Gather will demystify the growing process, explain useful gardening equipment and reveal how to fit different containers and pots into every corner of your space. With beautiful photography and advice on which plants will suit your plot, as well as how to care for them, you'll go from veg-patch beginner to edible-garden-expert in no time, and have fun during the process.

In The New Southern Garden Cookbook, Sheri Castle aims to make "what's in season" the answer to "what's for dinner?" This timely cookbook, with dishes for omnivores and vegetarians alike, celebrates and promotes delicious, healthful homemade meals centered on the diverse array of seasonal fruits and vegetables grown in the South, and in most of the rest of the nation as well. Increased attention to the health benefits and environmental advantages of eating locally, Castle notes, is inspiring Americans to partake of the garden by raising their own kitchen plots, visiting area farmers' markets and pick-your-own farms, and signing up for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes from local growers. The New Southern Garden Cookbook offers over 300 brightly flavored recipes that will inspire beginning and experienced cooks, southern or otherwise, to take advantage of seasonal delights. Castle has organized the cookbook alphabetically by type of vegetable or fruit, building on the premise that when cooking with fresh produce, the ingredient, not the recipe, is the wiser starting point. While some dishes are inspired by traditional southern recipes, many reveal the goodness of gardens in new, contemporary ways. Peppered with tips, hints, and great stories, these pages make for good food and a good read.