The most memorable and successful gardens are those that appeal most to our senses of sight, smell, touch, sound, and taste. Starting with this premise, author Jeff Cox has written an original guide to garden appreciation and design, delving into how our senses react to gardens, in order to enrich our appreciation of them.

In a text that is both inspirational and practical, Cox helps us become fully aware of the garden through the medium of the several senses, showing us new possibilities for our pleasure and comfort there. He says those who fully understand our human sensory responses to plants can be more effective gardeners. Close examination of our senses in the garden reveals, for example, that visual pleasure comes not only through the colors of plants, but through their form, line, mass, textures, and their appearance grouped with other plants. Cox names the best choices for fragrant plants to appeal to our senses of smell and advises how to use them in creative ways to delight visitors to the home and garden. Sound adds an enjoyable element to a landscape, and in this book, we find ways to increase birdsong and add the playful laughter of water to our gardens. We discover the shivery sensuousness of smooth, wet cobblestone on our bare feet, and plants that beg to be stroked. Finally, because of the pure pleasure that comes through our sense of taste, he shows how to include sweet fruits, the tang of herbs, and the delicious crunch of vegetables to our ornamental garden plans.

Jerry Pavia's 160 marvelous photographs, especially commissioned for this book, vividly portray the sensual qualities of the garden and the landscaping tips and techniques discussed in text. To assemble this striking photographic collection, Pavia traveled throughout the United States, Canada, England, and France seeking scenes so sensuously beautiful that they penetrate past the senses to the heart. He transports us from Price Serge Wolkonsky's fabled garden in France, to a California garden landscaped with desert plants, to a sumptuous floral oasis on Long Island, to aesthetic gardens in England.

An extensive table gives horticultural and descriptive information for each of the some 600 plants mentioned in the text and captions. With its innovative approach to garden appreciation, this is a wonderful book for gardeners and garden lovers—and that includes just about everyone.

Review

"Providing 160 visually delightful color photos from gardens in the United States, Canada, England, and France, photographer Pavia joins garden writer Cox in issuing an invitation to gardeners to sample appealing gardens that stimulate our senses of sight, smell, touch, and taste....This handsome book will interest readers who are hunting for ideas for new plants in their home landscape."
—Library Journal

About the Author and Photographer

Both gardener and garden writer for twenty-five years, Jeff Cox resides in northern California and is a regular columnist for Organic Gardening magazine. His previous books include The Perennial Garden and Landscaping with Nature.

Jerry Pavia lives in Idaho and has contributed his work to Beds and Borders: Traditional and Original Garden Designs and to many leading gardening publications.

Top The scent of roses dominates this private garden in Santa Barbara, California, at least until the lemon trees bloom. Of all garden flowers, citrus blossoms may project their scent the farthest—even to a hundred yards away if the wind is just right. Spanish lavendar (Lavandula stoechas) adds a grace note to this bouquet. Bottom Campanula persicofolia's cheery bells ring out the news that the rose is opening and its scent is beginning to spill out. Red roses tend to have more scent than lighter-colored ones. This combination is growing in the garden of the Marquess and the Marchioness of Salisbury at Hatfield House, Hatfield, England.