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A rapturous read, filled with human stories, memories, hopes, dreams and imaginings, and as in the plants so wondrously carried within, this is a book we gardeners (botanists, plant and nature-lovers) must all agree on. A treasure, “glossy and its flowers abundant”, – this book is pure goodness for the soul.

“The sight of a flower on a window-sill imparts a gleam of hope and of respect. You feel that however hard the toil and poor the sustenance of the cultivator, the higher faculties of enjoyment and taste have not been ground away. “ (Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward)

Reading this book on a gorgeous autumn day cannot help but make this reader yearn for spring, or summer – a day to sink one’s hands into the earth, and feast with one’s eyes on the beauty that is a garden in full bloom. Any garden. Including each of the luscious and lovely front yards explored in this gorgeous and evocative gardening missive – a homage to all that is a garden, and “the ghosts of plants (we all) have loved, killed and longed for”.

As the author, a professional gardener – explores “one suburban British road, (Grove Park) over the course of a single year, its plants and its people”, he focuses his lens on nineteen specific plants and gardens – observed, remembered, studied, but mostly, experienced in the moment – bringing to life an infinitely richer, fuller, more entrancing view of these plants (for this reader, many of which, in a less-informed way, are already familiar and much-loved.). Amidst an unmistakable kinship and connection, shared and understood, this book is a heart-felt treasure, seeking out all of us (newbies and professionals) who feel the call to garden and to dream.

“We gardeners are eternal platespinners and literal mole-whackers, always struggling to keep this little piece of crust synced with notions of prettiness, forever tidying away nature.”

Told in a highly-engaging conversational, anecdotal style, this book is a veritable gold-mine of plant history, cultivation, literature and botanist legends, design tips and nuggets, but mostly, vivid and achingly beautiful observations and descriptions that will surely resonate with every reader who has the good fortune to pick this book up.

“In the bruised-blue shade, flowers and herbs are recast as fronds on a forest floor.”

“The almost-metallic brightness of its tiny flowers brings out the soft, dew-dipped nature of a pink floribunda rose.”

“As long as there was space to plant, there was room to feed the soul.”

Without a doubt, the loveliest gardening memoir, diary or “odyssey” this reader has encountered in a very long time.

This is a book that will surely sit on my night-table, dog-eared and bookmarked, re-read and enjoyed, – head filled with visions of the hazy splendor of the “jeweled veil”, (a five-foot cloud of gossamer verbena) or the “nectar bribe” of a buddlejia – offering the perfect pathway to a night of dreams, the scent of honey, and the promise of, (to the reader or the butterfly), a night of the “sweetest succor”.

My stop today on the @randomttours @bensgarden @ben_dark_ #blogtour for #theGrove @octopus-books

A great big thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.