Cover Image: Adventures in Eden

Adventures in Eden

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Member Reviews

in Eden
An Intimate Tour of the Private Gardens of Europe
by Carolyn Mullet

#AdventuresinEden #NetGalley

These Edens are in eleven European countries. Enjoy the most gorgeous and lush visits that one could have without being there. This lavishly illustrated title would make a perfect holiday gift!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

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This is a beautiful book. The photographs are wonderful. The author introduces the garden, then provides photographs. This is the opportunity to see lovely, private gardens from your couch. This book is enjoyable every time I read it. It’s a gift to yourself.

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If you're looking for an unusual travel guide for a trip to Europe (whenever we can travel again), Adventures in Eden is worth a look. Mullet explores famous gardens and hidden gems throughout the continent, from Spain to the Netherlands. Fun reading for armchair travelers, gardeners, and history buffs.

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For some reason my copy of this book did not download correctly. Only pictures downloaded no text. I enjoyed looking at the pictures but would have enjoyed reading about them

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The cover of this book just grabbed me! The combination of color, shape and texture in this view of a garden is amazing! I had to see what else was included. The book focuses on private gardens of Europe, and is organized by country (or region). Each garden highlighted is profiled with a 1-page summary of the garden's history and a description of the garden itself, including names of some of the plants. This is followed by several photos of the garden. The quality of the photos in this review copy is not good, but I assume they will be better in the published book. The selection of gardens in this book demonstrates lots of diversity, from naturalistic to neatly sculpted. It would be a great source of plant combination ideas for any gardener. Or, it would also be a lovely coffee table book for simple browsing.

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Growing up in the U.S., I always pictured European gardens to be very formal, with boxwood borders and intricate patterns. This book drove home how silly a notion that was.

Adventures in Eden, by Carolyn Mullet, emphasizes the personal nature of gardening by sharing not only photos of various gardens throughout Europe, but by including summations about the gardeners themselves. The gardens are not overly intimidating to the hobby gardener; in fact, most look very “doable” for the garden enthusiast, as the majority of them appear to be simple, and not overly difficult to maintain.

As we begin to enter the winter doldrums, I always appreciate having a new gardening book on my nightstand, to remind me of what can be accomplished the following spring. I have enjoyed my past few evenings reading through the passages and viewing the photos.

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This is a beautiful coffee table book that features loads of full color photos of gorgeous tended gardens. Each has a short explanation of the garden in question.

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This book covers 50 gardens across 11 countries/regions in Europe. The book is divided into chapters by country/region with each garden having about a page description and then 5ish pages of photos. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the gardens were all somewhat modern designs with many designed in the 2000s. I was honestly expecting old gardens that have had the same designs for centuries so this was an unexpected treat.

The descriptions are well thought out and not too wordy. They reference both the garden’s owners and the designer, the inspiration behind the garden, key design elements, and featured plants. The pictures are absolutely stunning. The images didn’t load completely clearly on my iPad, but I assume this will not be an issue in the print edition. There were some where I literarily gasped as the beauty and they made me really really really miss Europe. This will be an absolutely lovely coffee table book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for the temporary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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“Adventures in Eden”, by Carolyn Mullet, with it’s gorgeous cover was to be an indulgence for me. The back cover copy implied it would be a walkthrough, from my couch, of some of the most interesting gardens in Europe, up close – intimate. And perhaps, it was in the raising of those hopes, that I was set up for disappointment.

It is, without a doubt, a beautiful coffee table book of 50 lovely gardens. However, I found I couldn’t get to know anyone garden properly. It shows two or three highlights of a garden with a short blurb and then moves on. Some of which are modern, others whimsical, few are so unusual that I hadn’t seen similar in other publications. I felt more like a guide to “what to see” whilst in the area than an intimate get together with each. Equally confusing, the back copy indicates the gardens are off-limits to visitors and the book introduction says they are opened at some point in each year for…visitors?! I haven’t researched it to find out which is correct!

If you’d like to dapple in the gardens of Europe, and hop from spot to spot, this may be the book for you. I enjoy a deeper journey, with a longer and more educational story on each garden and lots more photos. As such, it’s a three out of five on the enJOYment scale.

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A lovely collection of pictures from gardens around Europe. Perfect gift for an avid gardener, Europe connoisseur, or fan of escaping into some lush, beautiful landscape shots for an afternoon. Some text, but heavy on the visuals, a definite plus for books of this nature.

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It has a lot of images of different gardens. There were more images than content and description of each garden their speciality. This is not a book that suits me. Those who know more about gardening and wish to know about different gardens how each are maintained in a unique way and knowing its unique beauty can read it.

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Sublime photography and vivid descriptions really make these 50 private European gardens pop! As a master gardener the use of plantings, knowledge of utilizing climate, symmetry and focal points are fascinating but you needn't be a gardener to enjoy and appreciate this breathtaking book. Immerse yourself.

