The forgotten garden that inspired Charles Darwin becomes the modern-day setting for an exploration of memory, family, and the legacy of genius. Darwin's childhood garden at The Mount in Shrewsbury was the site of some of the great scientist's earliest experiments. It was where, under the tutelage of his green-fingered mother and sisters, and the house's knowledgeable gardeners, he first examined the reproductive life of flowers, collected birds' eggs, and began to note down the ideas that would lead to his groundbreaking theory of evolution. In The Ghost in the Garden, Jude Piesse uncovers the lost histories that inspired Darwin's work and how his legacy, and the legacies of those around him, live on today.

Join Monty Don, Britain's pre-eminent gardener, and acclaimed photographer Derry Moore on their historic journey through the most stunning gardens of Venice and the Veneto. Few world cities hold the romance and historical sweep of Venice. Thousands visit every year - and a mixture of crowds and climate leave it vulnerable, so much so it is often said to be in danger of sinking - but away from the usual tourist haunts around St. Mark's square are exceptional hidden treasures, some 500 gardens, many of them with fascinating stories. Starting in the heart of the city and working their way out to the Veneto, Monty and Derry celebrate the beauty of these places and tell their unique stories: from a beautiful nunnery garden with a history of exotic animals and a kitchen garden of the historic Foundation to the Madonna church to the estates of famous Venetian families, like the spectacular Giusti Renaissance garden. With stunning full colour photography throughout, Venice Gardens will give readers new insight into one of the world's most beloved cities - you won't see Venice the same way again.

From 1946 to 1957, Vita Sackville-West, the poet, bestselling author of All Passion Spent and maker of Sissinghurst, wrote a weekly column in the Observer describing her life at Sissinghurst, showing her to be one of the most visionary horticulturalists of the twentieth-century. With wonderful additions by Sarah Raven, Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst draws on this extraordinary archive, revealing Vita's most loved flowers, as well as offering practical advice for gardeners. Often funny and completely accessibly written with colour and originality, it also describes details of the trials and tribulations of crafting a place of beauty and elegance. Sissinghurst has gone on to become one of the most visited and inspirational gardens in the world and this marvellous book, illustrated with drawings and original photographs throughout, shows us how it was created and how gardeners everywhere can use some of the ideas from both Sarah Raven and Vita Sackville-West.

Moss, stone, trees, and sand arranged in striking or natural-looking compositions: the tradition of establishing and refining the landscape has been the work of Japanese gardeners and designers for centuries. In Japanese Gardens and Landscapes, 1650-1950 Wybe Kuitert presents a richly illustrated survey of the gardens and the people who commissioned, created, and used them and chronicles the modernization of traditional aesthetics in the context of economic, political, and environmental transformation. Kuitert begins in the Edo period (1603-1868), when feudal lords recreated the landscape of the countryside as private space. During this same period, and following Chinese literary models, scholars and men of letters viewed the countryside itself, without any contrivance, as the ideal space in which to meet with friends and have a cup of tea. Stewards of inns, teahouses, and temples, on the other hand, followed increasingly cliched garden designs prescribed in popular, mass-produced pattern books. Over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the newly wealthy captains of industry in Tokyo adopted the aesthetic of the feudal lords, finding great appeal in naturalistic landscapes and deciduous forests. Confronted with modernization and the West, tradition inevitably took on different meanings. Westerners, seeking to understand Japanese garden culture, found their answers in the pattern-book cliches, while in Japan, private landscapes became public and were designed in environmentally supportable ways, all sponsored by the government. An ancient, esoteric, and elite art extended its reach to every quarter of society, most notably with the extensive rebuilding that occurred in the aftermath of the Tokyo earthquake of 1923 and the end of World War II. In the wake of destruction came a new model for sustainable public parks and a heightened awareness of ecological issues, rooted above all in the natural landscape of Japan. Featuring more than 180 color photographs and reproductions, Japanese Gardens and Landscapes, 1650-1950 illustrates a history of changes and continuities across a span of three centuries and makes an eloquent case for the lessons to be learned from the Japanese tradition as we face the challenges of a rapidly changing human habitat.

