Customer Reviews

The Colors of Nature: Subtropical Gardens by Raymond Jungles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book packs in a lot of Jungles work and is the largest collection os same. Jungles' landscape work has also been published previously by James Grason Trulove's various publications and there may be some overlap with this book.

I learned about Raymond Jungles over 10 years ago at a talk he gave at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami where he showcased his work.

I gave this book 3 stars for various reasons. One some of the jobs have site plans to give an idea of the work, others don't and this is disappointing to understand the features of Jungles artistic creations illustrated by the photos. Also there could have been more detailed information as to how he transformed the space, as that is the exciting part.

In Jungles recent presentation at Fairchild in December 2008, he did just that with one of the projects in the book for a home in Panama with difficult terrain, yet this is not contained in the book.

Otherwise the photos are beautiful and the book nicely put together. There are other books on tropical landscape that I would give higher marks such as Made Wijaya a/k/a Michael White's Tropical Garden Design.

Raymond Jungles is a talented South Florida landscaper, whose work is showcased in this book.

It is interesting that in order to see a listing of plants he most often works with, one has to refer to "Modern Tropical Garden Design", by Made Wijaya--as there is no list in Jungles' own book.

I feel the book would have been better had more plant names been included with the photos, but "The Colors of Nature" still is a lovely book on some selected subtropical gardens. One can "get the feel" of the work of Mr. Jungles and learn a little about landscape design in the process.

As a landcape architect, I'm constantly seeking inspiration for my work and The Colors of Nature delivered brilliantly. Raymond Jungles is one of my favorite residential landscape architects and his book is full of his best known works and offers up amazing photographs of his creations. Most of the gardens have brief descriptions, plan views and many full color photographs with only plant lists lacking. His designs tend to be more contemporary using strong architectonic elements to create outdoor rooms and anchor his wild plantings.

A stunning book, truly inspirational. I always like more information on plant varieties in any book, but this time I simply could not stop turning the pages. Why doesn't my yard look like that?

The work of Raymond Jungles, shown in great photos, inspires me for further creative endeavors in my own South Florida garden. He has magnificent brilliance that puts joy into the spaces he created, large or small. Thank you for the inspiration!