List

From the author of the international bestseller The Light Over London and The Whispers of War comes a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special place.

Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden.

1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her ambitious work, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to industrialists, solicitors, and bankers looking to show off their wealth with sumptuous country houses. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, she is determined to make them a triumph, but the gardens—and the people she meets—promise to change her life forever.

1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton, on the other hand, is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the grand house, is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war life now that her home has been requisitioned and transformed into a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. But when war threatens Highbury House’s treasured gardens, these three very different women are drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.

In this sweeping novel reminiscent of Kate Morton’s The Lake House and Kristin Harmel’s The Room on Rue Amélie, Julia Kelly explores the unexpected connections that cross time and the special places that bring people together forever.

A perfumer in Paris is forced to return to her California roots in an exhilarating novel about family, self-discovery, and taking risks by the author of The Candid Life of Meena Dave.

The daughter of proud Napa Valley hoteliers, Asha "Poppy" Patel chose a different line as a Paris perfumer, gifted with a nose for fragrances and business. Until her heightened sense of smell disappears. Her career in jeopardy, her world now muted, Poppy returns home. Maybe tending to her grandmother's massive aromatic garden, where Poppy's gift first flowered, will bring restorative hope.

But when she arrives, Poppy discovers that the land upon which the beautiful garden once thrived has been uprooted and destroyed. She realizes that the years she spent away from her home have loosened so many ties with the past. Torn between a mother who lives vicariously through her and a father who wants her to embrace her family's legacy, Poppy is determined to chart her own path of rediscovery.

Poppy must juggle family drama, childhood friendships, and a former love to forge a future of her own choosing and, in time, heal an unscented life.

“Full of practical insights, ideas, and inspiration to help you grow the flower-packed garden of your dreams.”—Greg Loades, author of The Modern Cottage Garden
 
The colors, shapes, and scents of flowers are as ravishing to the senses as to the soul. But it’s all too easy get things wrong: colors that clash, flowers that bloom at the wrong time, plants that fail to thrive. Enter The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Guide by expert gardener Jenny Rose Carey. She tells you exactly how to get started, how to combine plants for the most spectacular effects, and how to keep your garden going from year to year. Whether you’re interested in dramatic color combinations, how best to use a favorite flower, or how to create a garden for a specific purpose, such as nourishing pollinators, you’ll find the answers in this friendly, information-packed book. As Jenny herself says, “Don’t be afraid—just have a go!”

Two women at different stages of life find themselves on a journey of renewal after undergoing hardships in this uplifting novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world. With Emmie’s support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again.

Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She lives with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills. But her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan’s home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life. But will Maggie’s budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she’s only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who’s been revitalizing her garden—a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own? 

As Maggie and Joan confront difficult life choices, they draw strength from this new friendship in surprising ways—discovering in the process that “found family” is often the very best kind.

Du Pont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley celebrates the landscape legacy of the du Pont family, renowned as innovative industrialists, generous philanthropists, pioneering preservationists and collectors of American decorative arts, and--central to this story--heralded as "the first family of American horticulture."

Fourteen members of the du Pont family arrived in America from France in January 1800. Led by Éleuthère Irenée du Pont, they settled in the Brandywine Valley, a beautiful rolling landscape nestled between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. There, over multiple generations, the du Ponts created magnificent landscapes and gardens that complement the verdant lands of the Brandywine. Five of their estates--Hagley Museum and Library, Nemours Estate, Mt. Cuba Center, Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, and Longwood Gardens--are open to the public, each a showplace of formal plantings juxtaposed with carefully nurtured natural woodland.

Larry Lederman's photographs capture the beauty and spirit of each place--the exuberant fountains and horticultural displays at Longwood, the naturalized woodland at Winterthur, the Beaux-Arts elegance of Nemours, the tantalizing fragments of the Crowninshield Garden at Hagley, and the picturesque native plant gardens and scenic trails at Mt. Cuba. Marta McDowell, a garden writer who combines a deep knowledge of garden design and horticulture with a penchant for social history, relates the stories of these gardens, both their history and their commitment to the future through strategies for sustainable management and growth.--Book jacket.

Fatal Flowers is the third in a colorful cozy mystery series from Jess Dylan, set in the Flower House—where you’re as likely to find a killer as a chrysanthemum.

As Aerieville, Tennessee’s Flower House finally gains in popularity, Sierra Ravenswood finds herself feeling ready for new challenges. Luckily, the shop has grabbed the attention of the mayor’s daughter, and bride-to-be, Marissa Lakely. Sierra is thrilled, and nervous, to land her most important job yet: providing flowers for the biggest wedding Aerieville has ever seen.

Fortunately, Marissa bucks all stereotypes and is far from a bridezilla—but her wedding planner, Taz Banyan, has apparently taken on the role for himself. He’s uptight, intense, and a little intimidating. But Taz aside, everything seems to be under control...until Sierra makes a startling discovery in the great room: the wedding planner, lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, in very bad shape. In fact, he survives only long enough to mutter: "It was the snake." As Granny Mae would say, seeing a snake is rarely a good sign, and this was clearly no exception.

With the town on edge and the wedding up in the air, Sierra refuses to stop asking questions in her determination to put an end to this latest danger—so both Aerieville and the Flower House can flourish once more.

The joy and wonder of a garden-inspired lifestyle is captured in this colorfully photographed, through-the-seasons sourcebook filled with recipes, gardening wisdom, craft and wellness projects, and nature-based activities.

