"Derek Jarman's Garden" and "Blue" - both by Derek Jarman--a fellow Englishman--you no doubt know of him. His is one of my all time favorite gardens for many reasons, altho' I've only seen it in photos. "Blue" deals with the artist losing his sight-might be of particular interest to you right now.
Ginger

Thanks Tony and Ginger for starting this thread off. I hope that many will join us in proposing books and later in discussing them. Please recruit members from other GW Forums that might be interested. Also this does not have to be a "love-fest" you can propose books that you dont like and you may of course discuss equally what you donÂt like about any book as well as what you do like. This Book Club is intended to foster active dialogue. I will be adding to this also as we go along. After two weeks I will post a list of everything proposed and we can vote on which books to start with. Please include the authors name with any book proposed and a short commentary on the book.

A WomanÂs Hardy Garden, by Helena Rutherford Ely
This early 20th century American gardening book is posted online, both text and photography. John_D gave the web address on another thread. This is one historical gardening book that everyone would have access to.

Strangers in the Garden: The Secret Lives of our Favorite Flowers, by Andrew Smith
This is a new book (2004) that is mainly a social gardening history of ten familiar and popular garden plants including the Dahlia, Clematis, Crocus, Peony and Lilac.

My Garden Book, by Jamaica Kincaid
Novelist, Jamaica Kincaid is both an avid reader and gardener. Both activities intertwine in her life. When as a beginner gardener she also read a history of the conquest of Mexico the way she viewed the garden changed and the garden changed her perception of the conquest. For her the garden is "an exercise in memory, a way of remembering my own immediate past, a way of getting to a past that is my own---and the past as it is indirectly related to me." [p.8]
I believe that Garden Restoration is also an exercise in memory and whether we write about it, actively restore gardens, or plant anything at all that takes our fancy, we are engaged in this exercise.

In Search of Lost Roses, by Christopher Thomas
The story of how old garden roses that were no longer available commercially were brought back to contemporary gardens.

Gertrude Jekyll: A Vision of Garden and Wood, by Judith B. Tankard, Published in conjunction with a major exhibition of Gertrude Jekyll's photographs.
This publication gives us a chance to see Jekyll's gardening through her own eyes. Jekyll was an accomplished writer, gardener and photographer. She took her photographs to illustrate her garden articles and document her own garden.

Gertrude Jekyll's Lost Garden, by Rosamund Wallinger
This is the true story of how an ordinary private individual went about restoring an Edwardian garden. Demonstrates how patience, time and a willingness to learn are more valuable commodities than money in Garden Restoration

The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll, by Richard Bisgrove
This is a really good overview of JekyllÂs design sensibilities. Includes reproductions of her actual design drawing and planting plans accompanied by colour photographs of contemporary replantings of the gardens. There is also an overview of the plants important to Jekyll, how she used them, and how they relate to what is presently available.

Dumbarton Oaks: Garden into Art, by Susan Tamulevich
Documentation of five decades of the development and evolution of a major American garden. Designed by renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, Dumbarton Oaks is a living work of art. As well as stunning photographs this book includes historical photographs, garden plans, telegrams and correspondence.

A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America In The Nineteenth ÂCentury, by Witold Rybczynsky
Known mainly for his design of Central Park and the Vanderbilt estate Biltmore, Frederick Law Olmsted had a varied career. W.R. follows OlmstedÂs career from New York to California and his travels through Europe. Includes nineteenth-century photographs and design plans of several Olmsted designed parks. Plenty of documentation and analysis of his relationships with family, patrons, friends, and employees.

Michael Pollan's "Botany of Desire" I absolutely love this book, have recommended it many a time. Looking at the apple, tulip, marijuana, and the potato, he explores humankind's needs and desires and the dovetailing of our desires with those of the plant world. Lots of information and history given over in a provacative style.

Not a very inclusive review--the book is so much more.

"provocative"

As half of the people posting here have read "The Lost Garden" can i suggest that for further exploration? I know that the book has been remaindered and as a consequence can be had cheap so go out and buy it you other two and we can talk.

I am sure that "Gertrude Jekyll's Lost Garden", by Rosamund Wallinger will be a strong contender. If most of us have already read it, that would make it an efficient first choice. (I read it last year and am willing to reread it and possibly lend it to Toronto participants if necessary.) I do suggest though that once we have finished making suggestions that we vote for at least the first three maybe four books to start with and in what order. It makes it easier for participants to order the selected books or arrange access and read in a timely fashion. Also we don't want to be engaged in the voting process every month. Four should keep us going until January with no risk of trying to vote during the December holiday season.

Also since we are not reading fiction and there is no plot to give away do you want to initially discuss books chapter by chapter?

Sharon

Lets just let the process roll and do "The Lost Garden", as recommended by Tony. Meanwhile, we can also hammer out the next 3 books coming up. That way we get started without too much wheelspinning, yet have a process and a plan by which we vote for the next 3 selections, as suggested by Sharon. OK?

So . . . I know the "GJ's Lost Garden" thread kind of petered out early. But I am hoping some of you still want to read and discuss books.

Any thoughts or interest?

Ginger--

Yes, Pollan's "Botany of Desire" is fascinating. I found the part on potato growing interesting, thought-provoking, and somewhat disturbing in his look at not just one perspective on the ethics of agricultural and biological technology. Disturbing because, as with most things, there just doesn't seem to be an easy get-on-the-band-wagon slogan to jump onto and be done.

Pollan has a unique talent for wordcraft. I first fell in love with his writing in reading his "Second Nature: A Gardener's Education" quite a few years back, and then (off topic here, but nevertheless quite interesting) "A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder"--an eye-opener for me on the art of architecture.

Egyptianonion