Borde Hill Garden is set in historic parkland in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in West Sussex. The Elizabethan mansion was purchased in the 1890s by Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke (known as Stephie), who set about creating the garden and woodland using plants from several continents brought back to England by the great plant hunters of the early 1900s. Well over a century and three generations later, Borde Hill remains in the ownership of the Stephenson Clarke family, and today is renowned for its collection of rare shrubs and trees. This beautiful new book - the first dedicated to Borde Hill - is structured in two main parts. For the first, 'The History', Vanessa Berridge has had exclusive access to the Borde Hill archive, which contains not only family photographs but also a wealth of written sources, such as letters between Stephie and nurserymen, directors of botanical gardens, other landowners, and plant hunters. Giving unique insight into the horticultural world and social history of the interwar years, this correspondence reveals acts of courage by such famed plant explorers as George Forrest and Ernest Wilson and the professional level of accomplishment of Stephie and his gardening acquaintances. The second part of the book takes the reader on an extended tour of the garden, illustrated by the glorious photography of John Glover. Borde Hill is laid out as a series of intimate outdoor 'rooms', including the Old Rhododendron Garden, the Rose Garden and the terraced Italian Garden. With its variety further encompassing wide lawns that flow out into the countryside, many plant species not found elsewhere in Britain and one of the country's largest collections of privately owned rare trees, it is no wonder that Borde Hill lays claim to offering visitors the world in one garden. Concluding with information on Borde Hill's historic plants, its many RHS Awards of Merit and its 70 champion trees, this authoritative, engaging book is a fitting celebration of one of Britain's great heritage gardens.

Kiftsgate Court, perched on the northern edge of the Cotswolds Hills in Gloucestershire, is a garden composed of many different scenes. Some elements - the bluebell wood, the clipped hedging and the rose border, with its famously huge Kiftsgate rose - are traditionally English, but there are also areas of Italianate planting and terracing, and others where a mixture of perennials, roses and rare and exotic shrubs thrive side by side. Equally remarkable is the fine balance between continuity and gentle evolution that the visitor finds at Kiftsgate. This is largely because the garden has belonged to the same family since its creation 100 years ago. Three women have tended Kiftsgate, each one its driving force for a third of a century, and each building on the legacy of the previous generation. In 1919 Heather Muir and her husband, Jack, bought the house, which stands on a relatively narrow plateau from which a bank plunges 100 feet. Heather gave Kiftsgate its structure, laying out the semi-formal gardens by the house, planting the tapestry hedge and rose garden, and terracing the banks. In 1954 Heather was succeeded by her daughter, Diany Binny, who extended and developed her mother's planting, made more borders and paths, and refashioned the White Sunk Garden. Since the late 1980s Diany's daughter, Anne Chambers, has been at the helm, further modernizing the garden and its planting, creating new areas of interest, and opening more often to the public. As Robin Lane Fox, who has written the foreword, comments: `There is nowhere else in Britain that has such a family tradition of planting and dedication ... It is intimate but many-sided, evolving but with roots in a remarkable past.' This beautiful new book - the first dedicated to Kiftsgate - is structured in two main parts. For the first, `The History', Vanessa Berridge has had exclusive access to the Kiftsgate archive, which contains not only family photographs but also letters from their gardening friends, helping us to understand why and how Heather, Diany and Anne have gardened. Among the circle of friends and acquaintances who feature are Lawrence Johnston of Hidcote Manor (Kiftsgate's neighbour); Vita Sackville-West, the creator of Sissinghurst Castle Garden; and the horticulturalist Graham Stuart Thomas, gardens adviser to the National Trust. The second part of the book takes the reader on an extended tour of the garden, illustrated by the glorious photography of Sabina Ruber. The tour concludes with notes on Kiftsgate's signature plants and Anne Chambers's personal reflections on this, one of the great gardens of England.

This pocket-sized miscellany, packed with fascinating facts, handy hints and captivating stories and quotes from the world of gardening, is perfect for anyone who knows the incomparable joy of gardening.