Honoring and embodying the cultural heritages of a region through the beauty of shared outdoor spacesFrom their beginnings as private farmland to their current form as monuments to cultural and ethnic diversity, the unique collection of landscaped, themed gardens that compose Cleveland's Cultural Gardens holds a rich history. John J. Grabowski guides readers through this story, using both archival images and Lauren R. Pacini's stunning contemporary photography to illustrate their development and importance. The effect is a comprehensive view of the factors that made the Cultural Gardens possible, from Cleveland's geographical features to international conflicts. First erected as the Shakespeare Garden in 1916, the land bordering Doan Brook slowly began to incorporate tributes to immigrants, reflecting Cleveland's role as a key location for eastern European immigrants. Through this chronicle of the gardens' changing landscapes, Grabowski shapes a gripping narrative of shifting attitudes toward immigration, both locally and nationally. Throughout both world wars, the Cold War, and more recent events, the gardens' composition has changed to reflect more diversity, now encompassing 33 individual gardens that honor cultures and countries with connections to Cleveland. Today, each garden features plants native to the corresponding culture, from German to Vietnamese and from Ethiopian to Finnish. This vast cultural inclusivity makes Cleveland's Cultural Gardens a forerunner in the push for greater representation of cultures and people of color in memorials and public spaces. The gardens also highlight a growing emphasis on collaboration and coexistence among cultures, as symbolized in the Peace Garden of the Nations and its crypt of intermingled soil from historic shrines around the world. This book will be of interest to field specialists and nonexperts alike for its excellent illustrations and for its discussion of culture, inclusion, and diversity both on a local and national scale.

Illustrated with lush reproductions of Grant and Nixie's art and photographs of their amazing garden, "The Romance Continues" is a love story, an art-appreciation adventure and a garden tour, all wrapped up in one gorgeous volume. Nationally known artists Grant Leier and Nixie Barton are also husband and wife, parents and the creators of an astonishing and whimsical garden on Vancouver Island. Their paintings differ greatly, though both artists make extensive use of rich, luminous and vibrant colours, and both are widely admired and collected. Over their long careers, Grant and Nixie have experimented with subjects and styles, and observing the growth and change in their work is fascinating. When they moved to a rural, seven-acre property, they turned their love of colour and sense of fun onto the land, and the rambling, witty garden they created is a visual spectacle that draws thousands of delighted visitors every year.

HIGHGROVE: A GARDEN CELEBRATED is a commemoration of the beautiful, mature gardens planned and planted by The Prince of Wales over thirty years ago. The gardens at Highgrove evoke intense emotion. In January, the dramatic light and early snowdrops of the Stumpery are exquisite; the glistening emerald lawns and tree blossoms in Spring lift the spirits with a promise of what is to come; in Summer, the longed-for delphiniums in the Sundial Garden stand proudly to attention and dramatic leaf colours welcome Autumn to the Arboretum as the harvesting in the Kitchen Garden begins. In Winter the structural elements of the garden have their moment of glory as the year comes to a close and the cycle of the seasons continues. Lavishly illustrated with photographs that capture both the light and detail of this magisterial space, this beautiful book will delight and inspire gardeners of every level. It is an exquisite celebration of garden design, passion and inspiration.

An essential companion for bird lovers and gardeners alike since it was first published, this highly successful guide to identifying garden birds has now been fully updated with the latest information and statistics. Highlighting a range of plants and planting schemes that support wildlife, it provides expert advice on making your garden a haven for birds. Learn everything you need to know about all the birds you're most likely to see from your window, how to attract them into your garden and how to care for them. Each species is accessibly described, with details of identification, status and abundance, feeding habits, songs and call, and breeding season. The species guide has been updated to include the Great Spotted Woodpecker, which is now breeding regularly on the east coast and turning up in gardens. The species descriptions are enhanced by new photographs of the highest quality. Whether you are an avid gardener or just love feeding birds in your garden, this practical and easy-to-use guide is invaluable. Also available: 'Birds of Ireland - A Field Guide'

A delightful journey through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian. Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party - and you are invited. Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the Bright Young Things. With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician - whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas - Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating. The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war - and a uniquely fast-living period of English history. Praise for The Long Weekend: 'Delicious, occasionally fantastical, revealing in ways that Downton Abbey never was. It is as if Tinniswood is at the biggest, wildest, most luxuriantly decadent party ever thrown, and he knows everyone.' Observer 'A deliciously jaunty and wonderfully knowledgeable book. Tinniswood displays a terrific insider's grasp of gossip . A meticulous, irresistible story.' Spectator 'Elegant, encyclopedic and entertaining . A confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly . Deserves to be on every costume drama producer's bookshelf.' Times

This stunning and original British travel guide charts lesser known gardens, spectacular meadows, the best kitchen garden food, plus wild places to camp and stay. From traditional cottage gardens and walled-gardens, to newly designed gardens planted for bees and nature, this is a timely book which will appeal to garden-lovers, foodies and nature-lovers of all ages. Includes Best For: Organic & Foraged Food; Wildflowers; Glamping Meadows; Kitchen Gardens, Birds, Bees & Butterflies; Ancient Orchards; Cottage Garden Classics; Rose Garden B Secret Gardens; Urban Escapes; Naturalistic & Prairie Planting. * The Wild Garden movement is one of Britain's fastest growing garden trends * First guide of its kind guide, including food and accommodation, meadows and nature-friendly gardens, * Stunning photography, illustrated maps, * Wide family appeal - cuts across generations and brings food, adventure and the 'wild' into garden tourism. * Foreword by Chelsea Gold winner, Sarah Price.

The eighteen acres that surround the White House have been an unwitting witness to history-a backdrop for soldiers, suffragettes, protestors, and activists. Kings and queens have dined there; bills and treaties have been signed; and presidents have landed and retreated. The front and back yard for the first family, it is by extension the nation's first garden. All the Presidents' Gardens' tells the untold history of the White House Grounds. Starting with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ending with Michelle Obama's focus on edibles, this rich and compelling narrative reveals how the story of the garden is also the story of America. Readers learn about Lincoln's goats, Ike's putting green, Jackie's iconic roses, Amy Carter's tree house, and much more. They also learn the plants whose favour has come and gone over the years and the gardeners who have been responsible for it all. Fully illustrated with new and historical photographs and art, refreshingly nonpartisan, and releasing just in time for election year, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the red, white, and green.

To Design Landscape sets out a distinctively practical philosophy of design, in accessible format. Based on the notion that landscape design is a form-based craft addressing environmental processes and utility, Dee establishes a framework for approaching such craft with modesty and ingenuity, using the concept of "aesthetics of thrift". Employing numerous case studies-as diverse as Hellerup Rose Garden in Denmark; Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, USA; Rousham Gardens, Oxfordshire, UK and Tofuku-ji, in Kyoto, Japan - to illustrate her ideas, the book is a beautiful portfolio of Dee's drawings, which are both evocative and to the point. The book begins with a 'Foundations' section, which sets out the basis of the approach. 'Principles' chapters then elaborate eleven significant considerations applicable to any design project, regardless of context and scale. Following on, 'Strategies' chapters reinforce the principles, and suggest further ways of designing, adaptable to different conditions. Dee ends with a focus on 'Elements', case studies and verb lists providing sources for the designer to consider how the components - vegetation, water, terrain, structures, soils, weather, and the sky - might be engaged, mediated and joined. Catherine Dee's book is for all those who would craft landscape, from the gardener, to the professional landscape architect, to the student of design

From Tresco to Lindisfarne, Anglesey to Sark, travel around the British Isles and discover the most beautiful and extreme island gardens on this visually stunning tour. The British Isles consist of more than 6,000 islands scattered around the main islands of Britain and Ireland. More than 100 of these British off-shore islands are inhabited - and where there are people, there are gardens. Lighthouse gardens, gulf-stream-soaked, tropical gardens, windswept remote gardens with giant and ancient yew trees, and gardens surrounding castles and monasteries of historical significance. Encounter a huge variety of habitats and gardening conditions, from coastal machair to woodlands, mountains, dunes and meadows, and explore a wide range of aspects, from shady dells, to sunny banks, deep-soiled productive gardens to rocky, alpine slopes. While they can differ dramatically with regards to aesthetics, what all island gardens share is the special light, magical atmosphere and indefinable magic that a proximity to water can bring. Here, Jackie Bennett reveals the challenges their gardeners face, the designs required in such extremes, and the skills their gardeners have mastered to survive and thrive, accompanied by stunning photography by garden and drone photographer Richard Hanson.

