Summer reading
Here in Bundanoon, summer has been elusive. The sun has had to compete with mist and rain; the weeds are the happiest plants in the garden. That’s meant a bit more time for reading. Two novels I’ve finished are set […]
Category: Book News
Common Ground – Garden Histories of Aoteoroa
Common Ground – Garden Histories of Aoteoroa by Matt Morris, Otago University Press, 2020, 276 pages [Find an interview with the author at https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018774296] I lapped this up: a ‘bottom up’ re-look, re-write of New Zealand garden history that is […]
Wonder: 175 Years of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Hardie Grant Books Richmond, Melbourne, 2021)
As a Melbournian, it was a pleasure to review this amazing book, Wonder 175 Years of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria by Sophie Cunningham AM and journalist Peter Wilmoth. Two authors could be problematic; however, Cunningham and Wilmoth write together seamlessly […]
Saffron
SAFFRON: A Global History by Ramin Ganeshram (Reaktion Books, distributed by NewSouth) was reviewed by Dr Jacqueline Newling, historian and gastronomer in the July issue of Australian Garden History. We didn’t have room there to include a recipe the publishers […]
Book review: a history of food
As editor of both Australian Garden History and the Professional Historians Association’s review page, I receive advice about a lot of books, some of which I think will interest members of both organisations. True to the Land: a history of […]
New book: Illustrated Plant Glossary
The Illustrated Plant Glossary (CSIRO Publishing, 2021, $69.99) by Enid Mayfield is a comprehensive glossary of over 4000 terms related to plant sciences, featuring many superb colour illustrations to aid understanding. AGHS Patron and Director, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Tim Entwisle […]
Illustrations from an 18th-century botanical treasury
Do you want to know what a florilegium is, or a herbal, and would you like to acquire a piece of an undisputed monument in this genre of books? If so, you could be looking for Johann Wilhelm Weinmann’s Iconography […]
Finding the Mother Tree: book review
Simard, Suzanne, Finding the Mother Tree – Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest, 2021, Penguin Random House available in hardback, paperback, audio and Kindle. This book almost makes you want to be locked down! It is a compelling […]
Spirit of the Garden: book review
Trisha Dixon has written an extraordinary book straight from her heart. Her beautiful descriptions and potent images – Trisha is a superb photographer − show a very strong connection with landscapes and the feelings they provoke: feelings that are undeniably […]