The Story of Gardening

The Story of Gardening by Penelope Hobhouse is one of my new resources for learning about garden history. It is published by Dorling Kindersley, Limited. (DK), London (2002). Hobhouse approaches the subject of gardens as a gardener, plants man, and story teller. She is a garden designer, lecturer, and writer from Britain.

The book provides an excellent introduction to the topic, and includes a wonderful time-line showing world events and gardening events for the Americas, Europe, the Far East, and the Near East and India, from 3000 BC to 2000 AD. Chapters cover all the major gardening periods, from origins, to classical gardens, to Asian, Persian, and European gardens; as well as modern movements of the last two hundred years. The book is lavish with beautiful photography, charts, graphics, and side bars with interesting details. Several of Hobhouse’s own garden designs are included (she has a special interest in Persian-inspired gardens). The bibliography is rich with references that would provide a reading list for a lifetime.

I was especially pleased to see the chapter on “plants on the move” (a personal interest of mine), and a chapter on gardens of the Americas. The chapter on gardens of tomorrow, with its emphasis on ecology, is also very relevant and timely. I first learned about Penelope Hobhouse when I attended her presentation at the San Francisco Garden Show a few of years back. She gave an excellent slide show on plants in the landscape, including the red hot poker, which had recently turned her head. I thoroughly recommend The Story of Gardening (and feel it makes a great companion to my old favorite, The History of Gardens, by Christopher Thacker).