The Subtropical Garden; or, Beauty of Form in the Flower Garden

12mo [18 x 12.5 cm]; x, 241 pp, frontis, 34 plates including the frontis and other illustrations (complete) from drawings. original pictorial gilt cloth, gilt vignette and lettering on spine, endpaper bookplate of J. Leroy Nickel, cover very slightly rubbed, else near fine copy. A picture of this book is available upon request by email. The author campaigned against the formality of the time, writing many influential gardening books. Robinson is described as "the most famous and controversial gardening writer of the nineteenth century" (Hugh Johnson) and "the most active guide in gardening taste in the last century" (Wright). He "contributed to a revolution in garden design. His influence still flourishes in the current taste for informality" (Oxford Companion to Gardens). Catalogue of the Library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society p. 269. Hadfield, Pioneers in Gardening p. 215-221. The author describes the culture of plants with large and graceful or remarkable foliage or habit, in reaction to the lower growing colorful plants in favor at the time. While much of the book describes the culture and specific plants and their characteristics, a section at the end lists plants for various purposes.

Edizione: second edition.