In the Land of the Blue Poppies
The Collected Plant-Hunting Writings of Frank Kingdon Ward
$45.08
- Paperback
288 pages
- Release Date
15 April 2003
Summary
During the first years of the twentieth century, the British plant collector and explorer Frank Kingdon Ward went on twenty-four impossibly daring expeditions throughout Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia, in search of rare and elusive species of plants. He was responsible for the discovery of numerous varieties previously unknown in Europe and America, including the legendary Tibetan blue poppy, and the introduction of their seeds into the world’s gardens. Kingdon Ward’s accounts capture all the romance of his wildly adventurous expeditions, whether he was swinging across a bottomless gorge on a cable of twisted bamboo strands or clambering across a rocky scree in fear of an impending avalanche. Drawn from writings out of print for almost seventy-five years, this new collection, edited and introduced by professional horticulturalist and House & Garden columnist Tom Christopher, returns Kingdon Ward to his deserved place in the literature of discovery and the literature of the garden.
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780812967395 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0812967399 |
| Author: | Frank Kingdon Ward, Tom Christopher, Jamaica Kincaid |
| Publisher: | Random House USA Inc |
| Imprint: | Modern Library Inc |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 288 |
| Release Date: | 15 April 2003 |
| Weight: | 295g |
| Dimensions: | 15mm x 140mm x 212mm |
| Series: | Modern Library Gardening |
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Critics Review
“If there is a better writer about the garden than he, I do not know who that would be… . This collection … is a joyous event.” -from the Preface by Jamaica Kincaid
The “Modern Library Gardening Series” is an American gem of a find - reprints of gardening classics written and published long before today’s flurry of overly bright garden books. These are true garden works, not just a photographic procession of perfect plants. Here, you’ll find excitement, love, commitment and die-hard horticulturalists imparting their knowledge and experience in a way that makes learning enjoyable. From playwright Reginald Arkell’s “Old Herbaceous” hilarious novel to Frank Kingdon Ward’s diaries of daring-do in the Far East, American Eleanor Perenyi’s pert comments and asides to Margery Fish’s late-found desire to build a garden of her dreams in Devon. The passion and ardour with which these writers embrace the subject is sorely missed today. Frank Kingdon Ward was a real Indiana Jones, not a celluloid figment of the imagination but a man fuelled by his plant hunting, a fervour that takes him across the Far East from mountain ranges to tropical jungles, in search of the never-too-elusive for him “new” plant. A quiet reclusive man who drove his expedition companions mad with his prolonged periods of silence, he was never happier than when battling with the elements be it snowstorms, snakes or rapids. Undaunted, he would continue his journey taking these “inconveniences” in his stride. Discoverer of the renowned Tibetan blue meconopsis, introducer of innumerable rhododendron species and seed collector extraordinaire, most gardens today hold a plant touched by this great planthunter in the past. A prolific writer, his journals are full of what many would view as adventure stories from a novel. This carefully selected collection of his writings is ideal for gardeners and adventurists wanting to escape a wet, windy winters day outdoors. Immerse yourself in his world of the early decades of the twentieth century in Asia with baggage handlers and servants all traipsing in the wake of one of the world’s greatest adventurers and learn the origins and ordeals of the plants your garden holds. - Lucy Watson
Frank Kingdon Ward
Frank Kingdon Ward Born in Manchester, England, in 1885, Frank Kingdon Ward was a professional plant collector and explorer for over forty years. He authored more than twenty-five books, including The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges, which detailed his expedition into the world’s steepest river gorge. He passed away in 1958.
Michael Pollan Michael Pollan is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Botany of Desire and Second Nature, recognized by the American Horticultural Society as one of the best gardening books of the twentieth century. He is a contributing editor for Harper’s magazine and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.
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