Recollections of great gardeners

In this memoir one of the greatest plantsmen of the last century recalls the great gardens and gardeners that he knew, including such figures as Gertrude Jekyll, Edward Bowles, William Robinson and Vita Sackville-West.

Born in 1909, Graham Stuart Thomas was a friend and adviser to hundreds of the most interesting of his gardening contemporaries, before becoming Garden Consultant to the National Trust.

It is an exciting privilege to see his chosen gardens as he went round them with their owners and to note with them the special features and plants that made them outstanding.

The admiration he feels for these gardens is transparent, and we meet some outstanding personalities (some well known, some less so) in the company of one who knew them well and shared their passion for plants.