I recently come across a 1984 copy of Wild Flowers of Australia and am enjoying the stark contrast of the old waratah to the delicate fuzz of the Kunzea parvifolia.
I will suggest one old & one new,
We made a garden by Margery Fish, with chapters titled “Gardening with a knife” & “We made mistakes” what’s not to love.
New one is The Planthunter Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants. The book form of Georgina Reid & Daniel Shipp’s must read blog. Clever words and beautiful pictures.
Those were the days of garden book publishing weren’t they? I love my various Margery Fish titles. And you’re so right. Chapter titles like ‘We made Mistakes’ mean that it feels so much more like one gardener chatting to another, rather than one gardener trying to sell an idea to another.
I second Katherine’s choice re Planthunter, I also love Australian dreamscapes. Now I am waiting impatiently for Rick Eckersley’s Rogue: Art of a garden. I visited Musk cottage twice, missed unfortunately the last opening in 2018 as I live on the other side of our great country. Now I will have his book to revisit this great garden from the couch.
My top read for the year was Nigel Dunnett’s Naturalistic Planting Design. It’s a great complement to the literature on this subject, along with James Hitchmough’s Sowing Beauty (which would have been my top pick for 2018), and Thomas Rainer and Claudia West’s Planting in a Post-Wild World (which would have made my top-two list the year before)
Loved Australian Dreams apes. Bought it as a gift but took the time to read it myself first 🙂 new to me this year, but a few years old now : Wychwood by Karen Hall and Peter Cooper.
I LOVE his ‘Planting Design for Dry Gardens’. Must get this one you’ve suggested. I’m secretly hoping (well, not that secret – a request went out by SMS) to get his latest, ‘Bringing the Mediterranean into your Garden : How to Capture the Natural Beauty of the Garrigue’ for Christmas
Australian Dreamscapes
I recently come across a 1984 copy of Wild Flowers of Australia and am enjoying the stark contrast of the old waratah to the delicate fuzz of the Kunzea parvifolia.
Dry Gardening Australia by Jonathan Garner.
This book totally revolutionised the way I see low water use gardening!
I will suggest one old & one new,
We made a garden by Margery Fish, with chapters titled “Gardening with a knife” & “We made mistakes” what’s not to love.
New one is The Planthunter Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants. The book form of Georgina Reid & Daniel Shipp’s must read blog. Clever words and beautiful pictures.
Those were the days of garden book publishing weren’t they? I love my various Margery Fish titles. And you’re so right. Chapter titles like ‘We made Mistakes’ mean that it feels so much more like one gardener chatting to another, rather than one gardener trying to sell an idea to another.
I second Katherine’s choice re Planthunter, I also love Australian dreamscapes. Now I am waiting impatiently for Rick Eckersley’s Rogue: Art of a garden. I visited Musk cottage twice, missed unfortunately the last opening in 2018 as I live on the other side of our great country. Now I will have his book to revisit this great garden from the couch.
My top read for the year was Nigel Dunnett’s Naturalistic Planting Design. It’s a great complement to the literature on this subject, along with James Hitchmough’s Sowing Beauty (which would have been my top pick for 2018), and Thomas Rainer and Claudia West’s Planting in a Post-Wild World (which would have made my top-two list the year before)
Loved Australian Dreams apes. Bought it as a gift but took the time to read it myself first 🙂 new to me this year, but a few years old now : Wychwood by Karen Hall and Peter Cooper.
Only last year, Jessica. So a perfectly valid 2019 top pick. What did you love about it?
The Dry Gardening Handbook by Olivier Filippi.
I LOVE his ‘Planting Design for Dry Gardens’. Must get this one you’ve suggested. I’m secretly hoping (well, not that secret – a request went out by SMS) to get his latest, ‘Bringing the Mediterranean into your Garden : How to Capture the Natural Beauty of the Garrigue’ for Christmas