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The New Romantic Garden - a book review

The New Romantic Garden by Jo Thompson Rizzoli, 2025 Jo Thompson is a noted UK garden designer who has won numerous awards at RHS shows. Her style is the epitome of the "romantic English garden" idea - sumptuous borders packed with perennials in pastel colors, arches covered with roses, idyllic meadows and garden rooms. But what is the "new" romantic garden? Described as a fresh perspective of utilizing this lush gardening style into the present-day world, it places an emphasis on organic gardening, biodiversity, plant and soil health.  A scene from the author's own garden... Photo: Rachel Warne In this gorgeous book, Thompson showcases thirty of her gardens, all beautifully described and photographed.  From estate gardens to a London penthouse roof garden, they provide sumptuous eye-candy and inspiration. A peek inside... A London city garden filled with roses and iris (Photo: Jason Ingram) Writer Justine Picardie's garden in Norfolk evokes a feeling of a ...
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Garden at the Grand Prince Takanawa Hotel


The Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa was our arrival hotel in Tokyo. Everyone was arriving at different times, some two days before, others one day before the official start of the tour. I was two days early so I spent two nights here before everyone left for Kyoto. Not much fanfare was given about the hotel garden in our itinerary, except to note that "there is a garden adjacent to the hotel". And what a lovely garden it was!

Very well-tended (it was rare to see a garden there that was not), it was larger than expected.

It was quite spectacular at night when it was lit up - a great introductory garden for our tour.














There was a massive arrangement in the hotel lobby. On the second day, an employee was trimming back some of the limbs.



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Kris PetersonNovember 30, 2024 at 9:23 AM

    It's an impressive garden for a hotel - and that's probably the best koi pond I've ever seen.

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  2. tz_gardenDecember 1, 2024 at 8:04 AM

    Gorgeous! How lovely to have a garden right there at the hotel to walk around. It looks like the weather was nice, too.

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    Replies
    1. Phillip OliverDecember 1, 2024 at 8:07 AM

      Yes, we were lucky with the weather. It rained the night I arrived and the day I left. In between, 60s and 70s.

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    2. HummingbirdDecember 2, 2024 at 9:31 PM

      What a lovely garden, and truly beautiful at night, Phillip!

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