BOOKS
The Reviewer
A selection of the best writing on the shelves this month
The Kew Gardener’s Guide To Growing Roses by Tony Hall Frances Lincoln, £12.99
Like Astaire and Rogers, Simon and Garfunkel, and French and Saunders, roses and English gardens are a dream partnership and it is difficult to imagine one without the other. Yet even to the well initiated in these matters, it can at times be almost impossible to decide on the perfect rose to grow. To assist, author Tony Hall has selected 78 good candidates, grouping them by wide-ranging functions or locations and noting their idiosyncrasies. There are roses for hips, shady spots, training as standards or growing in containers. He makes the case for ramblers and climbers and picks good roses for training against walls – ‘Reine des Violettes’ , ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’, ‘Rosy Cushion’ and Rosa roxburghii, although many will doubtless have an opinion on that. Threaded through it all is the sort of sound advice to be expected from this established writer (his Gardening with Drought-Resistant Plants was published in 2020). He also offers definitive explanations as to the differences between roses types, clearing up any debate over floribundas, grandifloras, climbers and ramblers. Can a garden have too many roses? Many would argue not. And although the bare-root season has passed, it’s not too late to put in a rose for later flowering. If that is on your mind, this book will help you choose just one more – and outline how and where to grow it.
Herb/A Cook’s Companion
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY
by Mark Diacono Quadrille, £26
To the canon of works on herbs, Marc Diacono adds a fresh, contemporary take on the subject. His writing is engaging and draws deeply from personal experience of both growing and cooking these valuable plants. While you’ll find the usual suspects such as parsley, rosemary and so forth, Marc has slipped in a few wildcards that will make you think again. Fig leaves, for instance, make a wonderful flavouring for ice cream and, when toasted, can bring a sweet, slightly nutty flavour to rice. Some additions are less practical – it’s difficult to imagine having many avocado leaves to use – but these are the exception, rather than the rule. There is plenty of growing advice and recipes are diverse and inspiring, among them, picada from Catalonia, adjika from Georgia and hearty French pistou. This wonderful book will enhance the shelves of gardeners and cooks alike.
Plant, House Plants: Choosing, Styling, Caring by Gynelle Leon Mitchell Beazley, £15
The quality of our interior spaces can have an immense effect on the way we experience and view the world. Houseplants have rightly enjoyed their place in the sun in recent years, with millennials in smaller homes of course, but also among those who have had to remain indoors for the past year. Houseplants are all too easy to kill and many is the plant that found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gynelle Leon is the founder of Prick, the Hackney shop specialising in cacti and succulents. Her first book, also called Prick, dealt with that topic. In Plant, she shares knowledge on choosing, styling and caring for leafy houseplants. There are 100 plants noted here and what stands out is their diversity. From broad-leaved Ficus elastica, to filigree Tillandsia usneoides, a world of plants awaits the attentive grower. SPRING 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 121
