Gardens both real and imagined have long captured our imaginations. They are places of mystery and magic, beauty and danger, romance and revelation; writers have used them to reflect longing and create unforgettable moments of drama, escape and wonder.

Literary Gardens explores thirty of the most atmospheric and emotionally charged gardens in literature. From The Secret Garden and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Rebecca and The Great Gatsby, these fictional gardens capture the atmosphere and emotion of the stories they belong to. Some feel peaceful or nostalgic, others are rich with mystery or unspoken tension – each is shaped by the characters and moments that are revealed within them. In Literary Gardens, readers will uncover new stories and rediscover old favourites, guided by Sandra Lawrence’s lyrical storytelling and Lucille Clerc’s evocative vision.

Literary Gardens is a tribute to the spaces that have stayed with us long after the final page – a perfect gift for yourself, or anyone who has ever wanted to step through the page and into another world.

From the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Sandra Lawrence, Psychedelics is a fascinating exploration of the mind-altering plants that for centuries have helped shape the way we see the world. Packed with expert text and stunning botanical illustrations from the Kew archive, this book delves into the folklore, cultural relevance and botanical background of remarkable plants that have long been leveraged to hallucinogenic effect.

A gorgeous gifty package, this book is both a beautifully illustrated botanical history and quirky cultural reference for plant lovers everywhere.

• The Lost Gardens of Heligan, England  
• Las Pozas, Mexico  
• Le Jardin Majorelle, Morocco  
• The Garden of Dreams, Nepal  
• Villa d’Este, Italy  
• Paleis Het Loo, Netherlands  
• Crowninshield Garden, USA  

 
Discover the remarkable stories behind the  creation, decline and occasional rebirth of these astonishing spaces, and meet the people and societies that first created and enjoyed them.
 
The perfect gift for garden lovers, armchair travellers and cultural enthusiasts.
 

‘Lawrence has done an excellent job of recreating this eccentric gardening guru’s life‘ The Times

‘My pick for gardening book of the year is this page-turning life story of Ellen Willmott’ The Sunday Times

‘Sandra Lawrence tells her story with brio and affection’ Daily Mail

‘Simply brilliant and a joy to read’ The English Garden

Ellen Ann Willmott was a remarkable woman whose achievements in horticulture, botany, landscape architecture, photography and more, should have made her one of the most well-known trailblazers of her age. Yet, both posthumously and within her lifetime, she instead became known as a bitter, cantankerous and eccentric miser, and her reputation has been forever stained by the image of her maliciously seeding other people’s gardens with thorns.

The beginnings of this prickly myth can be traced back to her conspicuous absence at what should have been the pinnacle of her career: the Royal Horticultural Society’s inaugural Victoria Medal of Honour Award ceremony, at which she was due to be one of only two female recipients. Universally interpreted as the rudest of snubs, nobody has ever stopped to question why Ellen wasn’t there, or if she was really as difficult and mean as she has been portrayed ever since.

Author, Sandra Lawrence, has been granted unparalleled access to her archives, and with it has uncovered the secrets behind this thorniness. This is a book with it all: gossip, sisters, rivalry, squandered inheritance, forbidden love, bad marriages and, at the heart of it all, trailblazing talent.

At the centre of countless superstitions, folkloric tales and magical beliefs, as well as appearing in recipes and medicines both traditional and modern, mushrooms have incredible powers.

Featuring images of over 100 fascinating species, sourced from the archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Magic of Mushrooms shows that from saving lives to expanding the mind, the potential of these fascinating organisms should not be underestimated.