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Scent Magic

Notes from a Gardener
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Scent Magic by Isabel Bannerman is a romantic and practical journey through a year in the life of a fragrant garden. Written as a warmly penned diary, it explores the luscious scents of plants, blending the poetic descriptions of flowers like wisteria and Himalayan cowslip with encyclopaedic details of the best aromatic plants to cultivate year-round. Bannerman shares her lifetime's experience in gardening and plant cultivation, inviting readers to discover the magic of scent in the garden.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for gardening enthusiasts, lovers of scented plants, and anyone who appreciates the sensual pleasures of nature. Also a thoughtful gift for those seeking inspiration and a deeper connection to gardens.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A beautifully written, highly personal account of the gardening year

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In Scent Magic, a book which is at once romantic and extremely practical, plantswoman, designer, and garden-maker extraordinaire Isobel Bannerman immerses the reader in the luscious scents of the fragrant garden through a warmly written diary of her year's gardening. This is combined with an encyclopaedic reference work of the best aromatic plants to grow throughout the year.

Whether evoking the freshly baked sponge smell emanating from wisteria, describing 'Stanwell Perpetual' as "the kind of rose that would taste of apricot and raspberries swirled together", or championing the magic of the Himalayan cowslip, "scented profoundly and deliciously like the dark vault of a Damascus spice merchant", the glorious poetry of her descriptions is here joined with a lifetime's experience of gardening and plant cultivation.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as "lyrical, intimate, unique, often random, always interesting" by Katie Campbell in Hortus, the book succeeds in encouraging curiosity beyond mere information. The Irish Times Gardening Books of the Year calls it a "gloriously sensual diary" of garden scents, making it a treasure for gardeners. David Sexton from the Evening Standard lauds it as an "intoxicating" and unmatched gardening book that excites both gardeners and lovers of gardens alike, suggesting it as a life-enhancing gift.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781910258491

Publisher: Gemini Books Group Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 03 October 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pimpernel Press Ltd

Contributors:

  • Foreword by Richard E Grant

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 210.0mm

Height: 270.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Isabel Bannerman is, in the words of Richard E. Grant, 'one of the world's foremost garden designers'. With her husband, Julian, she has designed gardens for King Charles III, for Lord Rothschild, for John Paul Getty . . . and for any number of other grandees and celebrities. But their favourite gardens are those they have made for themselves, notably at Hanham Court near Bristol, Trematon Castle overlooking Plymouth Sound and Ashington Manor in Somerset. Min Hogg, in World of Interiors, describes Isabel and Julian as 'mavericks in the grand manner, touched by genius'. Isabel's first book, Landscape of Dreams, in which her writing was described by Anna Pavord as 'brilliant . . . vivid, engaged' was The Sunday Times Garden Book of the Year 2016, Scent Magic, ('a dream of a book') was The Sunday Times Garden Book of the Year 2019.

Also by Isabel Bannerman

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  • Husbandry
    Isabel Bannerman reflects on the gardens she and her husband, Julian, have made together for the various houses in which they have lived, and the garden they are making now, at Ashington Manor in Somerset. Husbandry offers an intimate glimpse into their collaborative creative process, illustrating their passion for transforming spaces into beautiful, enchanting gardens.
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    A beautifully illustrated and endearing part-biography, part-overview of the thinking behind their work... - Sunday Times Garden Book of the Year Character oozes through every pore of the book. - Tim Richardson, Country Life Gloriously illustrated...displays their touches of genius everywhere. The book is ostensibly about gardens, or garden designs, but it is so much more than that. It's about...
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