More books on Italian Gardens reviewed by Charles Hawes
Charles Hawes has a weakness for Italian Gardens and never misses a good opportunity to visit them. I think he’d quite like to take a tour of other interested garden visitors some day. Meanwhile, he is contenting himself with collecting books about them, and...
Reviews of the The Garden by Graham Rice, Deborah Bird,and Bridget Rosewell.
A few months ago the RHS magazine The Garden had a major revamp and it seemed right to review the results. A little time has gone past, but the evaluation is of several copies. I wanted to get a spread of reaction and am grateful that I was able to do that. We have...Sussex Prairies Garden reviewed by Darryl Moore
It may seem strange to have three reviews of one garden on the thinkingardens site. However, we are frequently told that different people experience gardens differently. It seems right to me that those differences, or lack of them, should be available for people to...Sussex Prairies Garden Again – reviewed by Susan Wright
I make no apology for a new and different perspective on the Sussex Prairies Garden. I’m fed up with the ‘isn’t it lovely’ single viewpoint on gardens. Critical comment may also be easily dismissed – but perhaps not so easily when it is...Understanding Garden Design by Vanessa Gardner Nagel, reviewed by Sarah Wilson
A book with a title suggesting a very modest agenda – will it really be useful and engaging for amateur and professional alike? An excellent book review from a reviewer new to thinkingardens. I should really let her get on with it, but the design of the website...Appeltern Gardens, Netherlands reviewed by Wanda Oprea
Is there an inherent problem with show gardens? And can you have too much of a (maybe) good thing? Does quality shine in the most challenging circumstances? These are some of the questions raised by this piece by Wanda Oprea in her review of the permanent exhibition...Sussex Prairie Garden review: Meadows, Prairies and Downs by Kate Buxton: a review of the Sussex Prairies Garden
The topic of contemporary naturalistic planting design is a fascinating topic: what is the relationship between ‘Dutch Wave’ gardens, the ‘New American Garden Style’, wildflower meadows, quasi arable fields, prairie gardens and ecological...
The Omnipotent Magician, Jane Brown reviewed by Gary Webb,
A review of a new book on – was he ever called Capability? – Lancelot Brown, reviewed by Gary Web who is Grounds Manager at Compton Verney, a Lancelot Brown landscape. Anne Wareham editor The Omnipotent Magician by Jane Brown reviewed by Gary Webb Our...
Chiswick House and Gardens: a dog’s dinner or a curate’s egg?
Barbara Taylor has recently discovered, Chiswick House & Gardens. In the interests of research, she decided to give it the once over and find out just what this 18th century building and its grounds had to offer. Here, she shares her findings with us Anne Wareham,...The Laskett reviewed by Emma Bond
“It is a shame that Sir Roy Strong is subjected to the now-obligatory drivel about his being a ‘national treasure’, because this unthinking cliché diminishes his contribution, over more than 50 years, to our cultural life, whether as a curator or, in later...
The Twilight Garden by Lia Leendertz, reviewed by Susan Wright.
A-book-I-got sent: and a new reviewer. Welcome to Susan Wright. Anne Wareham, editor. ‘The Twilight Garden’ by Lia Leendertz is all about “creating a garden that entrances by day and comes alive by night”. But does it offer that? Well, it’s glossily...“‘A Veritable Eden’ The Manchester Botanic Garden: a History” by Ann Brooks. Reviewed by Carl Legge
Another book review: thinkingardens has made it on to the publishers’ lists. So with thanks to a new contributor, Carl Legge, we introduce the Botanic Garden you have never heard of before. How many more will vanish in a similar sad fashion? Anne Wareham, editor...Veddw reviewed by Bridget Rosewell
Just to wind up Matthew Appleby, who is complaining there is too much Veddw on this site… Having just been sent the review I can’t resist adding it to thinkinGardens – and I think I have earned a bit of self indulgence. Anne Wareham editor. ...
Recent Posts from: Veddw
Ambivalence about Snowdrops
Well, I’m sorry, but I didn’t have a happy Christmas. We were both full of cough and were quite unwell. I have not recovered, and I find myself quite unable to write anything new. So I dipped into The Bad Tempered Gardener to offer you a piece on those plants which gardeners obsess about at this time […]
I’ve fallen in love with these.
I love my garden, I do. It’s at the heart of my life. But just recently I’ve been drawn back and back to a windowsill with some sweet dwarf pelargoniums.
Favour the Ferns
Many years ago The Financial Times sent me to do a feature on the RHS ‘Flower Show’ at Tatton Park . I was totally naïve and had no idea what I was supposed to do or to write about. So my excitement was tempered by acute anxiety. The term ‘imposter syndrome’ could have been invented for me. […]
Snowdrop mania is coming…
In the UK, right now, the horticultural world is about to drive us all mad with snowdrops. Pictures of. Articles about. Gardens with them. Anything people can think of to bash us over the head with snowdrops.
Brilliant Brecon
Recently we made a visit to Brecon. This is not far from us, in case anyone was getting over excited about the possibility that I might have been travelling again. It’s in Wales, in the Brecon Beacons, recently re-christened Bannau Brycheiniog.
