The Making of the English Gardener
Plants, Books and Inspiration, 1560-1660
- 336 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
The people and publications at the root of a national obsession
In the century between the accession of Elizabeth I and the restoration of Charles II, a horticultural revolution took place in England, making it a leading player in the European horticultural game. Ideas were exchanged across networks of gardeners, botanists, scholars, and courtiers, and the burgeoning vernacular book trade spread this new knowledge still furtherâreaching even the growing number of gardeners furnishing their more modest plots across the verdant nation and its young colonies in the Americas.
Margaret Willes introduces a plethora of garden enthusiasts, from the renowned to the legions of anonymous workers who created and tended the great estates. Packed with illustrations from the herbals, design treatises, and practical manuals that inspired these menâand occasionally womenâWilles's book enthrallingly charts how England's garden grew.
Margaret Willes, the former Publisher for the National Trust, has written and illustrated numerous books. She lives in London.
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Table of contents
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction The Pattern in the Quilt
- 1. Fit for a Queen
- 2. The Men on the Ground
- 3. Strange Encounters
- 4. Spreading the Word
- 5. House and Garden
- 6. Court and Country
- 7. Curious Gardeners
- 8. The Sun and the Moon
- 9. Secrets Revealed
- 10. The Long Winter
- Epilogue â Springtime
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index