If there’s a common thread (or tendril) running through many garden and flower books this spring, it’s the importance of being outside, in nature and in the garden, as an essential antidote to all the time we spend tethered to technology. Whether you’re an armchair gardener, a flower-lover, or have the dirt beneath your nails to prove your gardening bona fides, there’s something for everyone to enjoy this season.
A Moment in Time: Designing a Country Garden by Kathryn Herman
Renowned garden designer Kathryn Herman shares a year at her bucolic 20-acre, English-inspired gardens on the Pepperidge Farm estate in Connecticut. She espouses the importance of structure, seen in her wonderfully shaped hedges and garden rooms, and looks back on a formative trip to Hadspen House in England with Penelope Hobhouse and Nori and Sandra Pope: “They showed me that a garden should be designed not just for the seasons, but for the soul.”
$60, Rizzoli
The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting with Nature through Plants
by Stephen Orr
Anyone who acknowledges, “The road to great gardening is littered with dead plants” is my kind of garden writer. Orr is a wonderful and relatable guide on the journey to becoming a better gardener through thoughtful essays dotted with photos. He shares hard-won lessons, projects, and useful and unexpected tips, while also underscoring the joy and sense of well-being we can all experience by unplugging and digging in the dirt.
$30, Clarkson Potter
Madoo: The Making of an American Garden by Alejandro Saralegui and Kendell Cronstrom
In 1965, the painter and poet Robert Dash bought a rundown old barn on two acres of land in Sagaponack, in the Hamptons. In the decades that followed, this plot of land became his most compelling artistic creation, eventually becoming a garden conservancy open to the public. This vibrant book captures much of what makes Madoo so magical, weaving together Dash’s paintings, garden photography by Tria Giovan, and text by the authors and notable contributors.
$45, Timber Press
The Cut Flower Garden by Jo Turner
This book is more than just a pretty volume filled with Rachel Russell’s charming illustrations—it’s packed with clear, well-organized information on how, when, and where to plant, nurture, and harvest every type of flower you might possibly plant in your own cutting garden. From allium to zinnia, you’ll want this invaluable resource by your side when planning your flower beds.
$35, Thames & Hudson
Flowering Outdoors: Gardens & Parties by Margot Shaw
If you’re in search of inspiration for outdoor entertaining, look no further than Margot Shaw’s new book, pulled from the pages of Flower magazine. It’s filled with vibrant tablesettings for mahjong in the garden, lunch in the pool house, or dinner on the roof, with soirées by tastemakers such as Kate Rheinstein Brodsky, Jane Scott Hodges, and Barry Dixon, and more.
$50, Rizzoli
Cottage Gardens: Creating Year-Round Beauty with Flowers, Herbs, Fruits, Edibles, and More by Kathryn Bradley-Hole
If you thrill to the inviting abundance and informal mélange of colors and textures of English cottage gardens, this one’s for you. Kathryn Bradley-Hole, the former garden editor of Country Life, explores what makes these spaces so appealing—from arbors and trellises to roses, hydrangeas, and flowers for every season, as well as vegetables, shrubbery, and more.
$50, Rizzoli
Naturalistic Flowers: A Year of Plants, Places and People by AESME Studio
Sisters Jess Lister and Ally Nutting of AESME Studio in London share their approach to naturalistic flower arranging, based on a year of visiting locations around Europe and beyond, foraging for hyper-local flora and fashioning creations that mimic the way flowers grow in their natural habitats. Ally is the floral artist and Jess, the photographer and gardener, for a growing enterprise that includes a flower school and flower films. Their book celebrates a looser, more organic way of living with flowers.
$40, Thames & Hudson
Glorious Gardens: Private Edens of the World’s Leading Interior Designers by Dara Caponigro
We’d be remiss not to mention the stunning volume released by FREDERIC editor-in-chief Dara Caponigro last spring. Filled with the gardens of design luminaries from Thomas O’Brien and Katie Ridder to Stephen Sills and Veere Grenney, it’s a must-have for any lover of beautiful living indoors and out!
$75, Monacelli
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