Green Shades: An Anthology of Plants, Gardens and Gardeners

A delightful companion for all those with a love for gardens and for the very best garden writing. Acclaimed author Elizabeth Jane Howard said she would certainly have been a gardener had she not become a writer first. In Green Shades: An Anthology of Plants, Gardens and Gardeners, first published in 1991, she brings together a diverse and fascinating selection of gardening writing spanning the centuries, the seasons and the species. The contents are eclectic and wide ranging, practical as well as lyrical—she pays homage to the great English landscape artists of the eighteenth century and to the great women gardeners such as Vita Sackville West. Linking the numerous extracts is Howard’s perceptive and highly personal commentary, which skilfully leads from one subject to the next.