A City of Gardens: Glorious Public Gardens In and Around the Nations Capital (Washington Weekends) (Paperback)

~ Barbara Seeber (Author) "Combine Mildred Bliss's fortune and vision with Beatrix Farrand's landscape design and you get Dumbarton Oaks-"the jewel in the crown" of Washington gardens..." (more)
Key Phrases: boxwood parterres, aquatic gardens, upper garden, Mount Vernon, George Washington, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'A City of Gardens: Glorious Public Gardens In and Around the Nation's Capital,' by Barbara Seeber gets close to home with helpful references covering the gardens of Washington....This handbook outlines its many gardens and offers some excellent interpretation of their features and spaces. The author has included complete information about 23 of the more prominent historic estates, botanic gardens, contemplation gardens and parks in the region." --The Washington Post

Product Description

Few cities can boast the rich history and diversity of gardens as the Nation s Capital. City of Gardens provides a guide to 30 public gardens in the Washington area - a look at the traditional and the contemporary; the manicured and the naturalized; the aesthetic and the practical; national treasures and national parks. These gardens range from kitchen garden to historic showplace, from arboretum to downtown pocket garden. This newest guide in Capital's popular Washington Weekends series offers natives and visitors a rich array of treks through DC s gardens, with up-close and in-depth looks at the plants, the plans, and the personalities that shape them. It is an insider s guide to these remarkable spaces, highlighting designs and designers, new cultivars and native species, garden ornament and sculpture, greenhouse and gift shop attractions, garden trivia and historic tidbits. Web sites and directions tell visitors exactly how and why to visit each. Illustrated with spectacular black-and-white photographs, "City of Gardens" is a regional travel guide written by a highly knowledgeable garden-lover for all who love plants and gardens, botany and horticulture, and landscape architecture in a city rich in all. Barbara Seeber captures the essence of each individual garden, and her enthusiasm shines through in each chapter, making this is a garden feast - much more than a guide book!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Capital Books (April 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931868409
• ISBN-13: 978-1931868402
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,245,220 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous - like having a wonderful tour guide on call, January 27, 2006

By	M. Frye "Skyrocket cockers" (Leesburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ever wish you had a book that had certain qualities, and then find one that just meets your needs?

If you are interested in gardens around Washington DC, this is the guide book!
I have quite a bit of free time this spring and wanted to plan several garden visits, but couldn't find anything other than detailed histories of some of the major gardens in the area. In a stroke of luck, I checked out from the library and liked it so much I had to buy a copy.

It's a wonderfully detailed, yet readable description of each of the gardens with lots of nice historical detail without getting bogged down. I am very familiar with oneof the gardens and found the description to be very good.
It is aimed at the gardener, with descriptions of plants.

A real joy for the gardener looking to explore the gardens of Washington, DC.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent destination-oriented guide, July 9, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Judy Karpinski's photos and Karen Thompson's illustrations enhance Barbara Seeber's A City Of Gardens, an impressively informative surveying of public gardens in and around Washington D.C. Any who live on the East Coast will find City Of Gardens to be an excellent destination-oriented guide which invites gardeners and tourists to enjoy the city's garden wonders. Notes on rare plants, old trees, and more pinpoint what makes each destination special.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revisiting D.C.'s Glorious gardens from an ex-pat, May 26, 2004

By	Mark R. Bacon (Lafayette, LA United States) - See all my reviews

I left D.C. over five years ago for Southwest Louisiana. Ms. Seeber's wonderful book "A City Of Garden's" allows me the priveldge to re-visit some of the most wonderful public gardens in D.C., such as Dumbarton Oaks and The Bishop's Garden at The National Cathedral, via a book. And, introduced me to a garden I have missed: "The Old Stone House," which Ms. Seeber astutley points out, "you could walk by and miss." For anyone interested in discovering the real splendors of the D.C. (and vicinity), the public gardens, there is only one source: "A City Of Gardens." Kudos, Ms, Seeber. This is a walk through my past, and a treasure of the utmost to anyone seeking the original and finest destinations in the Washington, D.C. metro area.: the glorious public gardens in and around our Nation's Capital, as the cover rightfully conveys.