Garden Open Today [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Beverley Nichols (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2002

When Beverley Nichols first published Garden Open Today in 1963, he was already well known for his "garden adventure" books such as Down the Garden Path and Merry Hall, whose unforgettable characters still live in the imaginations of present-day gardeners. In Garden Open Today, however, Nichols attempted a departure from his previous gardening books; he sought to distill 30 years of practical gardening experience in an entertaining fashion, and perhaps to strike back at critics who whispered that he was not a "real gardener." Our new facsimile edition includes a foreword and plant-name index by Roy C. Dicks.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beverly Nichols makes an unequivocal case for water in the garden."?�Valerie Easton, Seattle Times, August 31, 2004 (Valerie Easton Seattle Times )

"In this entertaining volume, [Nichols] weaves literature, music, art and travel into his anecdotes, peppering them with memorable characters and droll humor."—Moira Sheridan, People Places Plants, Summer 2003 (Moira Sheridan People Places Plants )

"No one has ever traveled down the garden path with quite the same flair as Beverley Nichols. The latest Timber Press reprints are here, ready to bolster the case."—Bob Cowden, Pacific Horticulture, Winter 2003 (Bob Cowden Pacific Horticulture )

Book Description

Our recent re-release of Beverley Nichols's Merry Hall Trilogy and of Beverley Nichols: A Life by Bryan Connon has precipitated a major revival of interest in this author's wonderful, witty, urbane, and delightful observations of gardens and people. We are pleased to announce the re-release of two more Nichols favorites, Garden Open Today, and Garden Open Tomorrow, to follow in fall.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (June 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881925330
• ISBN-13: 978-0881925333
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and informative reading.....not a "how to" book, June 27, 2003

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Garden Open Today (Hardcover)

Every year, the National Gardens Scheme Charitable Trust (www.ngs.org.uk) in the UK issues the "yellow book" listing details (dates, locations, composition of garden, entrance fee, etc.) about private gardens of England and Wales open to the public on special occasions when a sign will be posted saying "Garden Open Today." The 500+ page yellow book is a county by county guide to these gardens of "quality, character, and interest."

Beverly Nichols book GARDEN OPEN TODAY (first published in 1963) is the next best thing, a narrative tour describing his garden which before his death he opened occasionally to the public. The book is lovingly illustrated with `whimsical' drawings by William McLaren (one photograph of Nichols and his friend Reginald Gaskin collecting money for charity at the entrance to the Nichols' grounds).

Nichols was a "real gardener" who worked side-by-side with several hired gardeners described in his earlier books, including MERRY HALL, LAUGHTER ON THE STAIR, and SUNLIGHT ON THE LAWN. If you haven't discovered Beverly Nichols and you love gardening and/or visiting gardens, you are in for a treat. His books are humorous and instructive, and definitely for cat lovers. (He wrote several books about cats). In GARDEN OPEN TODAY, he takes you step by step through his current garden (he moved a few times and wrote books about several gardens) pointing out some of the more interesting flowers and features.

As usual, the best bits of Nichols' book are anecdotal. His chapter on flower arrangers (apparently the bane of his existence) is hilarious. Nichols was a "loose bunch" kind of guy who detested those who "tortured" flowers in order to twist them into unnatural shapes. He often said that flowers were best left in the garden or picked for a loose and natural arrangement reflecting the perennial border. I suppose I get a big kick out his anti-arranger diatribes because I come from a family of garden club members and garden club founders and have had many encounters with the similar characters. However, almost anyone can appreciate Chapter 18. `A matter of arrangement'

Nichols is a product of his times so his not-quite-politically-correct comments about women gardeners may rankle some, but those of us who grew up in less privileged times will be able to look past the semi-misogynist tone (and hopefully younger women too) and appreciated the interesting and informative material he includes. Besides, he spends more time on cats than women. I recommend this book for bedtime reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a find!, July 21, 2008

By 

Jody (Northwest Ohio) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Garden Open Today (Hardcover)

If Bertie Wooster and Gertrude Jekyll had a son, surely he would have been Beverley Nichols. Anglophile gardeners, cat, music and humor lovers will adore Nichols' superb story-telling in this book and its sequel 'Garden Open Tomorrow'. The illustrations aren't too shabby, either. As an avid gardener, I've jotted down the names of some plants Mr. Nichols swears should be in every garden, though I'll have to spend some time Googling to translate the names he uses into American gardening lingo.

The real juice of this book however, is in deftly hilarious portraits of hypothetical lady gardeners, retirees planting their first garden, and cats. In the hands of a less skillful writer these would be twee bores, as would characterizations of people as types of soil(attributed to Elinor Glyn), a chapter on the real Constance Spry and the occasional breathtaking sentence like one about lilies and music that you'll just have to read for yourself.

In the tradition of P.G. Wodehouse and E. F. Benson, 'Garden Open Today' is a more than worthy addition to any collection of lighter Britlit, and I am gleefully looking forward to reading anything else by Mr. Nichols I can get my hands on. Oh, happy, happy day when I picked up this one, I'd give it ten stars if I could!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Always wonderful!, January 12, 2010

By 

Bubbles "Catholic Enthusiast" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Garden Open Today (Paperback)

I had to have a journal on my lap while reading this book in order to write down all the wonderful ideas and new plants!
Heftier in gardening tips, etc than his prior books (which included humorous distractions of country life and people,) it may surprise some who expect more of the same. However, if you love him and love gardening, get this book!