Gardens Of Obsession - Hardcover

Cooper, Gordon; Taylor, Gordon

4.07

15 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297823736 ISBN 13: 9780297823735

Publisher: W&N, 1999

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These gardens of obsession are visionary, magical, beautiful, dreamy, witty and bizarre - all personal realizations of driven, all-consuming fantasies in the garden, representing all classes and all economic resources. These gardens are metamorphoses of dreams into garden realities. They use all sorts of materials, and range from large rocks shaped by Prince Orsini in the 16th century into Renaissance beasts below his villa near Rome to 20th-century plastic flowers floating in green corrugated sheeting in the front garden of Clifford Davis's terrace house in Blackpool. There are gardens that lie in the jungles of Mexico, a back garden in Chartres, France, a rock garden in India, and many "Edens" and paradises in the USA, as well as Holland, Spain, Scandinavia, South Africa and Australia.

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Review:

Gardens of Obsession are "the metamorphoses of dreams, fantasies, ancient myths or allegories made into a physical reality". This stunning book features a breathtaking array of 150 gardens, from the beautiful to the bizarre, from the enchanting to the eccentric, each of them the realisation of one person's wildest dreams. And it is the fact that these dreams can be so completely brought to life on the garden's canvas that make this book so enthralling. Even the most extravagant design has been achieved with great accomplishment, even the most extreme idea has become reality. Yet these gardens are also testament to craft and hard work--only the obsessive bent on creating something truly personal can achieve the sort of visions exemplified in the book.

The locations of these horticultural wonders can be found in the jungles of Mexico, on the lawns of Oxfordshire, in an Ecuador cemetery and in the surrounds of a Czechoslovakian castle. Some reflect high culture, others explore surrealist fantasy containing lavish topiary and astonishing sculptural splendour. Within these pages we are taken on a pilgrimage through the minds and souls of people who have striven to realise themselves through the deeply personal space that a garden can be. When so many gardening books remain mired in the utilitarian this wonderful volume takes a bold leap into fantasy. This is the book for anyone who wants a to be inspired to create a garden that goes beyond a tidy lawn with tidy borders. --Nicola Hollins

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