Product Description

This authoritative new series of guidebooks to the gardens of Europe is the perfect companion for any garden enthusiast, whether tourist or armchair traveler. Each title is a richly illustrated in-depth guide to over 100 gardens, from the famous to little-known hidden treasures, and features colorful photography and easy-to-read illustrations commissioned especially for this series. Also included are maps, directions, complete visitor information, special features, and neighboring sites of interest.

Each guide, written by a gardening expert, begins with a comprehensive background on the country's garden history and local climate. The most significant gardens in each volume are featured in even greater detail, accompanied by illustrated plans of the gardens and close-up views of particular features. The numerous color photographs and maps show travelers what awaits at each garden. The Garden Lover's Guides are indispensible aids for those planning European travel itineraries.

Each guide includes:

• Hundreds of private and public gardens, each photographically illustrated, described by acclaimed garden experts
• At-a-glance symbols denote garden features and provide key facts for the visitor
• Specially created tours with maps and directions for travelers
• Nearby cultural sites of interest
• Beautifully drawn three-dimensional garden plans
• Little-known treasures in addition to the most famous gardens

The Garden Lover's Guide to Britain, written by Patrick Taylor, ranges from the sweeping views of Stourhead to the jungle-like ambiance of Inverewe on the Scottish coast.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1828084 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .94 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

From Amazon.com
There are thousands of British gardens open to the public. Of these, Patrick Taylor has chosen the most distinctive 100, selected for beauty, pleasure, and British horticultural tradition. The great traditional gardens of Hidcote and Stourhead are included, as are a variety of lesser-known but mesmerizingly lovely spots throughout Britain.

Even in the southwest, the climates vary significantly. Tresco Abby on the Isles of Scilly (accessible by ferry or helicopter from Penzance), for example, has a most impressive collection of subtropical plants. Agaves, yuccas and aeoniums line the rocky hills of this garden planted by Augustus Smith in 1834 on Tresco's sunny slopes. Behind windbreaks of Monterey Pine, palms sway and luxuriant exotics thrive. Then there's the landscape park at Stourhead, still in the southwest but light-years apart in climate and style. Dating back to 1741, these 40 acres of garden are an icon of 18th century English landscape style, with classical structures like the Temple of Apollo, the domed and pillared Pantheon, and numerous statures situated among magnificent trees, a lake, and grassy banks. There are brilliant Japanese maples in Gloucesterchire's Westonbirt, fabulous topiary and yew hedges in the garden at Plas Brondanw, Wales, a noble example of formal gardens at York's Castle Howard, and great undulating beds of peonies, Himalayan poppies, and pink rhododendron to be seen in Scotland's Branklyn Garden.

All in all, Taylor's guide to British gardens provides a quality reference for garden connoisseurs and a beautiful way to get to know Britain for travelers and horticultural novices. --Stephanie Gold

Hemisphere
"A new series of richly illustrated garden tour books can be your ticket to seeing the best of Europe's horticultural legacy. Each of The Garden Lovers Guides explores more than 100 of that country's most beautiful gardens, all open to the public. Written by top international gardening experts like Penelope Hobhouse and Patrick Taylor, these guidebooks stress history and national identity as the keys to understanding the very different characteristics of each country's gardens. Vestiges of Roman times can still be seen in Italian gardens, and in Germany, many splendid gardens in the east have just been opened to a wider audience in the last few years. The maps make garden touring easy to organize."