Price : $27.75

Product Description

Chosen and described by celebrated garden designer Penelope Hobhouse

Features stunning photographs by distinguished garden photographers including Jerry Harpur, Andrew Lawson, Clive Nichols

Published in association with an exhibition at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Great Gardens of the World is a survey of some of the greatest gardens of the world, presented through magnificent photographic images and the descriptions of legendary garden designer and writer Penelope Hobhouse. Here is shown the oases of the Middle East, the gardens of Chinese scholars, Japanese sages and Renaissance humanists, French baroque gardens, the English landscape garden of Capability Brown and his followers. Here too are the gardens of the great modern designers, among them Roberto Burle Marx, Fernando Caruncho, Dan Kiley, John Brookes and James van Sweden.

Penelope Hobhouse is internationally renowned as a gardener, writer and garden designer. The author of many classic works including Colour in your Garden, Garden Style, Penelope Hobhouse On Gardening , and Penelope Hobhouse’s Garden Designs (all published by Frances Lincoln), and Plants in Garden History, The Story of Gardening and Gardens of Persia

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-02-23
A wonderful book, with beautiful and inspiring pictures. Always a pleasure to go back again and again at its pages.

Review date : 2007-11-24
Gardens are meant to be paradise on earth. The idea of paradise as a garden has a long history, even before the Garden of Eden was presented in the Bible. What the paradise looks like, there is hardly specific description. The description of the Garden of Eden was not very specific either, yet it gave the garden designer some ideas.

In every culture, garden designers seek paradise through their own creative ways. Penelope Hobhouse, one of the most talented garden writers of our time, started her tour of paradise on earth in Asia: the serene naturalistic gardens and symbolism in China, and the Zen gardens and tea gardens in Japan. She then took us to continental Europe: the hilly regions of Italy where lavish gardens are balanced with the use of axes and symmetry, and gardens in Germany, Netherlands and Russia, as well as the climax of formal gardens, the French gardens.

Penelope Hobhouse’s next stop is England. She discussed in detail the naturalistic Landscape Gardens, the Cottage-style Gardens, and the Eclectic Gardens. She also explored Mediterranean gardens and gardens in America: European influences and naturalistic gardens.

Last but not least, Penelope Hobhouse discuss today’s gardens: water in gardens, gardens and nature, selecting right plants for right sites, reclaiming and revitalizing, and roof gardens, etc.

To Penelope, an ideal garden is "at the balance point between human control and untamed nature."

"Great Gardens of the World: In Search of Paradise" has 240 pages and many beautiful interior color photos. It is a fine garden book that every garden lovers should have.

Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated." LEED AP, AIA

Review date : 2006-12-06

The ideal garden we are given to understand is a paradise – "a haven of comfort, abundance, and beauty." Many of us try to achieve that paradigm in our own way, as have countless others before us. Now gathered in one gorgeous volume are the results of those endeavors gleaned from diverse cultures and climes.

We begin our armchair tour with "Gardens Through the Centuries," a journey covering four thousand years beginning with the earliest gardens alive in the deserts of the Middle East. The first Mughal Emperor Babur (1483 – 1530) had a number of gardens including the Garden of Fidelity which was divided into four parts with a central pool.

Of course, the gardens designed in China and Japan expressed a respect for nature, evidenced in vast areas where the placement of each stone had meaning. Places for contemplation, stroll and moss gardens were found in Japan.

For this reader what can compare with the gardens of Italy? Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli boasts open porticoes, enclosed atriums, fountains, basins, statuary. It is a wonder. La Mortola on the Italian Riviera is a place for dreaming with a steep slope to the sea rich in agaves, aloes, white roses, salvias and citrus trees. A virtual Eden on earth.

Ms. Hobhouse continues our tour with a look at modern garden design as represented by such designers as Roberto Burle Marx, Fernando Caruncho, and Beth Chatto.

"In Search of Paradise" holds 240 pages and 200 illustrations all in glorious color contributed by the world’s foremost garden photographers.

The is a volume to be savored and returned to again and again.

- Gail Cooke

Price : $11.26

Product Description

Discover the secrets of a naturally pest-proof vegetable garden with Great Garden Companions. Let master gardener Sally Jean Cunningham show you how to keep pests and diseases at bay with her unique companion-gardening system. By planting special combinations of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, you can minimize pest and disease problems and create a high-yielding, beautiful garden!

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-05
I’m an avid gardener, and I garden organically. My specialty has always been ornamentals, but recently I’ve become interested in vegetable gardening. This book has been a great resource to help me understand how to layout and manage a sustainable organic garden that is productive, beautiful, and fun to work in. Although there are not many color photos in this book, there are many illustrations that provide the nuts-and-bolts of laying out a garden. In addition, there are lists of vegetables and companions, along with information that specifies when to plant, basic plant requirements, and when/how to harvest. This book is fun to read and a great resource to refer to again and again.

