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Inspired by the earlier book of the same title by the American author Bill Adler, the gardening expert Anne Wareham shares her own practical tips on how to outsmart garden pests large and small –as well as offering advice on dealing with the horticultural challenges posed by weeds and the weather.

Challenging the view of plants as passive vegetation, Mabey approaches them as ’authors of their own lives’ and explores our relationship with them, from prehistoric cave painting, through cultivation and exploration to the ‘astonishing revelations of 19th-century botany’. Among the intriguing plants whose lives he discusses are the baobab tree; ginseng, the panacea; the carnivorous tipitiwitchet; an Amazonian giant water lily whose leaves were the model for the Crystal Place; and the intelligence of mimosa.

England has a richly varied tradition of garden design, and the past ten to fifteen years have been no exception. The leading horticultural writer Tim Richardson has selected 25 gardens that exemplify this latest phase of creativity and innovation. Most are open to the public, and together they cover a wide range of styles, from the Prince of Wales’s traditional garden at Highgrove, through Arabella Lennox-Boyd’s ‘laboratory for design ideas’ at Gresgarth, Lancashire, to Christopher Bradley-Hole’s Modernist garden at Crockmore House in Oxfordshire.

This extensively illustrated guide includes a short history of roses, their origin and symbolism, followed by descriptions of more than 60 varieties, from traditional favourites to modern blooms, and offers easy-to-follow advice on cultivation, pruning and care.

Covering the origins, history and botany of raw ingredients and their culinary uses, this authoritative reference work begins with general chapters on the growing, harvesting and trading of foods. The main part of the Encyclopedia is an illustrated directory of edible plants describing almost 500 plant species in sections on fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, herbs and spices, plants used in beverages, and sugars and oils. Finally, the reference section provides nutritional tables, a glossary and index.

After years in London, Ruth Pavey wanted to reconnect with the countryside and plant a wood of her own. Combining childhood memories, local history and nature writing, she tells how she bought four acres of scrubland in the Somerset Levels and set about transforming it, tree by tree, into a haven for wildlife. Illustrated with her own drawings, this is an account of the challenges she faced, the satisfaction she achieved, and the local characters she encountered.

A portfolio of the best images in the annual photographic competition, this volume presents the 2013 entries. Categories include 'Wildflower Landscapes', 'Greening the City' and 'Trees, Woods and Forests', and the images display a range of responses to flowers, plants and gardens all over the world, from a view of allotments in Warsaw and a French formal garden at sunrise, to studies of leaves, and water lilies in the New York Botanical Garden.

Famed for cultivating plants from around the world, Kew Gardens is also home to many uncultivated species. Drawing on historic citations and herbarium specimen records, this illustrated catalogue lists all native and alien flora documented growing wild at Kew since its foundation in 1759.

Joseph Hooker’s perilous explorations in the Himalayas between 1848 and 1851 resulted in the collection of some 5,000 different species of plants, none more celebrated than the rhododendrons. The three volumes of Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya (1849, 1851), with Hooker’s rough sketches transformed into lithographs by the botanical artist Walter Hood Fitch, were to have a lasting impact on British gardening. This facsimile edition presents the three volumes bound as one, along with short introductory essays. No jacket.

A celebratory anthology of plants and flowers, this Florilegium was created by today’s botanical artists to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. Australia’s extraordinary flora has beguiled botanists and plant collectors since Sir Joseph Banks, who arrived in Sydney Cove in 1770, and each of the 85 plants depicted in this volume is accompanied by notes on its history, including early admirers among plant hunters, as well as a botanical description.

The cyclamen is one of the most ubiquitous houseplants and, for a genus comprising just 23 species, it has attracted a disproportionate amount of attention from horticulturalists and botanical illustrators. This comprehensive survey explains the plant's botany and structure, its natural habitats, its history of cultivation, and its representation in the arts and crafts. Watercolours illustrate the rich variety of foliage and flower that have contributed to its popularity.

The botanist Ben-Erik van Wyk presents a fully illustrated, scientific guide to nearly all the commercial herbs and spices in use today. After chapters on the history of spices and culinary traditions and lists of common names, the A to Z covers over 150 species, from Aframomum corrorima (Ethiopian cardamom) to Zingiber officinale (ginger), each illustrated entry giving details of the spice or herb, the plant, its origins, cultivation and culinary use and the chemistry of its flavour.

This catalogue of an exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens explores the history of Kew and presents views of its grounds and buildings, in oils and watercolour, by 50 contemporary artists including Kurt Jackson, Steve Whitehead and Sir Peter Blake.

This beginners guide for mature gardeners offers advice on clothing, tools, soil preparation, containers and planting techniques, explains how to grow and maintain flowers, fruit and vegetables, and provides a user-friendly plant directory and glossary.

From medieval physic gardens to the revival of allotment gardening in the wake of the 2008 credit crunch, the garden historian Twigs Way surveys the progress of Britain’s love affair with its gardens. Illustrated with photographs and reproductions of prints and advertisements from the collections of the Garden Museum, the book explores topics including gardening for children; women in the garden; wartime digging for victory and the gnome phenomenon of 1950s and 1960s suburbia.

