Review by Booklist Review
The garden in winter can be as sensuously satisfying as it is during the lushest rush of summer blossoms, yet many gardeners fail to incorporate plant material that can not only survive but also thrive through the season's harshest elements. In a visually stunning tribute to this often forgotten garden opportunity, Bourne showcases fragile limbs festooned with garnet berries, delicate seed heads twinkling with frost, and ribbons of craggy bark peeling from mottled tree trunks. Such elegant yet attainable examples provide an inspired and informative introduction to plant selection, care, and design, while emphasizing the importance of texture, structure, and color. Although Bourne references gardens throughout her native Britain, including her own breathtaking property, her enthusiastic and enlightening devotion to winter's attractions more than compensates for the lack of specific cultural information, such as hardiness zones and resources for purchasing named cultivars, that North American gardeners would appreciate. --Carol Haggas Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In her latest book, gardener, writer, and photographer Bourne shows that winter gardens can be just as beautiful as-and often more beautiful than-spring and summer gardens. For many, winter is a time to prepare for the upcoming spring garden, but with Bourne's help, barren winter gardens can be turned into reflective and fragrant retreats. Arranged into seven chapters, the book begins with trees with textures and lines best suited for winter gardens, e.g., shrubs, smaller trees, and bamboos with colored stems. Chapter 2 is devoted to grasses and flowers that "provide good winter silhouettes" and hold up to frost and ice. Next come plants with lots of leaves to add splashes of color; then hips, haws, and berries for touches of red. Finally, the book covers flowers that bloom in early winter (e.g., Christmas roses and miniature daffodils) as well as midwinter flowers (e.g., witch hazel and daphne). Bourne also provides tips for adding landscape accents such as paving and decking, gravel, slate, sculptures, and containers. Packed with examples, 200 color photographs, and practical advice for choosing the right plants, this book is recommended for larger libraries and those with horticulture collections.-Nicole Mitchell, Birmingham, AL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
