This is an insightful and enlightening look at the life and works of the internationally renowned English garden designer. Rosemary Verey was the last of the great English garden legends. Although she embraced gardening late in life, she quickly achieved international renown. She was the acknowledged apostle of the "English style," the "must have" adviser to the rich and famous - including Prince Charles and Elton John - and a wildly popular lecturer. She was a natural teacher who encouraged her fans to believe that they were fully capable of creating beautiful gardens while validating their quest for a native vernacular, She also re-introduced the English to their own gardening traditions. A demanding taskmaster and a relentless perfectionist, Rosemary Verey, in her life as in her work, was the very personification of the English garden style.

In this volume Rosemary Verey takes the reader on a personal tour of her garden at Barnsley House, Gloucestershire. She discusses her learning process in making it - including not only successes but also changes as the garden evolved - and covers different gardening skills.

Offers planting plans for a variety of garden designs, including herb gardens, formal gardens, scented gardens, summer borders, knot gardens, and cutting gardens

Thirty women describe their flower and vegetable gardens and discuss the special problems they had to solve to make the gardens successful

A campaign on behalf of an almost forgotten pleasure of gardening--the pursuit of fragrance. Tells which plants to cultivate for crisp winter smells and for the sublime nosegays of summer in your home.

All the secret gardens in this book are real, not imaginary, although they posses the beauty and mystery of their forebears. Some have the charm of intimacy, others are jungle-like and over-grown, but all give a strong feeling of the presence of their creator.

Rosemary Verey had a highly personal approach to planning enchanting gardens in different styles. This book brings together ideas to try, lessons to learn and tips to remember. Illustrated with scale plans, planting schemes and sketches and with colour photographs, this is a practical and inspirational guide.