From my childhood and still a wonderful book on the gardening year:
Ward Lock’s Gardening Calendar: What to Do and When to Do It. In flower garden; rock garden; fruit garden; vegetable garden and under glass:
Other Gardening Books I would Recommend:
1. Derek Jarman's Garden by Derek Jarman
This is the single most inspirational and best produced book on gardening of any kind. It is the benchmark by which to measure all other illustrated gardening books.
2. The English Gardener by William Cobbett
Cobbett is opinionated and often outrageous, but he was a meticulous journalist and his thoroughness is as relevant today as it is a slice of life in the 1830s.
3. Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey
The best book ever produced about wild flowers and their folklore.
4. The New Book of Apples by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards
I love eating and growing apples. This is the best reference book on this wonderful fruit and by far the most readable.
5. Classic Roses by Peter Beales
Peter Beales knows more about roses than anyone else alive and conveys his knowledge with accessibility. A true classic.
6. The Vegetable Garden displayed (1961 edition), Royal Horticultural Society
This was one of the first gardening books my mother owned and it gives a social historian's insight in to life in the 1950's.
7. The late Christopher Lloyd’s classic The Well-Tempered Garden (1970). Like all his books, this drew on his long experience in the garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex. He wrote well and his style, like his garden preferences, is personal and nicely opinionated.
8. The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening (1978), was my mother's gardening bible.
9. The Royal Horticultural Society’s Illustrated Plants For Places (2001), a fat little handbook telling you what is most likely to thrive in different soils and varieties of sites. This saves you from much heartbreak and failure.
10. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Peonies: the Imperial Flower (1999) is a pleasure to read.
11. Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. Describes the steps involved in growing vegetables and making vegetable soup (recipe included). It is a good book for getting very young children excited about growing vegetables.
12. Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers by Kathi Appelt and Joy Fisher Hein. The winner of the coveted Broadmoore children’s choice award. A biography of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson. This book describes how wildflowers comforted Lady Bird when her mother died and how Lady Bird worked to ensure that all children could experience the beauty of wildflowers. It can be enjoyed by children and grown ups.
13. Butterflies in the Garden by Carol Lerner. An introduction to butterflies and attracting butterflies to your yard. Butterflies in the Garden features Carol Lerner’s beautiful, detailed illustrations of butterflies and flowers.
Ward Lock’s Gardening Calendar: What to Do and When to Do It. In flower garden; rock garden; fruit garden; vegetable garden and under glass:
Other Gardening Books I would Recommend:
1. Derek Jarman's Garden by Derek Jarman
This is the single most inspirational and best produced book on gardening of any kind. It is the benchmark by which to measure all other illustrated gardening books.
2. The English Gardener by William Cobbett
Cobbett is opinionated and often outrageous, but he was a meticulous journalist and his thoroughness is as relevant today as it is a slice of life in the 1830s.
3. Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey
The best book ever produced about wild flowers and their folklore.
4. The New Book of Apples by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards
I love eating and growing apples. This is the best reference book on this wonderful fruit and by far the most readable.
5. Classic Roses by Peter Beales
Peter Beales knows more about roses than anyone else alive and conveys his knowledge with accessibility. A true classic.
6. The Vegetable Garden displayed (1961 edition), Royal Horticultural Society
This was one of the first gardening books my mother owned and it gives a social historian's insight in to life in the 1950's.
7. The late Christopher Lloyd’s classic The Well-Tempered Garden (1970). Like all his books, this drew on his long experience in the garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex. He wrote well and his style, like his garden preferences, is personal and nicely opinionated.
8. The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening (1978), was my mother's gardening bible.
9. The Royal Horticultural Society’s Illustrated Plants For Places (2001), a fat little handbook telling you what is most likely to thrive in different soils and varieties of sites. This saves you from much heartbreak and failure.
10. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Peonies: the Imperial Flower (1999) is a pleasure to read.
11. Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. Describes the steps involved in growing vegetables and making vegetable soup (recipe included). It is a good book for getting very young children excited about growing vegetables.
12. Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers by Kathi Appelt and Joy Fisher Hein. The winner of the coveted Broadmoore children’s choice award. A biography of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson. This book describes how wildflowers comforted Lady Bird when her mother died and how Lady Bird worked to ensure that all children could experience the beauty of wildflowers. It can be enjoyed by children and grown ups.
13. Butterflies in the Garden by Carol Lerner. An introduction to butterflies and attracting butterflies to your yard. Butterflies in the Garden features Carol Lerner’s beautiful, detailed illustrations of butterflies and flowers.
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