Great Gardens of London gives an insight into a selection of the horticultural jewels of the capital city of what is probably the greatest gardening country of the world. England is a treasure store of wonderful gardens and it comes as no surprise that the capital city, London, is home to a significant and most […]
Society Blog
A Beautiful Obsession – Jimi Blake and Noel Kingsbury
A Beautiful Obsession Paddy Tobin Book Review August 6, 2019 In his seventeen years at Huntingbrook Garden, Jimi Blake has cut a dash through the traditional herbaceous border, the shrub border, the woodland garden and is leading the way in Irish horticulture with his innovative approach to gardening, with his new plant trials and introductions but, most […]
Cherry Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms
The Cherry Man – A Fabulous Story! Paddy Tobin Book Review June 25, 2019 Some books give more than they have promised. Some books promise much and give even more and these books are to be treasured for they are rare things, giving testimony, insight and understanding to the deeper matters of our world and our lives. “Cherry […]
The Hidden Horticuturists
The Hidden Horticulturists Paddy Tobin Book Review June 25, 2019 When historic account is populated with individual stories it becomes real, all the more interesting and more accessible to us. Should we read of a First World War battle, with deaths in the thousands, we are duly shocked but should we be told of a young Lancashire […]
Cherry Ingrim – An excellent book!
The Cherry Man – A Fabulous Story! Some books give more than they have promised. Some books promise much and give even more and these books are to be treasured for they are rare things, giving testimony, insight and understanding to the deeper matters of our world and our lives. “Cherry Ingram” by Naoko Abe is […]
A Garden Can Be Anywhere!
A Garden Can Be Anywhere! Paddy Tobin Book Review April 4, 2019 We live in an age of concern about the wholesomeness of our food, about the widespread use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers, about food miles, the use of preservatives, artificial additives and colourants. We are aware of the industrialisation of food production and processing, the erosion […]
Island Gardens – Book Review
Island Gardens Paddy Tobin Book Review April 3, 2019 We attach a certain magic to islands, as we do to other remote natural areas – mountains, remote seashores and the like. We regard them as special places, places apart, places where we may be in more intimate contact with nature, places of beauty, of wildness, of ruggedness, […]
Monsters under Glass – A Review
Literally taken by the Venus Fly Trap. Paddy Tobin Book Review March 7, 2019 The title was “Monsters Under Glass: A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers, 1850 to the Present” and I misinterpreted it completely. I’m sure you, like me, might have expected something about glasshouse plants and their cultivation but I was wrong and it was nothing of the […]
Two Men Went to Mow – A Review
At the Cutting Edge! Paddy Tobin Book Review March 12, 2019 Two Men Went to Mow: The Obsession, Impact & History of Lawn Mowing by Clive Gravett – A Review The maintenance of the domestic lawn has been portrayed for many years as a male obsession; man and machine in a co-operative striving to produce and maintain the […]
Gardenlust – A Review
Gardenlust by Christopher Woods – A Review This is a book which will gladden the heart of any gardener as we read of the vibrancy, enthusiasm, creativity and beauty of gardens worldwide. In the face of climate change, urbanisation, species loss, deforestation etc, garden creators around the world respond with positivity, a get up and go, […]
Morocco in Bloom
Morocco in Bloom by Giuppi Pietromarchi “To be places of respite and joy, gardens combine the lively scents of the day and the night, the harmoniously clashing colours of the flowers, foliage and soil, the warmth of the shade and the freshness of the waters. The colours of the flowers and the clay, softened by […]
The Irish Garden, A Cultural History
The Irish Garden, A Cultural History The Irish Garden, A Cultural History by Peter Dale, Illustrated by Brian Lalor What is it that makes an Irish garden different? Our gardens and what we can grow in them are most influenced by our climate and soil type. Devon, Cornwall, western Scotland and, indeed, many parts of England […]
At West Dean – A Review
At West Dean – A Review A view to the college at West Dean West Dean, as we see it today, is a 19th century country house with gardens in the Arts and Crafts style. The walled garden, with its range of Victorian glasshouse and gardened in a style which is deeply rooted in Victorian practices, is […]
Shades of Green
Shades of Green! Paddy Tobin Book Review October 17, 2018 The National Trust in Great Britain is probably one of the most successful conservation and preservation organisations in the world. It is the largest landowner in Britain and, were it not for the National Trust many irreplaceable buildings and gardens would have been lost. Despite these achievements […]
In the Footsteps of Joseph Dalton Hooker: A Sikkim Adventure
My goodness, this is an extraordinarily good book! I had expected something wonderful along the lines of the author’s previous book, “In the Footsteps of Augustine Henry and his Chinese Plant Collectors” but this volume has surpassed my most hopeful expectations. The depth of research, the volume of original material reproduced, the quality of the […]
The Lismacloskey Rectory Garden
The Lismacloskey Rectory Garden: The Lismacloskey Rectory Garden, in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, east of Belfast, is maintained by volunteers from the Irish Garden Plant Society and Museum volunteers. It is planted in a style suited to the era of the rectory, pre 1900, with plants of Irish origin incorporated as […]
A Scrapbook of Things that Caught my Eye!
John Brookes made garden designers of us all and his final book, A Landscape Legacy, is to be treasured. There have been other books over the years, a great legacy of gardens, and we are most fortunate that he has, at the very end of his life, written this present volume which he describes as […]
Setting the Scene: A Garden Design Masterclass from Repton to the Modern Age – A Review
Humphrey Repton, one of the greatest landscape designers of the world, died in 1818 yet George Carter shows that his thoughts on gardens and design are as pertinent, relevant and applicable today as when he alive. Read all in Setting the Scene: A Garden Design Masterclass from Repton to the Modern Age. George Carter has had […]
The Private Gardens of SMI Landscape Architecture – A Review
The Private Gardens of SMI Landscape Architecture – edited by Jorge Sanchez It might not be immediately obvious what relevance or appeal a book on American gardens – almost all in Florida – would have for an Irish readership but the value of this book become obvious very quickly. Here we are presented with an […]
You Should Have Been Here Last Week – Tim Richardson: A Review
You Should Have Been Here Last Week – Tim Richardson If ever there was a gardening book to be carried in the glove compartment, to be permanently in the handbag, to always find a place in your holiday luggage, to be at the bedside, the bath side or even to sit beside the throne it […]