Review date : 2008-07-08
i checked this book out from the library, and let my neighbor borrow it. she liked it so much didn’t want to give it back. as soon as i started reading it, i understood why. it’s very approachable, and has lots of crucial information for first-year and experienced gardeners alike. and it’s got nice pictures and clear diagrams. i really like the "top crops and how to grow them" section.
so i bought my own copy, and i’ve been showing it to everyone who stops by to see my veggies. i like her "messy-looking" technique of interplanting all different kinds of vegetables. altho i should have paid more attention to how far apart to plant seeds, i had a veritable tomato forest under my squashes.
i bought another copy for my stepmom, and she loved it. she’s a top notch gardener. she wrote to say this book had answered some of her longtime questions, and she had only owned it for a few hours. she said the book was "awesome" and she uses it frequently.
i have half a dozen gardening books, but this is the one i re-read most often.

Review date : 2008-06-14
I checked this book out through inter-library loan – had to return it last week & am really missing it! So needless to say will be buying my own copy soon. I had read some other books on companion planting but they weren’t as thorough or impressive as this one. Excellent resource, especially for beginners. The bulk of the book is about companion planting but she also discusses the marits of mulching, composting, beneficial bugs & more in an easy to read format. I personally have never been to fond of the separate "garden plot" – off, alone by itself (never mind that we don’t currantly have the space on our city lot for one anyway . Have already put some of companion planting to practice & so far am having success (you should see my leafy lettuce & spinach!). This is a great book for many reasons – it’s a budget friendly, green guide to gardening! Blessings…

Review date : 2008-06-06
I am findingg this book to be very interesting and helpful My goal is to not have to use any pesticides and garden in a very small space. This book is giving me many helpful ideas.

Review date : 2008-05-19
I love this book. It is filled with loads of useful information explained in a clear and concise manner. Not only is it a great book to own, but it is also a great book to give as a gift.

Price : $11.26

Product Description

Discover the secrets of a naturally pest-proof vegetable garden with Great Garden Companions. Let master gardener Sally Jean Cunningham show you how to keep pests and diseases at bay with her unique companion-gardening system. By planting special combinations of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, you can minimize pest and disease problems and create a high-yielding, beautiful garden!

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-05
I’m an avid gardener, and I garden organically. My specialty has always been ornamentals, but recently I’ve become interested in vegetable gardening. This book has been a great resource to help me understand how to layout and manage a sustainable organic garden that is productive, beautiful, and fun to work in. Although there are not many color photos in this book, there are many illustrations that provide the nuts-and-bolts of laying out a garden. In addition, there are lists of vegetables and companions, along with information that specifies when to plant, basic plant requirements, and when/how to harvest. This book is fun to read and a great resource to refer to again and again.

Review date : 2008-07-08
i checked this book out from the library, and let my neighbor borrow it. she liked it so much didn’t want to give it back. as soon as i started reading it, i understood why. it’s very approachable, and has lots of crucial information for first-year and experienced gardeners alike. and it’s got nice pictures and clear diagrams. i really like the "top crops and how to grow them" section.
so i bought my own copy, and i’ve been showing it to everyone who stops by to see my veggies. i like her "messy-looking" technique of interplanting all different kinds of vegetables. altho i should have paid more attention to how far apart to plant seeds, i had a veritable tomato forest under my squashes.
i bought another copy for my stepmom, and she loved it. she’s a top notch gardener. she wrote to say this book had answered some of her longtime questions, and she had only owned it for a few hours. she said the book was "awesome" and she uses it frequently.
i have half a dozen gardening books, but this is the one i re-read most often.

Review date : 2008-06-14
I checked this book out through inter-library loan – had to return it last week & am really missing it! So needless to say will be buying my own copy soon. I had read some other books on companion planting but they weren’t as thorough or impressive as this one. Excellent resource, especially for beginners. The bulk of the book is about companion planting but she also discusses the marits of mulching, composting, beneficial bugs & more in an easy to read format. I personally have never been to fond of the separate "garden plot" – off, alone by itself (never mind that we don’t currantly have the space on our city lot for one anyway . Have already put some of companion planting to practice & so far am having success (you should see my leafy lettuce & spinach!). This is a great book for many reasons – it’s a budget friendly, green guide to gardening! Blessings…

Review date : 2008-06-06
I am findingg this book to be very interesting and helpful My goal is to not have to use any pesticides and garden in a very small space. This book is giving me many helpful ideas.

Review date : 2008-05-19
I love this book. It is filled with loads of useful information explained in a clear and concise manner. Not only is it a great book to own, but it is also a great book to give as a gift.