I think that Mike Nelhams has captured the real atmosphere of the Abbey Gardens in his book. It has something that will appeal to everybody. The book is composed of three main parts. The first is about the history of the garden. This tells us about all the people who have been custodians of the garden over time and how they have developed it over time, how Tresco Abbey Gardens are what they are today.In the second section, Mike Nelhams tells us about how the gardens have linked in with his life, the times when he was a student, to coping with the 1987 snow, when most of the gardens was lost, and then replenished. He tells us about the gardens through his eyes, and paints a very vivid picture of the gardens in this way.Seeing it from his point of view makes the tale very immediate to the reader.
In the third section of the book, the important plants in the garden are written about. This means that the book can be used as a very effective reference about a fairly wide range of exotic plants that are grown in the gardens, as an exotic and subtropical gardener myself, I find his book very useful in this way as well.
As well, the book has many wonderful colour photos of the gardens. These help to give a memory of the gardens if you have already visited them and buy this book as a wonderful souvenir. I would definitely recommend this book, it is a vivid and wonderful tale of an exquisite garden.
