Table of Contents
Introduction 9
Part 1 The Early Plantsmen
Chapter 1 John Gerard (1545-1612) - Barber-surgeon, gardener, herbalist and rogue 14
Chapter 2 The Tradescants - Royal Gardeners, planthunters, nurserymen and antiquarians 23
John Tradescant the Elder (c.1570-1638)
John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662)
Part II A Growing Concern
Chapter 3 George London (d.1714) and Henry Wise (1653-1738) - Royal gardeners and nurserymen 36
Chapter 4 Thomas Fairchild (1667-1729) - Nurseryman, early hybridiser and author of The City Gardener 45
Chapter 5 Philip Miller (1691-1771) - Gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden and author of the Gardeners Dictionary 54
Part III The Great Designers
Chapter 6 Charles Bridgeman (d.1738) - Transitional designer between formality and informality; gardener to royalty, and aristocracy 66
Chapter 7 William Kent (1685-1748) - Mercurial genius who dominated English design in the early eighteenth century 75
Chapter 8 'Capability' Lancelot Brown (1716-1783) - Landscape gardener par excellence 85
Chapter 9 Humphry Repton (1752-1818) - Would-be inheritor of Brown's mantle and creator of the Red Books 98
Part IV The Industrial Age
Chapter 10 John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) - Garden designer, journalist, author, educator and populariser of gardening 110
Chapter 11 William Andrews Nesfield (1794-1881) - Army engineer, water colourist and high Victorian garden designer 122
Chapter 12 Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) - Head gardener at Chatsworth and visionary designer of Crystal Palace 132
Part V The Flower Garden
Chapter 13 William Robinson (1838-1935) - Father of the English flower garden 146
Chapter 14 Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) - Artist, craftswoman and gardener 157
Chapter 15 Lawrence Johnston (1871-1958) - Creator of Hidcote Manor garden 169
Chapter 16 Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) - Novelist, poet, columnist and creator of Sissinghurst 180
Chapter 17 Margery Fish (1892-1969) - Re-inventor of the English cottage garden 192
Part VI Classical and Modern
Chapter 18 Russell Page (1906-1985) - Master of modern formality and author of The Education of a Gardener 204
Chapter 19 Rosemary Verey (1918-2001) - New traditionalist and exporter of English romanticism to America 214
Chapter 20 Penelope Hobhouse (1929-) - Writer, international garden designer and National Trust chatelaine 224
Chapter 21 John Brookes (1933-2018) - The man who made the modern garden 234
Part VII The Later Plantsmen
Chapter 22 Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006) - Mastermind of the legendary flower garden at Great Dixter 244
Chapter 23 Beth Chatto (1923-2018) - Advocate of the right plant for the right place 254
Chapter 24 Tom Stuart-Smith (1960-) - Multiple Chelsea gold medal winning designer of modern, sustainable gardens 264
Notes 273
Bibliography 301
Acknowledgements 312
Index 314