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April, the angel of the months...

“April, the angel of the months, the young love of the year.”  – Vita Sackville-West I like this quote and it is from one of my favorite people so I thought that would be a nicer title than my first choice - "Spreading Manure".  Spreading manure is how I spent most of the weekend. What a beautiful weekend it has been. The garden is all of a sudden wide awake with no remnants of winter left. I drove out to South Ridge Farms  in Ridgefield on Friday and got a load of horse manure and later went back for another. Beautiful stuff - Some of my favorite plants in the garden now... My favorite lavender is 'Platinum Blonde'. It has never bloomed that much but the foliage more than makes up for that... Magnolia 'Fairy White' - a new series of magnolias. I thought I would keep this in a pot but I am having second thoughts. I'd love to find a place in the ground. I'm looking and thinking... Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' is just an amazing plant and looks be...
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Adventures In Eden - a book review

Adventures in Eden: An Intimate Tour of the Private Gardens of Europe by Carolyn Mullet (Timber Press, December 8, 2020)

The cover photograph of undulating ribbons of boxwood with tulips sprinkled within is a resplendent invitation to the contents awaiting inside this beautiful coffee table book.

The garden is Broughton Grange and it is just one of fifty private European gardens in the book authored by Carolyn Mullet, a garden designer and garden tour guide. The gardens are arranged in chapters divided by country and they include England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Scandanavia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy.

The book includes gardens for every taste. Large estate gardens with walled gardens, secret gardens contained within clipped hedges, small cottages smothered in wisteria,  and more are illustrated with enchanting photographs. The narrative discusses the history of the gardens and how they are maintained.


Some of the gardens profiled include The Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland and Helen Dillon's new garden in Monkstown on Dublin Bay. A good majority of the gardens are ones designed in the popular Piet Oudolf style. One of my favorites was Jardin de la Louve in Provence designed by Nicole de Vesian who was seventy when she made it. 

This is a great book to dream with during the winter months.

 


 

I was provided with a digital review copy of this book from NetGalley.

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. Lisa at GreenbowNovember 6, 2020 at 2:58 AM

    Looks like this one will be a good one, as you say for winter.

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