Book Review: The Twilight Gardener
Image: Val Bradley
Evening is a rewarding time at the end of a busy day, when you can sit and enjoy the garden, especially in summer. It’s a time when scent is more noticeable as humidity increases and you can use subtle lighting to highlight attractive leaves, flowers or plant shapes.
This book aims to inspire you to use the garden for a range of activities in the evening, from games to barbecues. There is advice on planning and plant selection, with personal selections by the author. By far the largest part of the book is given over to a list of plants, with growing information.
Unfortunately, it manages to feel like a generic coffee table book, of which there are so many. There is limited substance, with photographs that are sometimes hard to connect to the text.
There is at least one completely incorrect photograph and others are unclear (a picture of a hornbeam tree shows only part of the tree, but a lot of iris and foxgloves).
There is incorrect use of Latin in the plant names and, if you’re going to use them, it’s important to get them right. Some TV gardeners think this is snobbery, but the point of a Latin name is that it’s universal and allows you to converse with anyone in the world about a plant, whereas the same plant may have over 70 common names.
If you have a large garden, preferably in a warm area, and need ideas for a garden to entertain in, then take a look at this book. However, be aware that the plant selection is very varied and may not suit the smaller garden. The Korean fir (Abies koreana), for instance, is a very large conifer that is better suited to a large garden or park. Likewise, rowan, hornbeam and birch trees are suited to the larger garden. Mirabilis will only grow and flower in warm areas and the climber Trachelospermum needs a very sheltered spot to grow well, so it may struggle in cooler areas.
Would I buy this book as a gift for someone? No, it has nothing new to offer, the quality is poor and it feels like a production line offering that uses library photos to keep the costs down.
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: The Twilight Gardener
Author: Lia Leendertz
Price £26
Published by: Pavilion (Hardback)