Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants - by Catherine Horwood (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The authorized biography of world-renowned plantswoman Beth Chatto (1923-2018).

Beth Chatto was the inspiration behind the "right plant, right place" ethos that lies at the heart of modern gardening. She also wrote some of the best-loved gardening books of the 20th century, among them The Dry Garden, The Damp Garden, and Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden.

Some years before her death in May 2018, aged 94, Beth authorized Catherine Horwood to write her biography, with exclusive access to her archive. It also includes extracts from Beth's notebooks and diaries, never previously published, bringing Beth's own distinctive and much-loved voice into the book. Most of the photographs from Beth's personal archives, have also never been seen in print before.

For Beth's legions of fans, here is the personal story behind her beliefs and the struggles and determination that brought her success.

Review Quotes

"Brilliant, charming and beautiful, she was a horticultural pioneer whose impact continues to this day. Her gardening genius made her the darling of pop stars, aristocrats and royalty -- yet as this sympathetically written biography reveals, her apparently gilded life was far more turbulent than anyone could have suspected." - Daily Mail

"This fascinating, beautifully-written biography paints a fond and intimate portrait of one of the true greats of the gardening world." - The Irish Times

"Beth loved autumn, and for me, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants shines most in this season of transition, as her later years are chronicled...[It] tells a complete and intimate portrait of Chatto's professional and personal life." - Massachusetts Horticultural Society

"Beth Chatto...died last year having handed over her gardening notebooks to Catherine Horwood. Perhaps more pertinently for Horwood, and for non-gardeners whose eyes glaze over at the mention of horticultural triumphs, Chatto also entrusted Horwood with her private diaries. As Horwood's detailed and rigorousBeth Chatto shows, plantspeople have passions beyond their garden beds." - The Sunday Times (London) Gardening Books of the Year

"A fascinating portrait of one of the true gardening greats from her early childhood in rural Essex to her ground-breaking work as a nursery owner, award-winning author and multiple gold-medal-winner exhibitor at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show." --Irish TimesGardening Books of the Year

"Full of tales of Chelsea shows, of travels with Christopher Lloyd and of Cedric Morris's artists' colony at Benton End in Suffolk. Fascinating stuff." --Times

"Not a gardening book per se but a book about a gardener who created a garden of distinction on a dry, windswept site, earning her a reputation as an international influencer. The book brings its subject back to life, enabling those previously unfamiliar with Chatto's work and influence to understand the context in which her ideas were formulated and excelled." --Irish NewsBest Gardening Books of the Year

About the Author

Catherine Horwood is a social historian with a passion for plants and gardens. Her other books include Women and Their Gardens: A History from the Elizabethan Era to Today (Ball Publishing, Chicago), Rose (Reaktion, 2018), Potted History (Pimpernel Press, 2020) and Keeping Up Appearances: Fashion and Class Between the Wars (Sutton, 2005). She has also written for newspapers and magazines including The Times, Daily Mail, Gardens Illustrated and The English Garden. Her blog, www.gardeningwomen.com, has a worldwide following.