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The Jewel Box Garden
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could describe your garden as a jewel box full of beautiful plant treasures? In this sequel to the bestselling Shocking Beauty , garden impresario Thomas Hobbs shows you how. The Jewel Box Garden is a luscious, full-color book that features 160 new and startling photos by renowned garden photographer David McDonald. Hobbs explains his philosophy of gardening and life, or as he puts it, "Life As We Dream It Could Be." In his own provocative and highly original way, he encourages gardeners to tap into their creativity and invest their heart and soul in creating oases of beauty — intimate spaces where they can escape the pressures of modern life.
- GenresGardening
176 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2004
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 9, 2010
‘The Jewel Box Garden’ is not your average gardening book. You’ll find no advice on composting or dealing with insects; this book is strictly about the aesthetics of gardening. Far more picture than text, it’s a book of inspiration, not instruction. The book is filled with vignettes of plants that are jewels on their own, and are supported by being used in combo with other plants and with planters, statues and other hardscaping. His theme is that you want to create beauty in the garden, and not copy what everyone else is doing. I can’t argue with that.
Hobbs lives, designs and gardens in Vancouver, B.C., so his palette of plants is much more extensive than what most of us have, and he’s pushed the it even further by using hot weather plants that he takes inside every winter. That’s more work than most of us want to do, but we can achieve the same effect with hardier plants. Hardy sedums and sempervivums can stand in for tender echevarias; there *are* hardy bamboos (and they are less apt to spread aggressively than the tropical varieties), hardy ferns, hardy variegated plants and hardy plants with dark, almost black foliage.
The photos are beautiful, but the text may be off-putting to some readers. Hobbs is snarky about the people whose gardens he doesn’t like, and if you have that sort of garden you’re apt to be insulted. Ignore those bits, though, and allow yourself to get caught up in his enthusiasm for what he’s doing.
Hobbs lives, designs and gardens in Vancouver, B.C., so his palette of plants is much more extensive than what most of us have, and he’s pushed the it even further by using hot weather plants that he takes inside every winter. That’s more work than most of us want to do, but we can achieve the same effect with hardier plants. Hardy sedums and sempervivums can stand in for tender echevarias; there *are* hardy bamboos (and they are less apt to spread aggressively than the tropical varieties), hardy ferns, hardy variegated plants and hardy plants with dark, almost black foliage.
The photos are beautiful, but the text may be off-putting to some readers. Hobbs is snarky about the people whose gardens he doesn’t like, and if you have that sort of garden you’re apt to be insulted. Ignore those bits, though, and allow yourself to get caught up in his enthusiasm for what he’s doing.
May 22, 2015
This amazing gardening book is filled with attitude and inspiration. The pictures are fantastic and the writing is often humorous because Thomas Hobbs is an unapologetic garden snob. A few examples: "red and yellow is artless and screams "Gas Station." "Spectacular eye-popping color can only pop if you allow it to." "Tarting up the garden with too many yum-yums is a pitfall not just resserved for the rich." And more than once he cautions "no plastic." This book is a great gardening treasure. I love the attitude and pictures!
June 12, 2011
An unexpectedly hilarious, sassy, and judgmental guide to garden design and plant pairings, with the most stunning botanical photography I have ever seen. The featured gardens are mostly in temperate climates with lots of precipitation, so while the general concepts can translate to any climate, much of this book is inspirational rather than aspirational.
July 8, 2011
This is a great garden book with phenomenal photography of at least a zillion gardens. Not too much prose, but nice descriptions of how foliage, texture, color and sizes of plants should contrast in ways to enhance your garden. While the specific plant combos won't work in Florida, the concepts do.
January 12, 2009
Gorgeous! The photographs in the book are amazing and the gardens themselves are innovative and startlingly bright. This book is the perfect midwinter treat to start you imagining everything you could do in the spring and summer. Happy vivid splashes of living art. Yay!
May 22, 2012
Incredibly gorgeous photography paired with opinionated text about how to design your garden. His referring to dracaena spikes in containers as the last refuge of the desperate has caused me to change my ways!
June 6, 2016
A must for anyone interested in garden design. It will get you going, delight you and make you realize that you were in a rut and didn't even know it.
August 6, 2007
Really pretty to look through if you like gardening! Some over-the-top stuff but inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews