Bookshelf: Paris Gardens and Inspirations

If you're looking for some garden inspiration, these beautiful books on secret gardens and entertaining in the garden might encourage some new ideas to bloom! Even if you don't have green thumbs, there's nothing to stop you sighing over the alluring photos in these recently published garden books.

Garden Inspirations

With ideas from flower arranging to table settings to using outdoor colors for interior home decor, Garden Inspirations aims to make the garden a part of your everyday life whether you are outside in the garden itself or bringing the garden indoors. The author, interior designer Charlotte Moss, takes readers on a trip through her own gardens, talks about the famous European gardens she has seen and offers tips on garden entertaining. She also collects beautiful vases to display her just-plucked blossoms... some of them are right there on the vibrant book cover! We too love blue and white ceramics, as you'll know if you ever browsed all the antique Delft vases, plates and other pieces in our online store!

Private Gardens of Paris

Greg and I find most of our antiques in France so we are always happy to hop on a plane to Paris. It's a great mixture of business and a little pleasure too. While we are there, we enjoy wandering around the stately Paris gardens. However, the ones featured in this book are private gardens... so the only way to get a glimpse is to leaf through these gorgeous photographs.

The private gardens tucked away from the bustle of the Parisian streets include fashion designers Hubert de Givenchy’s formal garden and Kenzo’s Japanese-style retreat.

In and out of Paris: Gardens of Secret Delights

Here's another book about Paris gardens that was also recently published. There must be something in the air.  But you can never have too much Parisian style and there is plenty of creativity in these 30 gardens. Author Zahid Sardar, the design editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, explores projects ranging from the tiny terrace in the Marais owned by couturier Martin Grant to the rooftop in Montmartre belonging to Mexican painter MariCarmen Hernandez. (Do you think there is anything in the world more romantic than a Montmartre rooftop garden?)  American architect Michael Herrman also pays homage to Le Corbusier’s Champs Elysées garden for one of his clients.

After such a long cold winter for so many people, it's a joy to get outside again, isn't it? I hope these books will help you conjure up some magic for your own garden! Or leave a comment to tell us about your own favorite garden books.