Gardening Book of the Month May 2011

In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World by Penelope Hobhouse is a history and evocation to understand gardens. The book is one to savour and return to many times. It is an appropriate choice for a gardening book of the month when so many people are contemplating holidays away from their own gardens.

What is in The Book

• “Gardens Through the Centuries,” is the first section on a journey covering four thousand years from the earliest gardens in what are now the deserts of the Middle East.
• In the middle ages the first Mughal Emperor Babur 1483 – 1530 had a number of gardens including the Garden of Fidelity which was divided into four parts with a central pool.
• The attention to detail  in Chinese and Japanese gardens express a respect for nature, where the placement of each stone had meaning.
• Places for contemplation, stroll and moss gardens were found in Japan.
• Then moving on to the lavish gardens of Italy and symmetry of gardens in Germany, Netherlands and Russia. The formal gardens of France complete this section
• Penelope  Hobhouse then discusses the contribution to garden design made by Roberto Burle Marx, Fernando Caruncho, Dan Kiley, John Brookes, James van Sweden.and Beth Chatto.
• The 200 plus photographs and even more pages creates a tour de force

Sources
Amazon purchase price £17.50
Gail Cooke and Gang Chen reviews.
Other books by Penelope Hobhouse including Gardens of Persia