The Story of Gardening

by Penelope Hobhouse, Ambra Edwards (With)

Penelope Hobhouse, the legendary authority on garden history, composes a beautifully crafted, lavishly illustrated history of gardening over millennia. From the cooling fountains of the Alhambra to the clean lines of the French parterre, The Story of Gardening draws fascinating connections among gardens across time and place. Hobhouse addresses styles and techniques from all over the world, revealing the origins of the world's most magnificent gardens. Award-winning journalist and garden historian Ambra Edwards worked alongside Hobhouse to bring this comprehensive classic up-to-date with today's most recent garden developments and trends.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, History

512 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2002

Reviews

[Lovisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Väldigt intressant bok om trädgårdarna historia, dock på svår engelska och aldeles för låååånnnngggg.

[Gang Chen, Author of "Planting Design Illustrated" · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for all gardeners!

"The story of gardening, traced through almost three millennia to the 21st century, is not just one story but an infinite number-as many as there have been gardeners. And it can be told in infinite ways..." Penelope Hobhouse, one of the most prolific and talented garden authors of our time, wrote. She started her story from the origins of gardening: the records and remains of the gardens and parks of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia, our heritage: ancient Greece and Roman gardens. She then moved on to the gardens of Islam: heavenly beauty, earthly delight, the medieval gardens of Christendom, the flowering of European gardens during Renaissance, the English landscape gardens, the Eclectic gardens in 19th century and gardens in America.

Penelope also explored gardens of China: a timeless tradition, the long history of Chinese gardening and its links with the landscape and painting, and Japanese style: its essential elements of design and its influence on the rest of the world, and the discussions on a time of change from Naturalism to Modernism (1870 to 1950), and today and tomorrow: a world of opportunities.

Penelope Hobhouse limited and concentrated the scope of her book to "gardening for pleasure," excluding "crops"-agriculture and functional productive horticulture, and "Hobby gardening"-prize dahlias, alpine troughs and bonsai-all fields for the enthusiasms of experts.

"Story of Gardening" has 468 pages and many dazzling color interior photos and a very useful comparative time chart of garden development in all cultures. It is a must-have for all gardeners.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'm currently enrolled in the Longwood Gardens ornamental horticulture program, I find Penelope Hobhouse's 'The Story of Gardening' to be a useful historical reference. The book is quite dense, so I wasn't able to read it from cover to cover before having to return it to the library. But I would definitely pick up a copy to keep on hand and use as a reference encyclopedia.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Large, thick, comprehensive book on gardens from around the world.