Explore the mystery of what makes us love gardening, via history, science, art and philosophy. Whether you seek sanctuary in your potting shed, find paradise amongst your patio plants or enjoy the simple solace of your hands in the soil, there is beauty, peace and happiness to be found for every gardener in this thoughtful and entertaining collection. Both a hymn to gardening and a call to action, this down-to-earth guide is worth a hundred 'how-tos'. Wander the gardens of Giverny with Monet to create your own 'beautiful masterpiece' or, like George Orwell, reap the joy to be found in the work of a vegetable plot. Discover the soothing symmetry in the spiral of sunflower seeds, or, like William Morris, provide a wild abundance for the natural visitors to your garden. Drawing inspiration from gardening greats – from the ancient Greek and French philosophers Epicurus and Voltaire, via the wisdom of Margery Fish and Gertrude Jekyll, to Monty Don and modern-day guerrilla gardeners – this beautifully illustrated compilation is a thoughtful gift for any gardener.

A celebration of a beloved and uniquely British garden style. The cottage garden's abundant, informal style is rooted in Victorian dreams of a perfect country life. But it has found new expressions from the Arts & Crafts movement to the present day. This book showcases a selection of National Trust cottage gardens, famous and obscure, including writer Thomas Hardy's cottage in Dorset; the flower-filled cottage garden created at Sissinghurst, Kent, by Vita Sackville-West and harold Nicolson; the Tudor manor Cothele in Cornwall, Beatrix Potter's Cumbrian home, Hill Top, and the picturesque Alfriston Clergy House in East Sussex. Cottage Gardens also features some of the most famous non-National Trust examples from around the country, including Kelmscott Manor, Dove Cottage and Eastgrove Cottage Garden. With practical advice on creating your own cottage garden, including key plants and techniques, this is a wonderful companion for all garden enthusiasts. With climbing roses, bright hollyhocks, pathways edged with honeysuckle, blossom-filled orchards and wildflower meadows, this is the perfect book to capture the idyllic British country garden.

A whimsical and beautiful book celebrating these hidden gems of the National Trust - from specially made secret gardens to overlooked corners of famous gardens and re-discovered lost gardens. Stunning photography is accompanied by a wealth of fascinating historical and botanical details. A whimsical and beautiful book celebrating these hidden gems of the National Trust - from specially made secret gardens to overlooked corners of famous gardens and re-discovered lost gardens. Stunning photographs of the Trust's idiosyncratic gardens are accompanied by a light text meditating on the magic of the secret garden, and bringing in fascinating historical and botanical details. The book will include secret mazes, hidden corners, walled gardens, lost gardens, gardens that are only open one day a year, follies, orchards, dens, memorials, strange statues, stumperies, huts, ice houses, wendy houses, fairy gates and pixie houses. The gardens featured include the palm-filled Overbeck's in Devon, Peckover House in Cambridgeshire, which bursts with exotic specimens found on Victorian plant-hunting expeditions, and Monk's House in East Sussex, where the garden proved a refuge for Virginia Woolf.