Sitting in the Shade: A decade of my garden diary

by Hugh Johnson, Alan Titchmarsh (Foreword)

A charming, eclectic, beautifully written diary, focusing on gardening and the natural world



Foreword by Alan Titchmarsh


For many years Hugh Johnson has written a garden diary (initially as the editorial column of the RHS Journal and, since 2008, as a blog). Free to turn his attention to whatever is happening in the natural world at that time, or simply something that piques his interest, his subjects are as diverse as London's trees, the first crocus of spring, the joys of a greenhouse and what cyanide has to do with a robin's choice of berries. Month by month, Hugh's beautiful, evocative writing is filled with an eclectic mixture of topical, whimsical and humorous anecdotes that will delight not only gardeners but anyone with an interest in nature in all its manifestations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening

256 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2021

About the author

Hugh Johnson, younger son of a London lawyer, began his life-long passion for wine in all its variety as a member of the Wine & Food Society at Cambridge University, where he gained an Honours Degree in English literature. When he left King's College in 1961 he became a feature writer for Vogue and House & Garden, writing, among other articles, travel and wine columns for both magazines and their sister-papers in New York.

In 1963, as a result of his close friendship with the octogenarian André Simon, the founder of The International Wine & Food Society, he became General Secretary of the Society and succeeded the legendary gastronome as editor of its magazine Wine & Food. At the same time he became wine correspondent of The Sunday Times and started work on his first book, Wine, whose publication in 1966 established him as one of the foremost English gastronomic writers. There are now over 800,000 copies in print in seven languages and the book is still regularly reprinted. After a year as Travel Editor of The Sunday Times he became editor of Queen Magazine, in two years doubling the circulation of the fashionable glossy. It was 1969 when James Mitchell of the newly-founded publishing house Mitchell Beazley invited him to write The World Atlas of Wine. The research involved took Hugh Johnson all over the world; the result was a best-seller that might justly claim to have put wine on the map. Its publication was described by the Director of the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine in his Foreword as "un événement majeur de la littérature vinicole".

Reviews

[Jo Skeffington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book as a gift and enjoyed it; unlike anything I’ve ever read before: a garden diary over a 10 year period. Obviously if I was a more knowledgeable gardener I would have gleaned more but nonetheless I enjoyed his descriptions and enjoyed learning new words: ie
Pluviophile- lover of rain
Petrichor- the scent of rain
My favorite “flaneur”- one who strolls without intent except to observe the world. Thanks.

[Bram · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just as the reader is getting settled in the author’s several-acre garden, the author sells it and moves to a townhouse in Kensington. What follows is reports of visits to other people’s gardens, garden shows, and public parks. I gave up halfway; very disappointing for a book subtitled ‘A decade of my garden diary’.

[Alina Larwig · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just don't think ggardening non-fiction in a language that is not my first language, is not for me. which saddens my hufflepuff ass but it is what it is

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/4/25  "Sitting In The Shade" (2021) is the third title I purchased by this author.  I have already read "Hugh Johnson On Gardening" (1993) and "Hugh Johnson In The Garden" (2009). I read these books from front to back, not skipping around or reading other books simultaneously. Hugh Johnson's topics are varied and every one holds my interest. He is both humorous and informative.  I look forward to finding time to read Hugh Johnson's "Trad" excerpts because it like visiting with a friend.