New Garden History Book

Just bought THE GARDENS OF THE BRITISH WORKING CLASS, by Margaret Willes.

Sounds really interesting, there are very few books about gardens that aren't about stately homes!! Another one, published a few years ago: THE STORY OF GARDENING, by Martin Hoyles. I recommended this when I read it a while back.

 

Hi leonora, I've been ploughing through Amazon's gardening books as I'm always on the look out for something to read. The gardens of the working class looks pretty good. I'll look up The story of gardening.
I quite like historical gardening books. Plant and flower hunters, the pioneers, e.t.c. I've just quite enjoyed Monty Dons book about French gardens.

Gazania

 

Its good when you find an actual gardening book that is actually about gardens as opposed to country estates and such.

The number of times I've got all excited when browsing a book, to find it has a section dedicated to the 'small urban garden', only to find when I read that chapter that all the garden plans in there show at least half an acre, with great ponds and expensive trees in it.

 

Indeed, there are too few.....I suppose there are quite a few books about allotments, though, and allotments were always something for the working class. When you read books or watch programmes about country estates, there is usually very little about who did the actual work!