Description

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A distinguished chronicle of the Persian garden that explores its profound spiritual, historical, and virtually unacknowledged influence on the development of Western garden design in the 21st century.

Gardens of Persia demonstrates world-renowned author Penelope Hobhouse's rare ability to combine meticulous research and a practical knowledge of gardens and plants with a love of garden history and travel. By telling the story of the development of gardens throughout the Persian culture's 5,000-year-old history, she imparts a passionate view of the Persian paradise garden as a model for today's gardeners.



Buildings, water, and plants combine to give the gardens of Persia a beautiful spiritual quality that has served to inspire garden design across time and diverse cultures. Indeed, Ms. Hobhouse begins with the oldest living garden, Pasargadae, created by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. It represented paradise on earth and spawned other gardens to be seen as settings for sacred contemplation and spiritual nourishment. In later centuries, these gardens evolved further around the world as representations for romance, power, prestige, and symbols of the afterlife.



Gardens of Persia is beautifully illustrated with Jerry Harpur's specially commissioned photographs of Persian gardens as well as with similarly inspired ones from around the world, and with lovely images of sumptuous carpets and Persian miniatures.

About the Author

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Penelope Hobhouse is a best-selling author as well as a garden designer whose acclaimed landscapings are found throughout The United States and Europe. Her designs include a garden for the Queen Mother. For fourteen years, with her husband, she was in charge of the National Trust Gardens in England. Her many accolades include the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour and the Garden Writers' Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jerry Harpur's award-winning photographs have been published in House & Garden, Architectural Digest, Gardens Illustrated, and a host of books.