Hardcover
Price: $73.50 (U.S. shipping included - international orders not accepted)

Foggy Bottom is a history, a love story, a dream fulfilled, a family story, a coffee table book with stunning images, a how-to manual, and a story of the courage to go on after losing a spouse. Oh yes, it also covers conifers, shrubs, perennials, and garden design.

The book has extensive, high-quality images. Some images have extensive explanatory captions, and many are stunning. Some photographs are displayed over two pages, making you feel you could step into the scene and walk around. The photography is amazing, with realistic detail.

Following the history and evolution of this world-famous garden was informative. It was almost a lifelong effort to create this garden from essentially the blank canvas of a meadow. One can only imagine the effort required first to create this garden. Then, one can appreciate the ongoing effort needed to manage a woody plant-focused garden, requiring constant challenges as the plants mature. I found his insights quite useful as we try to maintain our 50-year garden and the Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, where we volunteer.

The tone of the dialogue was appropriate, and the humor was appreciated. It felt as if the reader was visiting the award-winning and sage author and getting some fatherly advice and family history. It is a down-to-earth, frank discussion, not a lecture.

I found the book meaningful on many levels. I appreciated his tips on perennial combinations and the four-season designs in island beds.

The reader must be somewhat cautious as, unfortunately, many of the treasures Adrian can grow in Bressingham, England (equivalent to USDA zone 8) would be “expensive annuals” in many parts of the northern United States.