This volume meticulously records our enduring love affair with the most beautiful and exotic of plants, the water lily.

'It took me a long time to understand my water lilies,' Monet wrote of his pond at Giverny. 'I had planted them for the pure pleasure of it, and I grew them without thinking of painting them...And then, all of a sudden, I had the revelation of the enchantment of my pond. I took up my palette. Since then I've had no other model.' The pond became Monet's most enduring motif, the water lilies the most celebrated flowers he ever painted. This book tells the story of their role as a central source of artistic inspiration, bringing exciting insights into Monet's work as a gardener and painter. Vivian Russell also describes the making of the water garden which, in contrast to the flower garden, was to be meditative and mysterious, in tune with the Japanese aesthetic. She reveals how Monet chose his water lilies from plants bred specially by Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac at his nursery near Bordeaux. Her superb photographs capturing the ephemeral beauty of the flowers, and the way they appear to float on clouds and undulating rushes, portray the changing moods of the pond, complementing Monet's own serene poems to light.

The history of plants and flowers are examined using profiles of twenty plant families and hundreds of botanical paintings from the archives of the Natural History Museum, London.

Ground-breaking scientific research and new philosophical perspectives currently challenge our anthropocentric cultural assumptions of the vegetal world. As humanity begins to grapple with the urgency imposed by climate change, reconsidering human/plant relationships becomes essential to grant a sustainable future on this planet. It is in this context that a multifaceted approach to plant-life can reveal the importance of ecological interconnectedness and lead to a more nuanced consideration of the variety of living organisms and ecosystems with which we share the planet. In Botanical Speculations, researchers, artists, art historians, and activists collaboratively map the uncharted territories of new forms of botanical knowledge. This book emerges from a symposium held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in September 2017, and capitalizes on contemporary art’s ability to productively unhinge scientific theories and certainties in order to help us reconsider unquestioned beliefs about this living world.

* A detailed guide to many of the most attractive gardens in Southern England's unspoilt High Weald* Sumptuously illustrated* Contains a Who's Who of the designers, gardeners, plant hunters and nurserymen responsible for these gardensThe 'Garden of England', 'The High Weald', these are phrases that describe a 70-year-old Area of Outstanding National Beauty in Southern England. Among these dramatic landscapes and ancient woodlands stand many castles, mansions and cottages, ringed with orchards, meadows, drifting flowers and horticultural exotica. Featured gardens range from grand landscapes to works of glorious eccentricity, Arts and Crafts green rooms to postage stamp-sized plots of ingenuity. Wilderness weaves into floral genius, while native and exotic species stand side-by-side - all within the unique climate of the English garden. Including chapters on English Parks, Arts and Crafts Gardens and Woodland Gardens, Where the Wildness Pleases - The English Garden Celebrated pays homage to English horticultural excellence and tells the gripping stories behind some of our most breath-taking landscapes. This book also features a handy Who's Who of designers, gardeners, plant hunters and nurserymen, and a brief guide to English playing greens - cricket, bowling, croquet and tennis. This is a welcome guide for anyone interested in visiting this astonishingly beautiful part of the country, or those thinking of buying a plot.

Original German edition published: Munich: Verlag Georg D.W. Callwey, 2009.

Packed with superb color photographs, this detailed manual is the definitive guide to help water gardeners select, cultivate, and care for aquatic plants. Extensive fully illustrated directories list commonly available submerged aquatic plants for ornamental ponds, floating aquatics, hardy and tropical water lilies, lotuses, marginal aquatics, and water irises.