In 1899, a 21-year-old Russian, Simcha Baevski, arrived at the Port of Melbourne in pursuit of a new identity and a new life. Renaming himself Sidney Myer, he founded a small drapery business in Bendigo, Victoria. From these beginnings Sidney accumulated significant wealth, which enabled him to buy an established retail business in Bourke Street, Melbourne, in 1911. This became The Myer Emporium, a Melbourne shopping institution whose enduring status no one could foresee. The year 1920 was to be a momentous one for Sidney: in January he married Margery Merlyn Baillieu and by November he had registered interest in a Toorak residence, Torrie, eventually to be renamed Cranlana, at 62 Clendon Road. When Sidney died suddenly in 1934, Merlyn was left not only a widow but also chatelaine of Cranlana and 'Mother of the Store'. Over the ensuing years, Cranlana evolved in various ways, always with Merlyn at the helm. When Dame Merlyn Myer died in 1982, her children rallied to keep the dream alive. Adopting Cranlana's air of concealed mystery, this book guides the reader though its magnificent wrought-iron gates and into a garden and a house that breathes history - one resonating with horticultural vitality, material beauty and human enterprise - yet a place still very much a living family concern and to date not open to the public. Breathtakingly designed and illustrated, and full of reminiscences from the people who lived and worked at 62 Clendon Road, this book is a fitting celebration of the life of Cranlana during its first 100 years.

A journey through the most unlikely of gardens: the oases of peace people create in the midst of war In this millennium, we have become war weary. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Ukraine to South Sudan and Syria, from Kashmir to the West Bank, conflict is as contagious and poisonous as Japanese knotweed. Living through it are people just like us with ordinary jobs, ordinary pressures and ordinary lives. Against a new landscape of horror and violence it is up to them to maintain a modicum of normality and colour. For some, gardening is the way to achieve this. Working in the world's most dangerous war zones, freelance war correspondent and photographer Lally Snow has often chanced across a very moving sight, a testimony to the triumph of the human spirit in adversity, a celebration of hope and beauty: a war garden. In Kabul, the royal gardens are tended by a centenarian gardener, though the king is long gone; in Camp Bastion, bored soldiers improvise tiny gardens to give themselves a moment's peace; on both sides of the dividing line in Jerusalem families tend groves of olives and raise beautiful plants from the unforgiving, disputed landscape; in Ukraine, families tend their gardens in the middle of a surreal, frozen war. War Gardens is a surprising, tragic and beautiful journey through the darkest places of the modern world, revealing the ways people make time and space for themselves and for nature even in the middle of destruction. Illustrated with Lally Snow's own award-winning photography, this is a book to treasure.

This is a beautifully readable visual essay about the history and diversity of the "middle garden', the area that surrounds a home and extends out to the public realm, such as the sidewalk, alley, or street. It examines the vital nature of this space and how its purpose has always been more than mere decoration.

A descriptive account of the Asparagaceae native and naturalised in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, together with information on exotic ornamental and crop plants. At least one species per genus is illustrated, and the bibliography and synonymy are sufficiently detailed to explain the nomenclature and taxonomic circumscriptions within a broad regional context.

A descriptive account of the Blechnaceae native and naturalised in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, together with information on exotic ornamental and crop plants. At least one species per genus is illustrated, and the bibliography and synonymy are sufficiently detailed to explain the nomenclature and taxonomic circumscriptions within a broad regional context.

A descriptive account of the Ericaceae native and naturalised in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, together with information on exotic ornamental and crop plants. At least one species per genus is illustrated, and the bibliography and synonymy are sufficiently detailed to explain the nomenclature and taxonomic circumscriptions within a broad regional context.

A descriptive account of the Thelypteridaceae native and naturalised in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, together with information on exotic ornamental and crop plants. At least one species per genus is illustrated, and the bibliography and synonymy are sufficiently detailed to explain the nomenclature and taxonomic circumscriptions within a broad regional context.