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The Plants That Shaped Our Gardens

The Plants That Shaped Our Gardens

by David C . Stuart (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2002

    $4.21
Synopsis

Why do gardens look the way they do? David Stuart turns garden history upside down and argues that it is the plants themselves that drive the evolution of the modern garden. Elements such as the herbaceous border, the rockery and the rose garden were created not by garden designers but by ordinary gardeners inspired to find places for exciting new plants from around the world. In this book, the author reveals the hidden stories behind everyday plants. He describes their introduction to Europe and America, the adventures and bitter rivalry of budding collectors and botanists, and the spread of the plants' popularity, paying particular attention to the way gardens have been reshaped and adapted to accommodate plants and show them off.

$4.21

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 208
 Publisher: Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd
Published: 04 Apr 2002
ISBN 10: 0711218919
ISBN 13: 9780711218918

Media Reviews
The expression mad dogs and Englishmen springs to mind reading this highly amusing, erudite account of the men who brought us so many of today's commonly grown garden plants. Ignoring the perils of shooting rapids, hurricanes, natives, wild animals and treacherous sea journeys, these gallant, obsessed men travelled the world in search of new plants. Sleeping with bedfellows as diverse as rattle snakes and donkeys, they resolutely soldiered on through unchartered country searching for seeds, fruit and plants with which to astound fellow botanists at home. Unfortunately even if the plant-hunters themselves survived, many of their samples did not, perishing in unskilled hands aboard ships that took weeks if not months to reach their destination. Meet the people behind the names: Governor Tulbagh (Tulbaghia), Anders Sparmann (Sparrmannia), Louis-Antoine Bougainville (Bougainvillea) and Pere David of Davidia involucrata fame amongst others. Read hair-raising extracts of their personal diaries which include Red Indian attacks, the living dead of Mykonos and shipwrecks. And travel the world from the earliest plant explorations in the East to the USA, Australia, China and Japan, Australia and the South Seas. Starting in the early 1500s, the author charts both the garden fashions of the times and the never-ending quest for new flora. Wittily written by biologist and botanist David Stuart, it is not, despite it's nature, an academic work, more an intriguing history into the heritage of today's garden plants. Accompanied by many botanical illustrations and portraits, it is a lively account of a type of man that unfortunately no longer exists. - Lucy Watson
Author Bio
David Stuart is a biologist and botanist, and has been a nurseryman, a journalist and an author. His books include Gardening with Antique Plants, Classic Plant Combinations, Plants from the Past, Shrubs and Small Trees and The Garden Triumphant: A Victorian Legacy.