Do not be fooled by the serious-looking photo of the author on the back of the dust cover; instead look carefully at her eyebrows. One curves nicely and is well-behaved, the other arches out erratically towards her temple. Margery Fish has a wonderful sense of humor, especially when talking about the differences she and her husband had over what a garden should look like. Their ideas always seemed diametrically opposed, though she often allowed that he was right in the end. In this book she describes the many facets of creating their garden at East Lambourne from scratch,from making walls, paths and lawns to what flowers to plant. She is frank about her mistakes and what she learned from them, which I find helpful and endearing since I have made, and still make, lots of mistakes myself. The book is full of ideas and information - I have finally found out how to treat delphiniums after the finish flowering and how to prepare them for winter. (Many garden books neglect this aspect of gardening I find.)Margery's garden at East Lambourne is still maintained as it was in her lifetime, and is on my list of places to visit whenever I can afford to go to England.Now, what else has she written?....
These lines from the last chapter say it all:'We all have a lot to learn and in every new garden there is a chance of finding inspiration - new flowers, different arrangements or fresh treatment for old subjects. Even if it is a garden you know by heart there are twelve months in the year and every month means a different garden, and the discovery of things unexpected all the rest of the year.'That's what this book is all about. Learning and sharing experiences. That's how all gardeners should be and it resumes a lot about the joy of gardening.This book is a classic and a piece of history in Englands gardening.Very good reading while you can't go out in the garden.
