A thoughtfully edited and beautiful collection of: “poetry and prose, fact and fiction, practical advice and wildly impractical ideas” for garden lovers of every type. With a clipping for every night of the year, this book allows you to amble through this anthology and soak up the views. I have absolutely loved her friends and nature poem collections for every day of the year, and Jane McMorland Hunter now turns her attention to an anthology of garden writing for every night of the year. It was lovely to read in the introduction that this anthology is the closest to Jane McMorland Hunter’s heart and perfectly sums up a love of gardens by declaring that you: “don’t even need a garden to garden: you can visit gardens, peer over walls and round fences, make plans for gardens you might have one day and read about them. The aim on this anthology is to satisfy the last of those activities”. This book (what an inviting and stunning cover by the way) is all about inspiration, it invites you to ponder and consider or just dream and invent. The original source for each piece is given so you can further investigate if you wish. You will discover a diverse, uplifting and exciting collection from Satan’s View of the Garden of Eden from Paradise Lost by John Milton in 1667, to comments In Your Garden by Vita Sackville-West in 1951, right through to Monty Don’s 2009 The Invington Diaries. Jane McMorland Hunter must have had tremendous fun searching out the entries, and be absolutely exhausted! Chosen as a LoveReading Star Book, The Bedside Companion for Gardeners really is a glorious place in which to lose yourself to the joy of gardens.
A mix of fact and fiction, fantasy and experience, the Bedside Companion for Gardeners is a treasure trove of green-fingered inspiration where practical advice blends seamlessly with poetry and prose from intrepid gardeners past and present. Dip in and out of this collection with an entry for every night of the year that draws on writing through the ages and from across the globe.The Bedside Companion for Gardeners incorporates practical advice from the 17th-century gardening diarist John Evelyn; inspiring prose from Elizabeth von Arnim and John Milton; astute commentary from Horace Walpole on William Kent and Nancy Mitford on the vulgarity of a Surrey garden. Kipling offers practical advice, while Tennyson waxes lyrical on an Arabian night garden.The perfect gift for any gardener, this magical book is an invaluable source of inspiration and guidance to revisit throughout the year.
'A delightful read to escape into last thing at night' - Paula McWaters -- Country Living
'The green-fingered will love this anthology' -- Daily Express/Daily Mirror
'This thoughtful and inspiring selection offers a fresh perspective on our outdoor space' - Sunday Express
Author
About Jane McMorland Hunter
Jane McMorland Hunter is a passionate lover of the written word who works at Hatchards bookshop when not writing. She has written and edited several poetry and prose collections, including A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year, Friends: A Poem for Every Day of the Year, A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year, Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year and Bedside Companion for Gardeners. She lives in London.
