Customer Reviews

Exotic Planting for Adventurous Gardeners

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To us garden readers who have enjoyed reading the adventures into gardening by Christopher Lloyd will be pleased and thrilled with the unexpected book by the Master on his 'Exotic Garden' area at Great Dixter UK. After reading the book 'Cuttings', I thought that was the end of an era; but no, we have a new adventure book. Well presented with loads of new photos by Jonathan Buckley. A delight is the additional material given by his gardening friends and these appear throughout the book.
Great read on the exotic garden that began life in 1994. One disappointment is the lack of mention of Farfugium japonicum var, giganteum, or even a photo; to me it is the pinnacle of an exotic garden plant. C. Lloyd did mention it in his book 'Succession Planting' even supplied a dashing photo.
Good Xmas read.

Christopher Lloyd was one of the world's most influential gardeners, and while he passed in 2006, his influence remains. EXOTIC PLANTING FOR ADVENTUROUS GARDENERS covers garden content, structure, and theory and represents his last work, nearly complete at the time of his death. His gardener friends helped finished the book, which receives gorgeous color photos by Jonathan Buckley as it presents articles describing exotics in an urban garden, managing unusual plant combos, and more. Any general-interest collection appealing to gardeners will find it a popular lend.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

For those of you out there, absolutely mad about tropical gardens, this is the ticket for you! Christopher Lloyd, though he left us a short time ago will always be #1. His magnificent transformations of the plain into the fabulous is his trademark.One can see his wonderful, childlike, sense of whimsy, written into his designs. I myself, having seen Great Dixter, his work of art in the UK, was transfixed! His command of the Botanical, as well as the outlandish is phenomenal.

When one has the opportunity to challenge his own ways of gardening... it is refreshing and healthy, and fun. When one can confront himself with Christopher Lloyd's way of gardening... it is much more than that. The book is a journey through esthetics and preferences of one extraordinary individual, not a gardening guide. The essence of gardening is in its individuality, especially in exotics department where it is so easy and tempting to cliche.
Point of reference, but in no way an encyclopedic overview of exotic plants.
Confront yourself with this essential book and enrich your own gardening experience!