Throughout history, monarchs around the world have created magnificent gardens both for relaxation and to advertise their wealth and power. Illustrated with 150 colour photographs, this book explores 20 of the finest, including Louis XIV’s Versailles, Frederick the Great’s Sanssouci, the royal palaces of Fez and Edo Castle in Tokyo. Each entry charts the history of the garden, profiles its creators, describes its style, planning and principles, and includes interviews with the present owners.

Every garden has the potential to attract butterflies. This illustrated guide shows how to encourage these vital pollinators by providing them with the right plants to feed on and places to breed and hibernate. Chapters cover the butterfly lifecycle, common garden butterflies, and preferred habitats. A directory lists food plant species, while a final chapter offers tips on photographing butterflies.

After reflecting on the reasons why people visit gardens and especially why gardeners visit other people’s plots, Louisa Jones looks at ten types of garden, including historic gardens, cottage and kitchen gardens, plantsmen’s collections, outdoor art and Mediterranean, Japanese-inspired and minimalist gardens. She discusses the key elements of each type and how the visitor should approach them; then invites ten experts to choose their favourite gardens from around the world.

The 18th-century English landscape garden, with its seemingly natural appearance, was a revolution in garden design and left a legacy that can still be seen in surviving gardens and parks today. Symes traces the origins and evolution of the landscape garden throughout the 18th century; discusses its place in contemporary politics, philosophy and culture; and surveys the variety of styles through the works of major designers, from William Kent and the ‘pictorial garden’ to Humphrey Repton and the Picturesque.

During the successful Dig for Victory campaign, which aimed to make wartime Britain self-sufficient, gardeners everywhere dug up their lawns to grow not only fruit and vegetables, but flowers too, inspiring ‘faith, hope, cheerfulness and courage’. From composting to harvesting, this playful history of the campaign features all aspects of wartime gardening, and is vividly illustrated by original pamphlets, recoloured photographs and instructional cartoons.

Covering an extraordinary diversity of gardens across the world – classical Chinese aesthetics in Suzhou, cactus terraces in Lanzarote, a Persian oasis in Iran and Gertrude Jekyll’s Arts and Crafts garden at Upton Grey Manor in Hampshire – this is a survey to inspire gardeners and designers. The book looks at 100 exceptional gardens, describing, illustrating and explaining in detail the key elements of each one from a design perspective.

With their long vistas, cascading terraces and mysterious grottoes, the gardens of Italian villas seem like paradise on earth; but who created them, and why? Using reproductions of contemporary paintings and prints as well as colour photographs, Helena Attlee traces the history of Italian gardens from the Middle Ages, through the classically inspired plans of the Renaissance, the quirky inventions of the Mannerists and the formal elegance of the 18th century to the eclectic creations of today.

Some of the finest gardens in the UK, among them Polesden Lacey, Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Stourhead, are cared for by the National Trust and its teams of expert gardeners. In this well-illustrated volume, those experts guide the inexperienced gardener through the whole process of planning, preparing, planting and maintaining a garden, whether large or small, employing the same techniques and the same principles of greener, forward-looking gardening that are used in the historic gardens of National Trust properties.

In this volume, garden photographer Andrea Jones offers four approaches to garden design: ‘Connect’ provides ideas for paths, lawns and bridges linking spaces together; ‘Divide’ examines how hedges, walls, screens and borders can create rooms within a garden; ‘Space’ explores ways to fill a garden, whatever the size; and ‘Style’ covers every type of garden from formal to oriental. Including directories of designers, festivals, garden centres and public gardens, this is a comprehensive sourcebook for anyone seeking modern garden ideas.

Using recycled pots and homemade watering cans to grow anything from herbs to pumpkins and blueberries, this guide mixes practical advice – the best soils to use and which plants to try – with inspirational ideas from existing small city vegetable gardens.

Taking the wide range of National Trust garden styles as its inspiration, this illustrated design sourcebook demonstrates how even a small outdoor space can benefit from the details that are found in much larger gardens. There are planting ideas for all seasons, covering colour co-ordination, flower, vegetable, herb and container gardens, and imaginative suggestions for using steps, seats, paths, paving and topiary, with plenty of valuable advice from the Trust’s head gardeners.

Water lilies have had symbolic, decorative and practical significance among humans for millennia, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that Bory Latour-Marliac introduced colourful, hardy water lilies to Europe by creating new hybrids. Latour-Marliac’s nurseries supplied Monet’s garden, subsequently inspiring 200 now world-famous paintings. In this sumptuous volume, garden historian Caroline Holmes tells the story of Latour-Marliac’s work, including a chapter on Monet’s garden, a short history of water lilies and their legacy, and advice on how to grow them.

Covering large swathes of the Earth, grasses have been vital to humans for millennia as a building material and source of nutrition. With their diversity of species, colour and size, today they are integral to year-round garden design. This book describes and illustrates many types of grasses, offering practical advice on purchase and care as well as ways to create much more striking effects than a simple well-mown lawn.

Ian Hamilton Finlay moved to Stonypath in 1966 and spent the next 40 years designing and nurturing his garden. Regarded by many as one of the most significant gardens in Britain, this guide tells its story and describes many of the 300 sculptures that form part of its design.

Offering creativity, calm and pleasure, an allotment can also provide all the exercise you’ll need, with fresh, pesticide-free vegetables to boot. Starting with advice on tools and planning, this manual includes suggestions for making and using compost and how to plan your produce, together with an A–Z of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers that provides details on cultivation and ideas for ways to consume the end product.