BOOK REVIEWS

Better Against
a Wall

Ursula Buchan
Distributed by Hodder Moa Beckett
$NZ69.99

URSULA Buchan is a well-known British gardening journalist, who writes columns for The Spectator, Independent, the Daily Telegraph and Observer newspapers, among others. This book is her second anthology of columns, and follows Good in a Bed.

Both books take their names from a famously quoted reference to a tea rose named after Lady Hillingdon in 1917 (Hillingdon is otherwise known for revealing in her diary that, "when visited at night by her husband, she would lie back and think of England".) Her namesake rose was subsequently described in a nurseryman's catalogue as "good in a bed, but better against a wall."

The title of the book hints at Ursula Buchan's wit, and certainly, it's a delightful read. Don't let the hefty price tag put you off, because it's filled with wry observations about gardens, plants and gardeners. An excellent read - keep it by your bedside to dip into when insomnia strikes.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 133, 2003, Page 31

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH