Book Reviews
My favourite garden reading
We would love members to recommend books they have found useful and/or entertaining and write a review. Preferably newly published books, but also favourite books from the past.
Do send us your copy to include on the web site or in the Autumn 2021 newsletter
To inspire you, here are some books which we recommend:
The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift.
I can’t do better than repeat the Independent Book of the Year review - “written with as much love and thought and detail as she clearly gives to her gardening’. Intensely moving and inspirational
Sue de Sabata
Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols -
this account of the restoration of a house and garden in post war England is undoubtedly a serious horticultural undertaking but written in a high-spirited, riotously funny and at times deliciously malicious prose.
Sue de Sabata
And from Fiona Pearson:
This is not a book review but a glance to the past. I was lucky enough to inherit from my Father-in-law and my husband’s uncle, Compton Pearson, both of whom were avid and knowledgeable gardeners, a wonderful collection of old gardening books. I dip into these books from time to time. The two I have taken off the shelf are:
The Book of Climbing Plants by S. Arnott
which is Volume X From the series Handbooks of Practical Gardening. It is printed on lovely thick paper and the language is a delight. This is a small example: “Objection is taken to the growth of Ivy on the walls of dwellings by some on the alleged ground that it renders them damp and that the shoots enter any crevices and destroy the walls. The former is a fallacy, and Ivy has the opposite effect, not only throwing off the rain, but drawing the moisture out by its aerial rootlets which cling to the wall. Nor is there any danger of it entering the joints of the wall if this has been properly built and pointed, as all walls should be.”
Not to be argued with. The other book is:
Bulbs and their Cultivation by T.W. Sanders F.L.S. F.R.H.S.
Again this is printed on lovely thick paper and the language is enticingly old fashioned. The first page after the forward gives one a taste with the heading - “WHAT IS A BULB? - A bulb may be defined as a modified underground stem surrounded at its base with fleshy scales rolled around each other, as in the case of the hyacinth, or overlapping, as in a lily bulb. The scales are really modified leaves, and their office is to hold food.”
This book has wonderful tables of what, when, where and how to plant bulbs and diagrams.
OLD WIVES’ LORE FOR GARDENERS and GARDENERS’ MAGIC and other Old Wives’ Lore
Maureen & Bridget Boland pub. Bodley Head
Did you know that banana skins buried just below the soil are very good for roses? Or that camellias will flourish from a mulch of old tea leaves? Or that hollyhocks thrive on the dregs of beer?
For the flower arrangers among you apparently all flowers will last longer in water if foxgloves are included in the vase, delphiniums and larkspur like sugar in the water, for daffodils add camphor or charcoal but beware, they excrete a substance which is poisonous to other flowers.
These little gems of information are included in two books which I treasure for their wisdom , humour and tactile quality – printed on thick cream-coloured paper illustrated with exquisite woodcuts. As the titles promise, they’re full of practical gardening advice and magic though sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the two. ‘If an oak be set near a walnut tree it will not live’ say the authors, ‘which we have on the authority of Pliny, but alas it’s unclear whether it’s the oak or walnut which will die.’ Never mind, there’s lots of helpful advice including a chart of which vegetables make good neighbours. Carrots are friends with leeks, peas and beans but they are the only veg which should be planted near onions and garlic. And don’t even think of putting your gladioli anywhere near strawberries which will suffer if planted up to fifty feet away.
There’s lots more in this vein, but it’s the authors as well as the content which intrigue me. The Boland sisters shared a house and garden together for forty years, first in Pimlico (before it became expensive) then Hampshire. Their London garden was featured in books and magazines ‘because’ says Bridget ‘we placed arch-shaped full length mirrors on the back wall, giving the idea of two gardens for the price of one to many Londoners’ –a trick that has since been copied by countless garden designers. When they moved to the country ‘ the little learning we’d acquired in our town garden was useless. We needed to learn fast, and asked all our friends for the advice which their grandmothers had passed down to them. We decided to pass it all on to those who are not afraid of finding a certain amount of superstition mixed with good sense.’
