The Scented Garden

by David Squire

Obviously, the major attraction of most gardens is their visual appeal, but to create a special sanctuary, you shouldn't overlook the subtle benefit of carefully arranged fragrances. The Scented Garden, by renowned horticulturist David Squire, focuses on filling the air with a rich palette of wonderful scents, "creating a treasure-house that will provide plenty of interest throughout the entire year ... to add an extra dimension of surprise and delight." Using perhaps a bit more text than the average gardening book, Squire offers well-organized and thorough information. He has devoted complete chapters to selecting daytime scents and night-scented plants, creating fragrant pathways and patios, choosing redolent trees and shrubs, and nurturing an especially successful herb garden. There are also detailed charts grouping plants by aroma, citing preferences for optimal results, and useful instructions on a variety of craft projects such as creating wreaths, perfumed papers, and candles. Hundreds of colorful photos make the book visually appealing as well, and help illustrate various plants and recommended combinations. Whether your plot spans the window of a city apartment, borders a suburban patio, or spreads across a country mile, this lovely volume can help take your garden to the next level of sensory perception and develop the aromatic appeal of your entire home. --George Laney

Genres: Gardening

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

David Squire studied botany and horticulture at the Hertfordshire College of Horticulture and at the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden at Wisley, England, where he gained the Wisley Diploma in Horticulture. For several years he worked as sub-editor, writer and reporter for two well-knownmagazines, before moving to book publishing with an international publishing house.

David has written more than fifty books and contributed to several major gardening part-works. His books have been sold throughout the English speaking world-Britain, North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand- as well as translated into several other languages.

Reviews

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE SCENTED GARDEN is a fine starting point to educate yourself with various scented plants that you can incorporate into your landscaping. I consider this a reference book with a history and education on what is available to the layperson. You will need to take the time to search online and independent nurseries for the herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees that are seen here.

The photos and drawings are clear and colorful. That is a plus. Unfortunately, Mr. Squire would have benefitted by using more detail on the plants he covered. For those of us who live in North America, it would have helped to list what zones the plant(s) is hardy as it may not grow in your area. Instead, he added an additional chapter on arranging and working with scented plants. Something I found unnecessary.

Treat this as a go-to book: a reference for ideas. As you read it and find plants you are interested in, tag them with a sticky note and then go online for additional research. Then add the book to your garden library or share it with a gardening friend.