Adventures in Eden An intimate tour of the private gardens of Europe

Carolyn Mullet

Book - 2020

Acres of white-blooming garden rooms on the island of Mallorca. A seven-tiered wonder of stone, plants, and water above Germany's Rhine River. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation in a quiet Scottish valley. These sumptuous landscapes are just three of the fifty destinations you'll visit on this exclusive tour of Europe's most beautiful private gardens. From Belgium to Ireland, Scandinavia to Wales, Carolyn Mullet is your guide through intimate retreats normally off-limits to visitors. Short profiles introduce the intriguing owners and rich histories of each garden and the land they inhabit. Among the featured gardens are works of eminent designers such as Tom Stuart-Smith, Andy Malengier, and Louis Benech. Whether you love explo...ring faraway places or creating your own landscape haven at home, Adventures in Eden is the ideal armchair getaway--glimpses into personal garden artistry that are sure to spark inspiration.--

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Subjects
Genres
Illustrated works
Published
Portland, Oregon : Timber Press 2020.
Language
English
Main Author
Carolyn Mullet (author)
Item Description
Includes biographical references and index (pages 323-332).
Physical Description
332 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm
ISBN
9781604698466
  • Introduction
  • England
  • Wales
  • Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Scandinavia
  • Germany
  • The Netherlands
  • Belgium
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Mullet, a garden designer, leads readers on a spirited tour of 50 private European gardens. "The private garden has a special place in the roster of outdoor spaces," writes Mullet, as a site that is at once natural and cozy. Before each photo spread, Mullet introduces the garden's history, designers, and theme. Broughton Grange in Oxfordshire, England offers a "singular, sweeping panorama" designed by Tom Stuart-Smith in 2000, whereas Veddw in Wales was designed to honor the region's farming community. In Scotland, she finds Charles Jencks's scientifically themed Garden of Cosmic Speculation, where forking paths mirror the double helix structure of DNA and a grid of artificial turf and aluminum is arranged to suggest the warping of spacetime by black holes. In the Netherlands and Germany, the gardens Mullet surveys betray the common influence of contemporary Dutch Wave designer Piet Oudolf, with his style of soft naturalistic contours. In northern Spain and Italy, she finds a pair of gardens united by their success in growing olive trees in unforgiving climates, and in France, a château garden planted to emphasize the azures and silvers of the ancestral owners' family crest. Homebound gardeners will be dazzled. (Oct.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Garden designer Mullet (founder, Carex Tours) introduces readers to 50 private, European gardens open to the public, including the author's favorites from 11 countries based on specific plants, creativity, and passion. Representative of current design, all of the spaces were developed over the past 25 years (though some boast older features). Arranged by country, typical entries run four to eight pages long with one text page followed by captioned photos. Mullet discusses the site, highlights features, and sometimes conveys an owner's motivation or attitudes by sprinkling in previously published comments (with references). This book lacks more in-depth information that would make it easy to quickly ID a garden's vital info (size, climate, designer, specialty), which is helpful when gardens vary tremendously. There are also lists of gardens, the designers, references, and an index (unseen). Photos are well done, though cold-climate gardeners will notice few depict snowy, winter-interest examples. VERDICT Recommended particularly for traveling gardeners, though all could cull ideas from this book, which is similar in scope to Cristopher Woods's Gardenlust.--Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee

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