These books were the result. Maureen Boland spent her career in the book trade, working for Hatchards for many years. Bridget was a trail-blazer as a screenwriter when there were few women in that field, the author among other films of Gaslight and Anne of a Thousand Days. Their books are now out of print, but available on Amazon. Look out for them in charity shops and car boot sales – I snapped up a copy at the EAGG book stall!
Widget Finn
A BEAUTIFUL OBSESSION
Jimi Blake and Noel Kingsbury - pub. Filbert Press 2019
The very fact that you are reading this review in EAGG’s Spring 2020 newsletter, or on this website, probably means that you share A Beautiful Obsession. Fergus Garrett wrote so eloquently in his Foreward “Jimi Blake is an exciting young man. He combines a deep love and inquisitiveness for plants with an artistry and adventurousness that is a joy. His garden at Hunting Brook is endlessly full of surprises, a dynamic canvas on which Jimi creates. New plants come and go and the garden never stands still, and each visit leaves you inspired for more…..”
I am lucky enough to have met both Jimi and Noel Kingsbury. A wonderful gardening holiday in Ireland in 2015 began with a visit to Hunting Brook, which took my breath away. Jimi was our tour leader and during the week introduced us to his friends (and in the case of Helen Dillon, mentor) and their gardens, including Arthur Shackleton, Carmel Duignan, Helen Dillon and Oliver and Liat Schurmann, all charming owners of stunningly different gardens and a nursery, but Hunting Brook, and the garden of Jimi’s sister, June, have remained firmly in my memory. Despite the garden only being three years old when I visited, Hunting Brook seemed so mature and blended beautifully into the landscape, and already showed Jimi’s genius. Noel is a fascinating and knowledgeable Plant Ecologist and I was fortunate enough to spend a day with him at RHS Wisley as part of The Plant School Specialist Plant Course in May 2017. He talked about flower structure in relation to plant performance, and understanding long-term plant performance. He transformed the way I thought about plants, not just for their immediate impact but how they evolved and interacted with their neighbours. What a combination!
This book is a breathless romp, accompanied by beautiful photographs, of a truly original and inspired man and his garden. If I have to make one criticism, it is that it is far from a restful read! The energy that Jimi puts into his planting (and the book) and the continuous changes and evolving nature of the garden is highly infectious and makes one’s head spin! The garden portrayed in the book has evolved into a very different garden to the one I fell in love with five years ago, although the book shows that the spirit is still there, and I know I would fall in love all over again. It was interesting to read how, what in 2015 were just ideas Jimi had for different areas, have been put into practice, especially the woodland. Among successful additions are the Fatsia polycarpa in the valley, one of many Araliaceae new to cultivation at Hunting Brook. The genius of plantings of Aralia echinoculis giving such grand structure with a lightness of touch, and allowing perennials to flourish beneath them, is still the same and a defining statement of Hunting Brook, but the ever changing pallet, shapes and structures of the beds left me breathless at the enormous thought, energy and work that goes into them. The photographs show that the result is a brilliant panoply of light and colour and structure that makes the heart sing. A visit to Hunting Brook and a meeting with Jimi would always be memorable and joyful, but reading this book puts a whole new perspective on the experience.
Sue de Sabata
Jimi Blake is EAGG’s Celebrity Speaker this year and he will be talking to us about his garden at Hunting Brook at Chamberlain Hall, Bildeston on the 6th November 2021
FLORA OF THE SILK ROAD: an Illustrated Guide
By Basak Guner Gardner and Chris Gardner - Bloomsbury Publishing https://www.viranatura.com/publication
The Silk Road – a name that has enchanted for centuries. Yet a well kept secret, even today, is that this fabled route linking Europe with Asia is also the most spectacular floral region on earth. Chris and Basak Gardner offer in their book a unique pictorial celebration of the plants and scenery to be found along its 5,000 miles. Embracing Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Central Asia and China, more than five hundred of the finest wild flowers are depicted together with the beautiful landscapes in which these botanical paradises are found. With an accompanying text giving descriptions of the species, plant families and their distribution, as well as information on photographing plants in the wild, this unique book will amaze and delight not only those with an interest in the spectacular and legendary landscapes that form the Silk Road but also plantsmen and horticulturalists worldwide.
For further information about botanical tours contact https://www.viranatura.com/tours