This book grew out of Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's love and understanding of period gardens and her work as a specialist in their restoration and adaptation.Her analysis of the very English art of garden making tells an intriguing story, revealed through poetry, fiction, diaries and memoirs, and in the writings of satirists as well as philosophers. It is illustrated with illuminated manuscripts, embroideries, paintings, drawings and photographs.Jane traces the events which shaped the style of gardens, showing how each period was influenced by a love or hate relationship with nature, alternatively taming or manipulating it, romanticising and celebrating it.She looks at the way changing garden styles have reflected economic, social and cultural life, in cottage or mansion, country or town, and how the same influences affected architecture, clothes and manners as well as gardens. The contributions of individual men and women of genius, such as the Tradescants (father and son), Humphrey Repton, Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West, are analysed and celebrated, and less familiar figures are introduced.The author's final conclusion is that an overwhelming love of flowering plants and pleasure in growing them has always been the inspiration for English gardeners. Read Less