The English Flower Garden Style, Position, and Arrangement

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

An Irish-born gardener and writer, William Robinson (1838-1935) travelled widely to study gardens and gardening in Europe and America. He founded a weekly illustrated periodical, The Garden, in 1871, which he owned until 1919, and published numerous books on different aspects of horticulture. Topics included annuals, hardy perennials, alpines and subtropical plants, as well as accounts of his travels. This book, his most famous work, was first published in 1883, and fifteen editions were issued in his lifetime. It has been described as 'the most widely read and influential gardening book ever written'. Aimed at both amateurs and experienced gardeners, it sets out clearly the different types of plant suitable for each type of situation, and how to grow them. Robinson advocated a revolution in garden design, rejecting the more formal flower-beds which had long been popular in favour of a more natural and individual style.

Contents

Preface

Part I: Position and style
Examples from English gardens
Hardy plants and the modes of arranging them
Of hardy flowers
Spring flowers
Autumnal flowers
Hardy bulbs
Alpine, boy, and water plants and hardy ferns
The special culture of choice and 'florists' hardy flowers
The garden of sweet-smelling flowers
The garden of beautiful form
The wild garden
Hardy climbing plants
Roseries, past and present
Economy and wasted effort
Summer bedding
Colour in the flower garden
Labelling and staking

Part II. The English Flower Garden, or, Flowers of the Open Air

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