Strange Blooms

In seventeenth-century Britain, a new breed of 'curious' gardeners was pushing at the frontiers of knowledge and new plants were stealing into Europe from East and West. John Tradescant and his son were at the vanguard of this change - as gardeners, as collectors and above all as exemplars of an age that began in wonder and ended with the dawning of science. Jennifer Potter's book evokes vividly the drama of their lives and takes its readers to the edge of an expanding universe. Strange Blooms is a magnificent pleasure for gardeners and non-gardeners alike.

'A tour de force... We owe Potter a huge debt of gratitude for the tireless research and sifting of evidence that have allowed the Tradescants and their great legacy to emerge so clearly at last.' Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times

'A wonderful book... The Renaissance delight in the sheer protean variety of stuff that there is in the world has met its ideal presenter in Jennifer Potter's open pleasure in details.' Jane Stevenson, Daily Telegraph

'Forget Alan Titchmarsh et al - it's the Tradescants of Jennifer Potter's Strange Blooms we should really salute... Beautifully produced and meticulously researched.' Andrea Wulf, Observer

'Masterly... Jennifer Potter's achievement in Strange Blooms is to have breathed life back into the Tradescant name.' Alexander Urquhart, TLS

Biography

£9.99

www.groveatlantic.co.uk

Cover images courtesy of the Museum of Garden History; the Guildhall Library; City of London, and the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Cover design by Ghost.

In seventeenth-century Britain, a new breed of 'curious' gardeners were pushing at the frontiers of knowledge and new plants were stealing into Europe from East and West. John Tradescant and his son were at the vanguard of this change - as gardeners, as collectors and above all as exemplars of an age that began in wonder and ended with the dawning of science. Jennifer Potter's book vividly evokes the drama of their lives and takes its readers to the edge of an expanding universe. Strange Blooms is a magnificent pleasure for gardeners and non-gardeners alike.