Green Thoughts and Memories

Gardens and flowers have been a core subject of Swiss-American photographer Marina Schinz throughout her career. This found expression in her previous books Visions of Paradise (1985), The Gardens of Russell Page (1991), and A Tuscan Paradise (1998). Visiting and photographing countless gardens around the world made her engage in gardening herself, and culminated in major garden design projects for her houses, first in the Hudson Valley and later near Piacenza in Italy.

In Green Thoughts and Memories, Schinz looks back at her gardening adventures, interweaving horticultural observations with memoirs of her childhood in Zurich. Entertaining and engaging at the same time, full of practical considerations, and rendered with humour and philosophy, the book offers an unconventional appreciation of garden art. It conveys basic knowledge to put budding gardeners and rank beginners on the road to plant a mere tree or start an entire garden. In 12 chapters, it explores all the elements of gardening, such as weather, soil, labour, planning, flowers, shrubs, etc.

Richly illustrated in full colour throughout with Schinz’s own photographs of famous as well as unknown gardens around the world, this beautiful volume will appeal to anyone with a love of plants and gardens or with a desire to create a personal paradise.