Search results for ""Author Caroline Holmes""

Welcome to the joys of nineteenth century gardening and design! The Victorians were masters of combining geometric formality and bright, formal, seasonal bedding to create lush, exuberant outdoor living spaces. This delightful book presents Victorian gardening style and design using beautiful landscapes lavish with carpet beds, topiary, statuary, sundials, marble and stone walkways, as well as classical architectural ruins, fountains, and pools. Many restorations and recreations of Victorian gardens are highlighted, including Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight (Queen Victoria's country home), Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire, and Down House in Kent (home to Charles Darwin). Authentic Victorian writings, design instructions, and illustrations guide the modern gardener on how to shape up, Victorian style. Gorgeously illustrated with over 200 beautiful color photographs plus illustrations, diagrams, and layouts of restorations and recreations, this book is sure to inspire and give the reader confidence to experiment. All who enjoy looking at and working in beautiful outdoor spaces will find this book irresistible.

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Which comes first the root or the leaf? Why are plants green? How fast does grass grow? Too fast for those who hate mowing! When is red and orange better for you than white?; when choosing onions. Why are white and grey plants more visible by moonlight? The answer to these and many more intriguing questions can be found in this authoritative and entertaining book by garden specialist Caroline Holmes. It makes the perfect present for curious gardeners and for anyone intrigued by the secret world of plants.

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Water lilies are inextricably linked to the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, Egypt and the Far East, where they were highly valued, just as precious metals or gemstones, their properties were thought to be medicinal, spiritual and purely aesthetic; they have been represented in architecture, printed textiles, religious paintings and illustrations, cited in mythology, folklore, mysticism and the creative imagination. This volume meticulously records our enduring love affair with the most beautiful and exotic of plants, the water lily. It is a comprehensive and detailed account of their introduction into European culture, largely through the passion and devotion of one man, Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac (1830-1911), whose lifelong work in the field of propagation, cultivation and commercialisation of water lilies inspired a generation of horticulturists, artists and poets to create the words and images that are deeply embedded in our culture today. Claude Monet, for example, used lilies from Latour-Marliac's nursery to create his garden in Giverny. The work Latour-Marliac did gave rise to development of specialist lily nurseries and growers across Europe and North America; in fact, Latour-Marliac's nursery still exists today, owned by Robert Sheldon, an American who shared Latour-Marliac's passion for water lilies and water gardening and has been the force behind the nursery's continued success today.

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The ‘Garden of England’, ’The High Weald’, these are phrases that describe a 70-year-old Area of Outstanding National Beauty in Southern England. Among these dramatic landscapes and ancient woodlands stand many castles, mansions and cottages, ringed with orchards, meadows, drifting flowers and horticultural exotica. Featured gardens range from grand landscapes to works of glorious eccentricity, Arts and Crafts green rooms to postage stamp-sized plots of ingenuity. Wilderness weaves into floral genius, while native and exotic species stand side-by-side – all within the unique climate of the English garden. Including chapters on English Parks, Arts and Crafts Gardens and Woodland Gardens, Where the Wildness Pleases – The English Garden Celebrated pays homage to English horticultural excellence and tells the gripping stories behind some of our most breath-taking landscapes. This book also features a handy Who’s Who of designers, gardeners, plant hunters and nurserymen, and a brief guide to English playing greens – cricket, bowling, croquet and tennis. This is a welcome guide for anyone interested in visiting this astonishingly beautiful part of the country, or those thinking of buying a plot.

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