Lost In The Gardens

Mei had waited very long for this day, the day to visit Gardens by the Bay! But she soon wanders off and loses her way. Lost and afraid, she meets Wise Wee the bear. Together, they search for Mom and go on an adventure around the Gardens like no other. Discover the amazing sights of Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay in this beautifully illustrated book with an engaging rhyming story that will capture the imagination of readers of all ages.

Gardens are one of the most important elements in the cultural history of Scotland. Like any art form, they provide an insight into social, political and economic fashions, they intimately reflect the personalities and ideals of the individuals who created them, and they capture the changing fortunes of successive generations of monarchs and noblemen. Yet they remain fragile features of the landscape, easily changed, abandoned or destroyed, leaving little or no trace.In Scotland's Lost Gardens, author Marilyn Brown rediscovers the fascinating stories of the nation's vanished historic gardens. Drawing on varied, rare and newly available archive material, including the cartography of Timothy Pont, a spy map of Holyrood drawn for Henry VIII during the 'Rough Wooing', medieval charters, renaissance poetry, the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, and modern aerial photography, a remarkable picture emerges of centuries of lost landscapes.Starting with the monastic gardens of St Columba on the Isle of Iona in the sixth century, and encompassing the pleasure parks of James IV and James V, the royal and noble refuges of Mary Queen of Scots, and the 'King's Knot', the garden masterpiece which lies below Stirling Castle, the history of lost gardens is inextricably linked to the wider history of the nation, from the spread of Christianity to the Reformation and the Union of the Crowns.The product of over 30 years of research, Scotland's Lost Gardens demonstrates how our cultural heritage sits within a wider European movement of shared artistic values and literary influences. Providing a unique perspective on this common past, it is also a fascinating guide to Scotland's disappeared landscapes and sanctuaries - lost gardens laid out many hundreds of years ago 'for the honourable delight of body and soul'.

Hidden within the derelict gardens of abandoned Wickersham Priory, a deadly secret is waiting. But when an unsuspecting young Californian named Jamie Gibson finds herself the new owner of the estate, through a surprise bequest from a total stranger---the secret begins to stir. Jamie, fired with enthusiasm to restore the gardens to their 1930s glory, seeks the help of Lawrence Kingston, a retired professor of botany, eccentric bon viveur, and amateur sleuth. Lawrence soon unearths an old chapel, which leads to an ancient Healing Well, which in turn yields a human skeleton. And as the police pursue their inquiries, Kingston begins his own investigation---following a baffling trail of clues that wind down through the centuries, from the battlegrounds of World War II to the depths of the Middle Ages. It is a trail marked by misadventure, revenge, compassion, and murder when finally Kingston unlocks the secret of Wickersham Priory, he and Jamie must confront a reckoning that neither of them could have ever imagined. As with the highly acclaimed The Blue Rose, Eglin brings his botanical and literary skill to this new mystery.

Leaving London to grow food for the war effort, Gwen discovers a mysterious lost garden and the story of a love that becomes her own. This word-perfect, heartbreaking novel is set in early 1941 in Britain when the war seems endless and, perhaps, hopeless. London is on fire from the Blitz, and a young woman gardener named Gwen Davis flees from the burning city for the Devon countryside. She has volunteered for the Land Army, and is to be in charge of a group of young girls who will be trained to plant food crops on an old country estate where the gardens have fallen into ruin. Also on the estate, waiting to be posted, is a regiment of Canadian soldiers. For three months, the young women and men will form attachments, living in a temporary rural escape. No one will be more changed by the stay than Gwen. She will inspire the girls to restore the estate gardens, fall in love with a soldier, find her first deep friendship, and bring a lost garden, created for a great love, back to life. While doing so, she will finally come to know herself and a life worth living.

October, 1916. Clara is sent to stay with her formidable aunt and uncle in the grounds of a country estate. Clara soon discovers that her new surroundings hold secrets: a locked room and a hidden key, and a mysterious boy who only appears in the gardens at night... But can Clara face up to her own secrets, and a war she’s desperate to forget?

Secret Gardens of Somerset offers a personal tour of 20 of the UK’s most beguiling gardens in this much-loved area of southern England, defined by its distinctive horticulture, rolling hills, picturesque villages and the most traditional English landscape. Abigail Willis and Clive Boursnell give you privileged access to 20 gardens, from a highly productive working flower farm to very personal private retreats, revealing their history, design and plant collections, in the company of their devoted owners and head gardeners. In the footsteps of artists and trend-setters from Victorian designers such as Harold Peto to planting visionary, Gertrude Jekyll as well as contemporary pioneer Piet Oudolf, we find a series of beguiling country gardens of different sizes and atmospheres, which have shaped the English identity, and in different ways express the ideals of English life. The gardens: The American Museum and Gardens, Barley Wood Walled Garden, Batcombe House, The Bishop’s Palace, Common Farm, Cothay Manor, East Lambrook Manor, Elworthy Cottage, Forest Lodge, Greencombe Gardens, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Hestercombe, Iford Manor, Kilver Court, Midney Gardens, Milton Lodge gardens, The Newt in Somerset, Stoberry House, Westbrook House, and Yeo Valley Organic Garden. Most of the gardens included here are privately owned and usually open to the public. Meanwhile, all of these landscapes can now be enjoyed through the eyes of the owners themselves. Tour even more magnificent English gardens with Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds and Secret Gardens of East Anglia.

Stumbling upon a hidden and forgotten garden, three young friends find themselves transported to World War One, and caught up in the shocking truth of young soldiers sent to fight for their country. Beautifully illustrated by Michael Foreman, this thought-provoking play helps to bring the First World War into modern day.

The glorious No.1 bestseller Until the First World War, the estate gardens at Heligan were one of the glories of Cornwall. Thereafter, through growing neglect, they slipped gradually to sleep. This is the amazing story of their rediscovery and restoration, or the Victorian vision and ingenuity which first created that subtropical paradise, and of the modern obsession and improvisation which recreated it.