Gardening Essays
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Overview
An award-winning historian of antiquity, Robin Lane Fox is also one of Britain’s foremost gardening experts, and in Thoughtful Gardening he takes readers on a varied and highly enjoyable journey through each season of the gardening year. From a tender eulogy for one of his landscape design mentors to a candid consideration of global warming’s effects on his lupins or the perfect shrub to grow in shade along a path, Fox brings his trademark wit, wisdom, and charm to bear on the art and experience of gardening. Essential reading for anyone planting a new garden or taking stock of one after several years, this collection offers valuable critiques of horticultural trends and traditions, and essential insights into gardening practices and philosophies. Taken together these essays form—season by season—a rich reflection on the lessons, challenges, and absurdities of life with a green thumb.Synopsis
"Undoubtedly the best gardening book for the past 30 years--provocative, full of information, witty and very funny" --Financial TimesAn award-winning historian of antiquity, Robin Lane Fox is also one of Britain's foremost gardening experts, and in Thoughtful Gardening he takes readers on a varied and highly enjoyable journey through each season of the gardening year. From a tender eulogy for one of his landscape design mentors to a candid consideration of global warming's effects on his lupins or the perfect shrub to grow in shade along a path, Fox brings his trademark wit, wisdom, and charm to bear on the art and experience of gardening. Essential reading for anyone planting a new garden or taking stock of one after several years, this collection offers valuable critiques of horticultural trends and traditions, and essential insights into gardening practices and philosophies. Taken together these essays form-season by season-a rich reflection on the lessons, challenges, and absurdities of life with a green thumb.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In this collection of 80 essays, the Financial Times gardening columnist and Oxford historian presents a convincing case that gardening is about far more than horticultural skill. For Fox, flower gardens are human creations informed by art, history, science, politics, and personality. He takes readers on a year-long tour that combines practical guidance, serious reflection, and humorous provocations. There are essays on individual species, rich with detailed information on exceptional cultivars and best cultivation methods, throughout the year. Other essays reveal Fox's candid, personal impressions of well-known gardeners, including some surprising insights about Christopher Lloyd and Rosemary Verey. He shares his sensitive impressions of distinguished gardens around the globe and the Sisyphean struggles in his own garden. Fox's iconoclastic beliefs and nonorganic methods might alienate some purists, but most gardeners will delight in this rich collection. Opinionated, witty, and erudite, this collection is an example of the best garden writing. (Dec.)Library Journal
After writing weekly gardening columns for the Financial Times for 40 years and penning two gardening books (Better Gardening and Variations on a Garden), Lane Fox still has plenty of observations to pass along. Like many wise gardeners, he strongly believes in thoughtful flower gardening—knowing plants' origins and growing them well in places suitable for them and for humans. He takes us through the seasons, sharing experiences from his British home garden, his position as Garden Master at New College, Oxford, and his gardening travels. Primarily known for his readable books on classical history (e.g., The Classical World), he's adept at relating anecdotes about famous gardeners. The appreciation of the arts he interjects throughout this work is unusual in a gardening book and quite pleasurable. VERDICT Overall, the work is more appropriate for knowledgeable American gardeners than beginners. Readers should be forewarned that Lane Fox's methods are not organic. He also does not believe in the garden as wildlife habitat: he gleefully feeds weed-killer-laced milk to pesky rabbits, for example. Recommended for the largest public libraries and extensive gardening collections.—Bonnie Poquette, MilwaukeeBook Details
Published
February 26, 2013
Publisher
Basic Books
Pages
368
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780465061860