Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Twigs Way.
Topiary.
Oxford (U.K.): Shire Publications, 2010.
Paper, 64 pp., ISBN 978–0–747–80761–2, $12.95.

This small booklet contains a wealth of information about a subject that has a long history and occasionally wide popularity. The first record of creating sculpture in clipped plants was at the beginning of the Christian era when a friend of Augustus Caesar introduced this novelty called topiary. The British author traces the story of these wondrous delights to some, but not all gardeners. This heavily illustrated treatise is remarkably filled with stories and fantastic displays that will intrigue every gardener. The author includes a directory of British public gardens that feature topiary sculptures.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.