Cotswold gardens

The current crop of gardening books is either chock-full of horticultural advice or overflowing with ambitious landscaping plans. Renowned designer Hicks forgoes the opportunity to provide counsel, acting instead as a tour guide to England's Cotswolds, an area distinguished by stunning gardens and historically preserved countryside. Primarily a feast for the eyes, this lavishly illustrated tome first introduces the garden belonging to Hicks and his wife, Pamela Mountbatten. Traveling about the region, he goes on to describe the architecture of the manor houses visited, along with garden designs, the fanciful forms of detached structures, and selected plantings. Accompanying photographs perfectly frame both the sublime vista and the intimate flower border. A selection that will please Anglophiles and gardeners alike. --Alice Joyce