Discovering fresh approaches and new perspectives to garden making calls for a conscious decision to move away from horticultural styles and fashionable plants that are not well suited to warm, dry climates. That is not such an easy matter for many gardeners to contemplate with confidence. Understanding the need for change and acting to step outside the conventional ideas of gardening excellence are two distinct things.
Within the pages of 'Gardens of the Sun' these matters are presented as challenges and opportunities for exciting, creative approaches to solving the problems of gardening in warm, dry climates. Historical garden styles from those developed in Spain and India by the Moors and Mughals to those developed in Renaissance Italy are surveyed. The masterpieces of English flower gardening are considered from the same angle with the intention that we may understand why we cannot copy styles from other places and other climates and obtain happy, satisfying results.
There are chapters on using water wisely, developing soils and coping with difficult sites, and discovering plants that flower and thrive in Mediterranean climates, and there are encouraging words on what to do when plans fail and enthusiasm flags. With excellent appendices on seeds, sources and societies and a wide ranging bibliography this book will give readers many avenues to explore in search of ideas to spark creative garden making.
