Hello rosebuds!๐
You guys! Today is my 26th birthday! In honor of this very special occasion, I came up with the grand idea to combine my two loves into one discussion. Those being: books and gardens. I mean, my blog isn’t called The Garden of Read-En for nothing, am I right?
THE GIVEAWAY:
I am also hosting a birthday giveaway over on my bookstagram @the_garden_of_readen. The post for that won’t go up until a little later on today, so make sure you are following me to be alerted as to when it does. It will also include all of the rules and details on what you can win. The giveaway is going to be themed and will include items inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Gardenย andย A Little Princess. I may or may not also include a separate prize forย the sameย winner to win a book of their choice. Not everyone can be pushed into reading my favorite books. I get that!
Anyway, let’s get into some books about gardens and gardeners, shall we?
THE BOOKS
1.ย The Secret Garden
by: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Iย couldn’t write a list of books about gardens and not include The Secret Garden. This children’s classic has beautiful descriptions of the hidden garden Mary tends to. Burnett’s writing is so utterly atmospheric that you can’t help but be instantly transported to the gardens at Misselthwaite Manor.
2.ย Old Herbaceous
by: Reginald Arkell
Reginald Arkell is somehow able to perfectly capture the care and passion a gardener has for their work in in Bert Pinnegar’s character. Bert’s only true love in life is gardening, so when his job as head gardener is taken from him, all that’s left is a longing in which only a fellow retired landscaper would understand.
Old Herbaceousย is a classic British novel of the garden. In it, we follow an orphan, Bert Pinnegar, starting from his youth as a schoolboy where he enjoys picking wildflowers and often finds himself dodging angry farmers, all the way to adulthood where he becomes a legendary head gardener earning the name, โOld Herbaceousโ.
3.ย Tom’s Midnight Garden
by: Philippa Pearce
This children’s fantasy novelย isn’t necessarily a gardening book, but rather a book that just takes place in a garden. Unlike most of the other picks on this list, Tom’s Midnight Garden has some magical elements to it. If you are interested in reading a book about a garden, and fantasy is your go-to genre, than this might be your best bet.
Tomโs Midnight Gardenย is a modern childrenโs classic that follows Tom who is shipped off to his aunt and uncles for the summer after his brother gets sick. Tom is positive that the entire season will be spent miserably, but then one night he hears his relativeโs grandfather clock chime thirteen times. Tom is then transported back to an old garden where he meets a young girl named Hatty.
Every night, Tom returns to this garden and has wonderful adventures with Hatty. Not everything is quite as it seems though. Hatty grows mysteriously older with each visit, and by the end of the summer, Tom finds himself wanting to stay with her forever.
4.ย Down the Garden Path
by: Beverley Nichols
Down the Garden Pathย is known as one of the most quintessential gardening books to date. Written as a memoir, the book follows the author’s account of the creation of an English garden during the 1930s. Considered to be just as comical as it is memorable, Down the Garden Path highlights some of the many trials and tribulations in which every gardener will at one point go through. Labors range from the setbacks of creating a rock garden, and go all the way to the struggles of cultivating plants in a greenhouse. There may or may not also be some cats involved as well.ย
5.ย My Summer in a Garden
by: Charles Dudley Warner
Along with Old Herbaceous, as well as a few other books on this list, My Summer in a Gardenย is part of the Modern Library Gardening series. This collection of paperbacks features a total of seven gardening books.
My Summer in a Garden is another memoir where we follow the author through hisย many struggles as an amateur gardener. Warner’s accounts of his laborious struggles in the garden are organized by monthly entries where we see him learn to garden through the many experiences that come with having no help but his own.
6.ย The Forgotten Garden
by: Kate Morton
The Forgotten Garden is a great pick for those of you who love the children’s classic, The Secret Garden. The narrative brings Frances Hodgson Burnett in as a character, and gives the idea that the walled garden in this novel, influenced the original story.
The Forgotten Garden is a historical fiction novel that follows Nell, a young girl who is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia back in 1913. Years later, when Nell is told the truth of her history by her adopted parents, she sets out to trace her real identity. Unfortunately, it’s not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell dies that everything starts to come together.
7.ย Elizabeth and her German Garden
by: Elizabeth Von Arnim
This is a book that has a realistic portrayal of what it means to not only be an amateur gardener, but a Victorian woman with a desire to garden, as well. We follow Elizabeth as she struggles to communicate with her gardener how she wants her garden to look. She has a vision, but due to the fact that she can’t physically get down on her hands and knees and plant everything herself, she often fails to get the desired results.
Elizabeth and Her German Gardenย is an extremely short book at only 104 pages. It is told through a series of diary entries from the author Elizabeth, and follows her throughout the course of one year. Elizabeth often discusses how she has found the utmost happiness in her garden.
8.ย The Gardener’s Bed-Book
by: Richardson Wright
The Gardenerโs Bed-Bookย is a collection of 365 essays all relating to the garden. The idea being that each story is meant to be read in bedย at night after a long dayโs work. Wright not only gives great gardening advice, but also excels at describing some of the challenges one goes through when cultivating a garden of one’s own. The Gardenerโs Bed-Bookย is a great read that is perfect for not only gardening experts, but admirers as well.
9.ย We Made a Garden
by: Margery Fish
We Made a Gardenย is a memoir following a unique English country garden. In it, we follow author Margery Fish as she discusses how she and her husband created a cottage garden on the site of the former farmyard in Somerset, England. She also explains many things in which she learns along the way. From the secret to cultivating the smoothest lawn, all the way to the landscaping possibilities of evergreens.
10.ย The Lost Garden
by: Helen Humphreys
Like The Forgotten Garden, The Lost Garden is another historical fiction novel featuring a mysterious garden. The narrative takes place during WWII and follows Gwen, a 35-year old spinster, who flees London to join the “Land Girls” in the farming of potatoes. Upon arriving, Gwen discovers two things. The first being that the other girls are more interested in the soldiers than in planting the crops. The second being a hidden, abandoned garden on the estate. Got Secret Garden vibes yet? Thought so.
I hope you enjoyed reading todayโs post!
Until next time,
The Garden of Read-En 