So many gardens and a huge variety of styles. Beautiful pictures and explanations of the history. Complete yard goals.

5 stars

Amazing Gardens is a beautifully photographed and inspirational gardening reference book by Vivienne Hambly. Originally published in 2022, this reformat and re-release 14th June 2025 by Amber Books is 224 pages and is available in hardcover format.

This is a well illustrated guide full of color photography and commentary on a variety of well known and maintained gardens worldwide, from Europe to the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, and Pacific. The book has an attractive and logical layout with easy to understand and accessible language.

This is an inspiring and educational book, full of ideas for garden lovers no matter what the scale of their own green spaces. Very few gardeners will have the space or budget to recreate even a tiny bit of the famous gardens pictured, however, there are so many good takeaways which can be adapted to readers' own gardens. Since the book is absolutely full of color photographs and the text is relatively small and densely packed, the hardcover format is a must.

Five stars. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home reference, or allotment/community garden reference shelf. Lots of inspiration contained here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Thank you to NetGalley and Amber Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was so great. I loved looking at all the pictures of these gardens, and they are all just so beautiful. It was so calming and relaxing to look at. This would be a great coffee table book for anyone who loves gardening.

Along with the images, there are little descriptions for each garden. This includes some information about the place and the location. I felt like there was a good amount of information there, and I'm glad the locations were included because there are a few that I would love to visit and see in person.

I really enjoyed this book! I've been meaning to get my hands on something relaxing with beautiful images, that takes me to places but isn't too demanding. This book was perfect for it.

This book is delightful. With splendid photos that display beautifully on an iPad, it’s the perfect book for any gardeners in your life.

A stunning and fascinating look into some of the world's most beautiful gardens, including some of the most iconic. My personal favourite, and a total bucket-list wish, are the magnificent Majorelle Gardens, featured here in all their glory. A must for anyone who loves gardens.

What a beautiful book with wonderful photos of some of the most stunning gardens around the world. I had fun turning the pages of this book and discover gardens that I never heard of and that I want to visit now and also rediscovering gardens that I had the chance to visit in the past! Beautiful book!!! I love it!

Lovely coffee table book for anyone who loves gardening or visiting gardens, full of pages and pages of full-sized pictures.

I was delighted to see many of the gardens I have visited over the years, especially the ones that had photographs from different seasons to the time I walked through them.

Beautiful - a great gift book.

This book is filled with stunning photographs of gardens in Canada, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Captions provide interesting data on when the gardens were created and why. The origin stories are fascinating from giving a quarry its second life, to medicinal plants used in research, to showcasing culture and wealth. The themes that runs through this beautiful book are how nature can advance science, heal the damage caused by industrial activity, and speak for our culture in words that are splendid and able to reach into our existential core.

Many thanks to Amber Books Ltd. and NetGalley for providing this beautiful e-galley.

This books features a gorgeous collection of pictures of gardens from around the world, almost every photo annotated with some details about the location. It was lovely seeing the wide variety of construction and plant life in these locations. This would make a great coffee table book, and is good if you want to see pretty photos or find some gorgeous locations you may want to visit.

Coffee table book full of lovely photos of gardens across the world.
Each featured garden has a short snippet of information to accompany the photos/s.

There are a few mentioned gardens that I would like to know more about and will research individually.

Monet’s Garden of Giverny on the cover caught my eye and drew me to the book. While reading I realized I have previously read and reviewed this book in 2022. (The cover has been changed with this newer edition.) I still enjoyed looking through the book again and realized I have added two more of the gardens to my visited list. I am including my original review below.

Beautiful photographs are the highlights of Amazing Gardens of the World. The European section was my favorite as it covered many places I've visited. Castles, palaces and great homes are always on my travel list and many have gardens included in this book such as Frederiksborg Castle, Blenheim Palace, Versailles, Chateau de Vilandry, Tivoli, Peterhof Palace and the Alhambra. Smaller homes are included with the gardens of Beatrice Potter and Monet's lovely Giverny. I thought it was interesting that in the USA the gardens aren't tied into large estates but are usually botanical gardens. Africa, Australia and the Pacific are included as well. I don't think I even thought about gardens in Iraq or on islands. This is for garden lovers and couch travelers who enjoy beautiful places.

This richly illustrated book celebrates the diversity of gardens worldwide, from the Palace of Versailles to intimate city gardens, exploring their history, design, and the people who shaped them. The photos are stunningly beautiful, and the accompanying text interesting and informative.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I could honestly see this book being published in 1950. It is very much in the style of huge, overly manicured estates with endless pristine lawns and topiaries. I personally prefer more sustainable, organic, natural gardens with native plants, natural features and ecologically responsible gardening methods.

I read a temporary digital loan of this book via netgalley.

This is a photo book (a coffee table or a guide) to be mostly enjoyed in print as the amazing photos of a great selection of amazing gardens across the world are meant to be for large screens and print.
The book is divided into chapters according to regions and or continents.
The photos are wonderful, and when they are spread on double pages, they are even more wonderful.
The curation is good - some of the best gardens in the world made their way into this book. It is handy for making a travel list.
Very rich content and pleasant to look at. Takes you on a journey to magical gardens.