Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 1/2 Front Gardens

The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 1/2 Front Gardens

Dark, Ben

Paperback

Biographies GeneralGarden WritingNature Writing

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1784727415
ISBN13: 9781784727413
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley
Published: Oct 3 2023
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.70
Height: 1.10 Width: 4.90 Depth: 7.70
Language: English
The first non-fiction book from an award-winning new voice, hailed by Gardeners' World magazine as 'the millennial Monty'

The best gardening book of 2022. The Telegraph

A book to make even a quick trip to the corner shop endlessly fascinating. Dark has been dubbed the millennial Monty Don for this beautifully written study of the oft-overlooked nature on our doorsteps...Dark teases the drama, humor and history from even the most commonplace buddleja, box and tulip. George Hudson, Evening Standard, Favourite Gardening Books of the Year

This enjoyable read throws a spotlight on the everyday. Rachel de Thame's 10 Best Gardening Books of 2022, the Sunday Times

Gardening for a billionaire taught Ben Dark that plants alone are not enough to make a garden special. Instead he finds special in the people and the history, as well as the plants, that fill 191/2 London front gardens. A soulful read. Tom Howard, RHS The Garden, Best Books of The Year

A wonderful book. Alexandra Shulman, Mail on Sunday

Meet the millennial Monty Don. The Sunday Times Style

Ben Dark's beautifully observed book, The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 1/2 Front Gardens, tells the stories of 20 key plants growing in a single London street's front gardens in a way that's as engaging as it is informative. The Irish Times

Any walk is an odyssey when we connect with the plants around us. Each tree or flower tells a tale. Mundane 'suburban' shrubs speak of war and poetry, of money, fashion, love and failure. Every species in this book was seen from one pavement over twelve months and there is little here that could not be found on any road in any town, but they reveal stories of such weirdness, drama, passion and humor that, once discovered, familiar neighborhoods will be changed forever.

There is a renewed interest in the nature on our doorsteps, as can be seen in the work of amateur botanists identifying wildflowers and chalking the names on the pavements.

But beyond the garden wall lies a wealth of cultivated plants, each with a unique tale to tell. In The Grove, award-winning writer and head gardener Ben Dark reveals the remarkable secrets of twenty commonly found species - including the rose, wisteria, buddleja, box and the tulip - encountered in the front gardens of one London street over the course of year.

As Ben writes, in those small front gardens are stories of ambition, envy, hope and failure and The Grove is about so much more than a single street, or indeed the plants found in its 19 1/2 front gardens. It's a beguiling blend of horticultural history and personal narrative and a lyrical exploration of why gardens and gardening matter.

A testament to the secret communal power of a front garden. Alice Vincent, New Statesman

Find joy in the ordinary plots on a city street. RHS The Garden

Ben Dark is such a wonderful writer - The Grove drew me in from the first line. Lia Leendertz

The Grove is overflowing with delicious nuggets of cultural, social and garden history ­- and I adore Ben Dark's humour and humility in equal measure. Advolly Richmond

A heartfelt romp through the wisteria and wilderness of London's horticulturally remarkable front gardens. Jack Wallington

Fans of Ben Dark's mellifluous tones on The Garden Log podcast will be delighted by how perfectly his lyrical musings transfer to the printed page as, with infant son in tow, he invites the reader upon a series of horticultural expeditions inspired by the deceptively ordinary planting of the front gardens in a south London street. The kind of thoroughly enjoyable read where you realize, late in the day, that learning has snuck in by the back door, though you feel inclined to forgive the author on account of the fun you've had along the way.

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