Each season in the garden brings new joy and fresh inspiration for connecting with the wonders of the natural world. In The Garden Maker's Book of Wonder, popular gardening lifestyle influencer Allison Vallin Kostovick (Finch + Folly) invites fans of cottagecore, gardening, and nature-based living to share her journey as she crafts, cooks, dreams, and creates. Drawing on decades of gardening experience, and illustrated with vibrant photography from her own home and garden, The Garden Maker's Book of Wonder offers sage advice on growing bountiful harvests of favorite vegetables, herbs, and flowers. All levels of gardeners, from dreamers to the experienced, will delight in the variety and creativity of Kostovick's projects, activities, and recipes for enjoying the magic and whimsy of the natural world--no matter what season. From planting a pollinator playground to building a rustic trellis from tree branches, cooking with freshly picked peas and mint to making a sweet viola tub soak, and growing a bird seed mix to crafting one-of-a-kind jewelry beads from the husks of the Job's Tears plant, the inventive ideas in this rich treasury are sure to make it a favorite to keep and to give to anyone who aspires to a more nature-connected lifestyle.

For fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Aimee Bender, and Alice Hoffman, The Night Garden is a luminous novel of love, forgiveness, and the possibilities that arise when you open your heart.
 
Nestled in the bucolic town of Green Valley in upstate New York, the Pennywort farm appears ordinary, yet at its center lies something remarkable: a wild maze of colorful gardens that reaches beyond the imagination. Local legend says that a visitor can gain answers to life’s most difficult problems simply by walking through its lush corridors.
 
Yet the labyrinth has never helped Olivia Pennywort, the garden’s beautiful and enigmatic caretaker. She has spent her entire life on her family’s land, harboring a secret that forces her to keep everyone at arm’s length. But when her childhood best friend, Sam Van Winkle, returns to the valley, Olivia begins to question her safe, isolated world and wonders if she at last has the courage to let someone in. As she and Sam reconnect, Olivia faces a difficult question: Is the garden maze that she has nurtured all of her life a safe haven or a prison?

Garden designer and historian Wade Graham offers a unique vision of the story of America in this riveting exploration of the nation’s gardens and the visionaries behind them, from Thomas Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden, Fredrick Law Olmsted’s expansive Central Park to Martha Stewart’s how-to landscaping guides. In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky, Simon Schama, and Michael Pollan, Graham delivers a sweeping social history that examines our nation’s history from an overlooked vantage point, illuminating anew the living drama of American self-creation.

A nineteenth-century entrepreneur's bold, innovative marketing helped transform flower gardens into one of America's favorite hobbies.

There is much that is hard and productive of sorrow in this sin-plagued world of ours; and, had we no flowers, I believe existence would be hard to be borne." So states a customer's 1881 letter--one of thousands James Vick regularly received. Vick's business, selling flower seeds through the mail, wasn't unique, but it was wildly successful because he understood better than his rivals how to engage customers' emotions. He sold the love of flowers along with the flower seeds.

Vick was genuinely passionate about floriculture, but he also pioneered what we now describe as integrated marketing. He spent a mind-boggling $100,000 per year on advertising (mostly to women, his target demographic); he courted newspaper editors for free publicity; his educational guides presaged today's content marketing; he recruited social influencers to popularize neighborhood gardening clubs; and he developed a visually rich communication and branding strategy to build customer loyalty and inflect their purchasing needs with purchasing desire.

New York Times bestselling author Marta McDowell has revealed the way that plants have stirred some of our most cherished authors, including Beatrix Potter, Emily Dickinson, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her latest, she shares a moving account of how gardening deeply inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the beloved children's classic The Secret Garden.
 
In Unearthing The Secret Garden, McDowell delves into the professional and gardening life of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Complementing her fascinating account with charming period photographs and illustrations, McDowell paints an unforgettable portrait of a great artist and reminds us why The Secret Garden continues to touch readers after more than a century. This deeply moving and gift-worthy book is a must-read for fans of The Secret Garden and anyone who loves the story behind the story.

Perfect for fans of Tasha Alexander and Rhys Bowen, Katharine Schellman's debut novel is sure to delight.

London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden.

Lily overheard the man just minutes before he was shot: young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. But she's willing to leave the matter to the local constables--until Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case. Stunned and confused, Lily realizes she's the only one with the key to catching the killer.

Aided by a roguish navy captain and a mysterious heiress from the West Indies, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team tries to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the dead man knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that they would kill to keep hidden. Now, Lily will have to uncover the truth, before she becomes the murderer's next target.

In her inimitable style, Viola Shipman explores the unlikely relationship between two very different women brought together by the pain of war, but bonded by hope, purpose...and flowers.

Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to illness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind the towering fence surrounding her home, Iris has built a new family...of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to a garden filled with the heirloom starts that keep the memories of her loved ones alive.

When Abby Peterson moves next door with her family--a husband traumatized by his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability--Iris is reluctantly yet inevitably drawn into her boisterous neighbor's life, where, united by loss and a love of flowers, she and Abby tentatively unearth their secrets, and help each other discover how much life they have yet to live.

With delightful illustrations and fascinating detail, Viola Shipman's heartwarming story will charm readers while resonating with issues that are so relevant today.

Fill Your Garden with Color!
 
Everyone wants color in their garden, but each gardener’s preferred palette is unique. How do you choose the right one for your garden, and how do you find the plants that will help you fulfill your vision?
 
The Gardener’s Palette, published in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, shares an entirely new way for home gardeners to confidently incorporate color at home. Award-winning garden designer Jo Thompson offers 100 evocative and fresh palettes, pairs them with beautiful images of professionally designed gardens, and breaks them down with charts showing the exact plants used. Thompson also provides full growing specifications for every plant to allow home gardeners to successfully re-create these stunning gardens.