Modern Library Gardening Series

Margery Fish’s classic and influential book describing how she created East Lambrook Manor garden from scratch in the 1950s.

After a lengthy absence of 150 years, this book returns to the literary scene, offering readers a chance to explore its timeless themes and insights. The revival presents an opportunity to engage with its historical context and appreciate the significance it held in its original era. This reissue aims to introduce a new generation to its unique narrative and enduring relevance.

A Modern Library Paperback OriginalDuring the first years of the twentieth century, the British plant collector and explorer Frank Kingdon Ward went on twenty-four impossibly daring expeditions throughout Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia, in search of rare and elusive species of plants. He was responsible for the discovery of numerous varieties previously unknown in Europe and America, including the legendary Tibetan blue poppy, and the introduction of their seeds into the world’s gardens. Kingdon Ward’s accounts capture all the romance of his wildly adventurous expeditions, whether he was swinging across a bottomless gorge on a cable of twisted bamboo strands or clambering across a rocky scree in fear of an impending avalanche. Drawn from writings out of print for almost seventy-five years, this new collection, edited and introduced by professional horticulturalist and House & Garden columnist Tom Christopher, returns Kingdon Ward to his deserved place in the literature of discovery and the literature of the garden.

Trieste Publishing specializes in high-quality reproductions of classic literature, both fiction and non-fiction, sourced from libraries and private collections globally. Each title is meticulously scanned to replicate the original, minimizing imperfections like blurred text or missing pages. Rigorous quality control ensures that readers enjoy a faithful reproduction, providing an authentic experience akin to owning the original work. Trieste offers individual and bulk purchasing options, catering to readers seeking exceptional literary value.

Delightful descriptions and characterizations enliven this tale of an old-time gardener in an English countryside garden and his love of plants. With tender mentoring and the luck of winning a prize at the flower show, young Herbert becomes what he had dreamed of. This is the amusing story of an awkward orphan child with one leg a bit longer than the other who rises from unremarkable school-boy days spent picking wild-flowers and dodging angry farmers to become the legendary head gardener "Old Herbaceous," the most esteemed flower-show judge in the county and a famed horticultural wizard. Old Herbaceous traces his journey from young help to head gardener and although things have changed, the world had started with a garden (in Eden) after all, and things that old don't disappear so easily! Sprinkled with many nuggets of gardening wisdom, this is THE classic novel of the garden and the gardener, a witty and comical portrait, with a main character as unforgettable as P. G. Wodehouse's immortal butler, Jeeves.