Synopses & Reviews
An authoritative and superbly illustrated celebration of the great gardens of the United States and Canada from the author of the highly acclaimed The New English Garden. The gardens chosen for this book range from eighteenth-century landscape gardens such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia, through twentieth-century creations such as the lakeside garden at Innisfree in New York State and dramatic Naumkeag in Massachusetts to the work of exciting new designers such as Topher Delaney in San Francisco and Martha Schwartz in New Mexico. Many of the gardens are open to the public, so readers can actually visit them. The others, newer domestic gardens, offer instead glimpses into a glamorous world of luxurious outdoor living.
Review
"Don’t mistake
Great Gardens of America as a dry an academic treatise or just another coffee table book though. Richardson’s writing is well-researched and often sprinkled with a wry phrase that makes you chuckle when you least expect it. He manages to convey the expanse and feel of the gardens’ character through his narrative—a not insignificant task, if you’ve ever tried describing a garden. There is much to learn from his descriptions and his overarching theme of the American garden as embracing wilderness." —
Examiner.com"Thank you Frances Lincoln Ltd for giving us a publication that allows us to visit some of the great gardens of North America, without having to leave home. This book surveys garden estates and private parks in practically every climate zone in the U.S. and Canada. Twenty five gardens with 300 brilliant photographs are included. For each garden surveyed, the author provides an interesting combination of historical and architectural background that helps to identify the landowner’s personal contribution to the garden design." — Bookpleasures.com
"A British garden historian and critic of contemporary landscape architecture, Tim Richardson, puts forth his selection of the top gardens in the United States and Canada in this lavishly illustrated volume on landscape design. Gorgeously photographed by the award-winning photographer Andrea Jones, these enchanting sites are generally located on the east and west coasts of North America and typically on large estates and display gardens. In his appraisal of twenty-five places he summaries the distinguishing qualities of the individual landscapes, ranging in styles from the colonial to the avant-garde; he reports on their histories; their owners’ interests; designers’ goals; and important horticultural collections. Richardson skillfully contrasts the highlighted properties through his organization of chapters, expertly maintaining reader’s interest throughout the book. His critical analyses of the works of leading contemporary landscape architects is insightful and provides the reader with cutting edge knowledge on the direction of modern design. Destined to be a classic for its scholarly survey, the book is a pleasure to read." — The National Gardener
"It should come as no surprise that five of the 25 gardens in Great Gardens of America are in the Golden State. From the public wonders of San Marino's Huntington Desert Garden, Cornerstone Place in Sonoma, Santa Barbara's Lotusland and Woodside's Filoli to the private sanctuary of Sonoma's Donnell Garden—each define what author Tim Richardson calls "America's embrace of the wilderness ideal." — C Magazine
Synopsis
Great Gardens of America surveys some of the loveliest grounds in America and Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Quebec to California, from the tropical Southeast to the industrial Midwest. The 25 gardens showcased range from 18th-century landscape gardens, such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia, through 20th-century creations, such as the lakeside garden at Innisfree in New York and dramatic Naumkeag in Massachusetts, to the work of exciting new designers, such as Topher Delaney in San Francisco and New Mexico's Martha Schwartz. Many of the gardens are open to the public, so readers can actually visit and draw firsthand inspiration. The others, newer domestic gardens, offer tantalizing glimpses into a glamorous world of luxurious outdoor living. Three hundred stunning color photographs by renowned garden photographer Andrea Jones accompany Tim Richardsons insightful text.
About the Author
Tim Richardson is a writer who specializes in garden and landscape design and history. He has been gardens editor at Country Life, and landscape editor at Wallpaper* magazine, and was founding editor of both the award-winning gardens magazine New Eden and Country Life Gardens. He now contributes mostly to the Daily Telegraph, House and Garden, Gardens Illustrated and Country Life. He is the author of Phaidon's The Garden Book, Vanguard Landscapes Gardens of Martha Schwartz, English Gardens of the 20th Century and the award-winning The New English Garden published by Frances Lincoln. He is also editor of Vista: the Culture and Politics of Gardens (Frances Lincoln).
Andrea Jones is one of the world's foremost garden photographers, having built up an international reputation for her photographs of landscape architecture, gardens and plants. The latter was the subject of Andrea's critically acclaimed solo book Plantworlds (2005). She has collaborated on numerous other book projects since Bold Plants and Grasses and Bamboos, both by Noel Kingsbury (1999). Andrea's collection of work forms the stock library Garden Exposures and appears in the international press including Gardens Illustrated, Garden Design (USA), House and Garden and The Daily Telegraph. Based in Scotland, Andrea is a Fellow of the RSA and exhibits her work around the world having had several successful solo exhibitions in both the UK and US. In 2008/9 she was voted Photographer of the Year by her peers in the UK's Garden Media Guild.