Winter Gardens

I recieved a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Some of those pictures are so breathtakingly stunning they don't look real. The book is a mixture of history and imagery. I could stare at some of these pictures all day!

Beautifully photographed. Includes Australian species.

Winter Gardens is not a gardening book, it covers the authors favourite and inspirational winter gardens mainly in France and the United Kingdom and the plants each garden has used to make their gardens more attractive during the bare winter months. There is plenty of colour photography throughout this book to see the gardens and their plants in quite good detail and often includes the comparative picture when the plant is in bloom during the summer months.

The book has a chapter on The Plant Palette, and includes lots of descriptions and colour photography of ornamental barks in their various colours and states throughout the seasons. Also included in this chapter are plants with coloured stems such as Cornus and bamboos, flowering plants in the form of trees and shrubs, perennials and bulbs plus berries.

As I said at the beginning, and which the author also acknowledges, this is not a gardening book, but it does give the reader some ideas as to the plants that could be used to brighten up the garden during the winter. The author includes a list of suggested nurseries (UK, France & USA) where different types of plants be it bark, flowers or bamboos may be sourced.

I was given this book from #Netgalley in return for a honest review.

This book is a masterpiece in photography, although the real heroes are the trees with there winter dress. This is a beautiful book.' I found the second half of the book with all the different barks, fruit and flowers very inspiring and very interesting, I did not know that there was so much variety and beauty in naked trees. A fabulous book both for the coffee table and as an educational tool for gardeners and landscapes.

Winter Gardens: Reinventing a Season
By Cedric Pollet

Publisher: Frances Lincoln
England

October 2017

Non-fiction, photography, home&garden

I received a digital copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for unbiased review.

This book is a delight to those of us who enjoy gardening as it enlightens a season usually viewed as “dead” and unproductive. Most gardeners wait for the first garden catalog to arrive in spring as a sign to embark from hibernation. The author provides some interesting history of the winter garden. The pictures are wonderful with remarkable displays of winter color. Tree bark enthusiasts will enjoy the beautiful groupings of trees added flair against a winter background. This book displays mostly gardens of France and UK in particular but still an inspiration that winter need not be a time to “wait for spring” but to go outdoors and seek the beauty that lies in the winter landscape..

This book has been an absolute delight to read! Packed with the most glorious photos and useful information it certainly ranks as one of the best gardening books I have ever read. But you do not need to be a gardener to appreciate this book – photographers, artists and lovers of nature would find pleasure on every page too.

The authors says “ an image is often very much more effective than long descriptions” and it is this which sets the book apart; the number and quality of the photographs, and the detailed and informative captions. Introductions to the chapters are followed by beautiful photographs explaining the concept – so much better than the gardening books that are filled with page after page of commentary and sometimes irrelevant photographs.

The book’s main focus is on the use of bark as an outstanding feature in winter gardens, but also dips into the use of winter flowering or fruiting trees and shrubs, bulbs, seeds heads, conifers and other evergreens.

An interesting introduction describes the history of the concept of creating a garden that brightens up the monotony of winter.

The first sections cover winter gardens in France and the UK, with particular focus on four favourites. Superb photographs on every page, but for me the most inspiring ones were of the same area in the garden, showing the comparative summer/autumn and winter landscape. In the next section. 'Sources of Inspiration', he picks outs features from a range of gardens in both the UK and France, highlighting areas that make these gardens so special in winter. Then follows an excellent compilation of plants that can be used to create a magnificent winter garden – predominately, but not limited to, trees with interesting bark. The detailed information on Acers, Prunus, Cornus and others, with excellent photographs highlighting the range of barks (what an amazing range of colours and textures!) as well as autumn foliage colour are an excellent reference for any gardener or landscaper.
I found the short section on how genetics, environment, age, exposure and humidity influence bark colour and form, very interesting to read.

This excellent book concludes with a list of recommended nurseries - mostly UK and France, with some in the USA as well as a list of the gardens illustrated in the book .

There is a great beauty in the desolation of Winter. This book shows within the winter landscape people have created gardens of color and beauty that overwhelm you with a sense of solitude and reflection. I think this is a work of art that anyone who wishes to contemplate nature and appreciate the beauty that has been created by the great masters of gardening should buy. I would be hard pressed to name another book so rich in beauty as this.

Upon beginning Winter Gardens I was unclear exactly what defines a Winter garden. Having finished the book, I've changed my thinking about my own garden's structure and planting and, additionally, have a new appreciation for bark...yes that's right bark! Much of the book is dedicated to understanding what affects the look of a tree or plant when it's bare and, consequently, bark is focal point and it's fascinating. I'm not biologically-orientated person but I am an artist and it felt like Cedric Pollet was explaining a new medium and sharing how each kind of bark one chooses shapes the artwork created, a garden that shines in the Winter.

The gardens in the book exquisite! I have rarely seen such innovation and beauty come together so well. It is also packed with historical information such as "The three principal genera with decorative bark - Betula (birch), Acer (maple), Prunus (Cherry - were introduced late into Europe. Some species, mainly American (the Pennsylvania maple, the black birch and the paper birch), had arrived by 1750. Yet it was not until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries that the available range of species with ornamental bark was enriched mostly with plants that came from China."

Cedric gives this perspective on the book's target market "It is above all an act of homage that I wish to pay to all those visionary gardeners who have inspired me so much over the past few years. The book is also addressed to everyone who loves plants or is passionate about gardens, as well as to landscape professionals." He fulfills his promise beautifully! I walked away truly inspired and intending to refer back to this book for more. Highly recommended for those interested in gardening and landscape beauty, 4 out of 5!

With thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln

Winter Gardens displays an unusually fetishistic perspective on plants in winter. I arrived at the book as an artist not a horticulturist because although I can capture plants visually I cannot keep them alive so my review will entirely be from that perspective. The book drew my attention because I wondered what a winter garden could be composed of and so I requested a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I use the term fetishistic because there is a stylized fixation with these trees and plants in subdued tones that is at once artful but also an introduction into a world of winter that is not the sterilized white wonderland. Instead there is a lushly naked defiance of plants in the heart of winter, stripped bare of their leaves but still so beautiful and alive. Rather than having a stark quality, Winter Gardens feels enduring and inspiring.

Loved the photos in this one! Winter is the hardest season for me because it is dark and dreary. I loved all the new ideas that I have to brighten up my surroundings with winter color!

Very useful, insightful, informative book. Learnt a lot. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC

Winter gardens are wonderful to see......This book has all you want to know about winter gardens.........

I was not familiar with winter gardening until I read this book. The book has short essays accompanied with gorgeous photographs of the author's favorite winter gardens. I enjoyed reading about the history of winter gardening and short biographies about the gardeners. This book is not a gardening book but it will encourage you to look at gardens and trees differently and to read more about it. This book will make a great gift for any gardener. Enjoy