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Victoria Summerley.
The Secret Gardeners: Britain's creatives reveal their private sanctuaries.
Quarto Publishing. 2017

The Secret Gardeners reveals the private gardening passions of 25 notable creatives: individuals who are not known for their gardens show how they put their stamp on the landscape. The celebrated cast is drawn from the worlds of art, philanthropy, music, theatre and science, and the book offers an exclusive insight into the secluded sanctuaries where their dreams and memories are shaped.

In The Secret Gardeners we learn how Sting unwinds in his landform labyrinth; how Downton Abbey-creator Julian Fellowes designs a new path and vista; how Cameron Mackintosh depicts his musicals in a garden mosaic; how actor Jeremy Irons once hosted a party for his local gardening club; how Sharon Osbourne relaxes by weeding after a flight back from LA; and how Prue Leith indulges her preference for dahlias, crocosmia and all flowers red.

The gardens include plantaholic paradises, city and countryside retreats, romantic riversides and grand estates, all lovingly tended by their owners, designers and gardeners. Through Hugo Rittson Thomas’s sumptuous photographs and Victoria Summerley’s lively text, find out how to plant a wildflower meadow, how to live with marauding deer and which famous actor once worked as a gardener.