Lovely photographic details really shine, too, from flowers in tiny rock crevices to evening and morning lighting to snippets of bright man-made colours. Talk about sensory impact!

The owner information and history is helpful and intriguing, adding personality.

When in Europe visiting gardens is always on my list of things to enjoy and wonder at. All of those in the book would be wonderful to stroll for different reasons. We all have individual preferences when it comes to gardens and this is a good variety. Few of us have large spaces to work with but small spaces can be just as impressive...I am inspired to try a few ideas from the book.

Thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this stunning book. Much appreciated.

My review has been posted on Goodreads and on November 10 will be posted on Amazon, Chapters Indigo and Kobo.

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Good for those who like structured gardens or the idea of them. Want inspiration and beauty in nature and living in the garden. It is visual so it is a good book so you can have a better idea of placements rather than wording. You get information about the garden and images from different angles and areas.

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Adventures in Eden is a gorgeous insider's look at 50 private European stately gardens written and curated by Carolyn Mullet. Due out 10th Nov 2020 from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint, it's 332 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is a beautifully made and well laid out homage to the horticultural arts. Each of the 50 entries are lavishly illustrated, with many full page color photos. They represent a number of styles and aesthetics - mostly (but not all) on the grand scale. Nevertheless, there are a multitude of good inspirations for scaling down to use in our own domestic gardens.

Five stars. This would make a superlative selection for gardening aficionados, a special gift, students, designers/horticulturists, library use, or as a beautiful coffee-table book to enjoy and revisit. This one has high "re-readability".

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Another gorgeous coffee table book for gardeners from Timber Press. Not only British gardens but also included is some of the top privately owned European gardens. A short bio accompanies each.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

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Breathtaking garden beauty from all over Europe! Fifty different gardens and landscapes that guaranteed to satisfy all tastes and interests. The pictures truly do an amazing job of capturing the beauty and intimacy not regularly available to the public. The descriptions provide a brief note of inspiration or history that adds to the poignancy of each garden. I lost myself in many of these special places and appreciated the opportunity to experience what would otherwise be unavailable to me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own and freely given.

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A colourful book focused on beautiful pictures from private gardens around Europe. There is a page long introduction to every garden. It is naturally a great thing to know something about the place, but the pictures are so green and beautiful that I simply couldn’t focus too long on the texts. It is nice that there are gardens from different areas, because different climates (and different people) make different gardens.

I do admire professionally looking gardens perfected to the tiniest details, but my favourites are the natural looking ones. I’m happy to see that both kinds have found their way into the book. It’s rare to get a glimpse of so many private gardens, and I’m happy to see so many people clearly lovingly taking care of their surroundings, but I have to admit some places make me jealous. I would love to have gardens like this. Sadly, I do not have a green thumb, so it’s better just to admire what other people can create. Great book!

I received an advance reader copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I checked the garden in my own country and, surprise, the first one was the Bramafam which is near my country house and I visited last year. And also visited more than once Villa Bricherasio.
The owners of the two garden are very interesting persons and it was great to read about them in this book.
It was a pleasure to discover these gardens and see the gorgeous pictures.
It's a great book that I loved, highly recommended.

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Not sure what was up with the digital copy – half the pages appear to be blank. However, the pages with full-color photos are absolutely lovely and 100% my garden aspiration. I just wish I could’ve read some of the text.

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Gardens are a way to get close to God, after all, Adam and Eve began their earthly life in the Garden of Eden and it is said to be unrivalled in its magnificence, after all, you have the Creator creating it. Gardeners design landscapes with incredible skill. They take into account the role of the land, the natural microclimate, the types of soil, the desires of the garden owners and create things of unimaginable beauty. It is always fascinating to see how a person brings a garden to life. How something magical occurs when simple plants are put into the ground and take root there. How they blossom and create beauty that humanity can only admire, never fully reproduce.
Adventures in Eden is a coffee table book first and foremost. It doesn’t hold enough technical knowledge or expertise for other avid gardeners to copy, yet it explores gardens too beautiful for the average person to achieve with their limited knowledge. But this book is a gardener’s jewel. It is eye candy for the keen gardener to dream, plan and create.

It goes through fifty of the most wonderous private gardens not generally open to the public to be found in Europe, all divided up into regions and countries. Each garden is introduced with a short piece giving the reader a feel for the garden, what the owners focused upon and the occasional specifics of names of plants used. It then follows several pages of breathtaking photography of the highlights of the gardens.

Perhaps there is one negative to this book in that it surely is pretty pictures for the novice gardener or someone with romantic ideas of having a glorious space of ones own in which a small piece of Eden had been developed, but not very practical in specifics. It would be awesome reading for the likes of Monty Don, who understands the Latin names of the plants described and would understand the looks created in the gardens described, but for someone new to gardening, it would be an experience in futility trying to make sense of everything. But the beauty of the bucolic scenes from the photography cannot be underestimated.

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