With the “stay-at-home” mandate that so many of us are experiencing, there has been more time than usual for reading. This month’s book is “Garden Inspirations” by Charlotte Moss, who is a designer, author, and philanthropist. This book is a tour through her own garden in East Hampton, New York.
In this book, Charlotte walks you through all her garden rooms. How I love sketches and diagrams of gardens. I would dearly love to draw a layout of my own gardens. Maybe when I retire I’ll have time for that.
I love roses, so I was particularly interested in her rose garden. I so agree with Charlotte, that roses are a MUST in any garden.
I’ll walk you through Charlotte’s book and treat you to a collection of her stunning and colorful photos of her garden rooms.
The kitchen garden, or “potager” is overflowing with herbs, terra-cotta towers, and fruit trees.
Solo containers, and groupings of pots and planters are used on the porch, terrace, or in the garden.
Charlotte’s garden room, is where she not only arranges flowers, but keeps her collections of containers and baskets.
In this book, Charlotte offers page after page of her flower arrangements. A wealth of ideas for those who like to create floral arrangements for your home.
As I said, page after page of floral arrangements.
A stunning arrangement made from Golden Rod (considered by many to be a common fall weed), in a beautiful silver urn.
And arrangements she has made from storm damage. This book has taught me how to “think outside the box” when looking for materials to use in an arrangement.
There is a section of the book where Charlotte shares table settings and menus for entertaining, many of which were enjoyed on her terrace.
There’s another interesting section about women in history who greatly influenced gardening.
And lastly, another beautiful section highlighting famous gardens that Charlotte has visited from around the world.
This is a wonderful book covering gardening from many angles. It is a nearly 300-page book, full of gorgeous photos that stimulate many creative ideas, that can be applied to your own home and garden. My one and only disappointment with the book, is that it doesn’t provide enough detail for the many photos. Other than that, it is a great book to add to your gardening library and a reasonable buy on Amazon. I purchased a used book, making it a great deal.
What a gorgeous book, Cindy, brim full of wonderful ideas. Those pictures almost make me feel like pulling everything out and starting again!
Oh, don’t do that! It is a beautiful book, one that I know I will look through and study over and over again. Of course she is very wealthy and can do more than I ever could dream of, but there are still so many ideas I could borrow.
And best of all, when I know I should be outside working in my gardens and don’t feel like it, looking through my growing collection of garden books or watching Gardener’s World, always gets me motivated and moving.
Have a Happy Easter Jane!
That is a beautiful book and I can never look at enough garden photos. Unfortunately, most garden books focus on the North and we have to come up with creative substitutes. Someone did come up with a list of plants to try when we were missing our Northern staples. Now if I move back north I’ll miss my Southern ones.
That is interesting – I never thought of it that way. I always thought the South had a larger variety of flowers to choose from that are not hardy up here. Each climate has its beauties to offer that only grow in that area. I am always lusting after flowers that I can’t grow, and I must learn to appreciate what my growing zone lavishes on me.
I’m sure there are books geared towards the Southern gardener. I can’t imagine that Southern Living hasn’t published one at some time. I love just looking at flowers and gardens for ideas on how to arrange the colors, fences, arbors, and objects to add to give it interest, even if I can’t grow what they are picturing.
Happy Easter!
At times, I am farther south than Southern Living. The east coast southern states, except Florida, seem to have a wide range of northern and southern plants. I think the Carolinas would be a great place to garden, going by the blogs I read from there.
I agree. The Carolinas or Virginia would be ideal. Or even Tennessee might be just right.
Thank you for this review, Cindy. It does look and sound like a gorgeous book to indulge in! I even love the cover page – that fiery orange against what looks like Delft blue. Must get it for the late autumn/ winter browsing.
I enjoyed reading it. Between her gardens and her travels abroad to famous gardens, there is much to see. Plus her collection of baskets and vases and floral arrangements was inspiring. A book I will definitely look at over and over again, especially during the bleak winter months.