Garden Open Today

Nichols distills 30 years of practical gardening experience in an entertaining fashion, perhaps to strike back at critics who whispered that he was not a "real gardener."

Decor and Style - Debra Lee Baldwin

Nichols' writing is timeless, and his enthusiasm and dry wit is delightful. Each of the books he wrote about his own adventures in gardening is a classic. . . . All of his books are treasures.

Beverley Nichols (1898 1983) was a prolific writer on subjects ranging from religion to politics and travel, in addition to authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six autobiographies, and six plays. He is perhaps best remembered today for his gardening books. The first of them, Down the Garden Path, centered on his home and garden at Glatton and has been in print almost continuously since 1932. Merry Hall (1951) and its sequels Laughter on the Stairs (1953) and Sunlight on the Lawn (1956) document Nichols' travails in renovating a Georgian mansion and its gardens soon after the war. His final garden was at Sudbrook Cottage, which serves as the setting for Garden Open Today (1963) and Garden Open Tomorrow (1968). The progress of all three gardens was followed avidly by readers of his books and weekly magazine columns.