About the Author

Louisa Jones professor of French Literature in Seattle, USA before buying her farmhouse in southern France in 1975. Beginning her own garden, she visited hundreds before publishing her first book Gardens of Provence in 1992. She always links gardens to people, landscapes and traditions. In recent years, she has concentrated on Provence and her many books have established the regions importance for international garden design. She covers modest gardens to grand stars and links garden art with architecture, sculpture, cuisine, farming, literature ancient and modern. This book is the distillation of decades of experience, close observation and reflection on the meaning of gardening in the Mediterranean and - everywhere. Dan Pearson is widely recognised as Britains most original and forward-looking garden designer who creates timeless spaces, which encourage people to connect with nature.

Reviews

This book is a distillation, from years of experience and deep thought, of Louisa Jones reflections on the traditional gardens of the Mediterranean in all their forms. It is in a sense a manifesto and indeed the title of the original French edition of the book is Manifeste pour les jardins mediterraneens Her book is a manifesto for the sensuality of the Mediterranean garden It is impossible in a short review to give more than a brief whiff of this thoughtful books flavour. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who loves life and enjoys gardens. - Caroline Harbouri, The Mediterranean Garden journal When Canadian Louisa Jones first started making a garden in Provence in the 1970s she was told that there were no other gardens in the south of France. Since then she has been discovering, and writing about them, as well as those of the wider Mediterranean basin. These are gardens that do not look to northern Europe for inspiration but are firmly rooted in the traditions, climate and culture of the Mediterranean. After decades of study and reflection, Jones now believes that the Mediterranean way of gardening and, in particular, its relationship with the land from which these gardens spring, can model gardening worldwide. In this short book she sets out her thesis in a series of essays. Jones likens Mediterranean gardens to the region's cuisine -seasonal, local, diverse, sustainable, economical but capable of being refined a peasant cuisine that has captured an international imagination. It is this deeply rooted sense of place that should, she says, inform all garden making. The book is filled with snippets of historical and scientific information and Jones calls on poets and artists to illuminate ideas that will appeal to most forward-thinking garden makers. John Hoyland is a plantsman and garden writer.