I really loved reading this book. The book is a collection of letters between two dedicated gardeners in England. The letters are filled with descriptions of their gardens, plants, their daily life and plenty of gossip. Enjoy

This was a delightful read, both for the garden information and the glimpse into the authors' lives. It would be an especially great winter read, when we gardeners are not able to be out in our gardens and want to curl up with a book to transport us elsewhere.

In summary, I plan to purchase once released!

I believe that this was previously released. Stumbled across as advance review copy on NetGalley and as a gardener I decided to review. I haven't been a "gardener" for decades and this wasn't on my radar when originally/previously released. I'm so pleased that it will be re-released (as a paperback).

Both iconic gardeners are from Europe. Beth Chatto (1923-2018) lived in UK in Essex county and Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006) Great Dixter, East Sussex. At first I thought it a bit strange reading these letters, but they had decided to write these letters for two years (1996-1997) with the thought of publishing them.

As I was reading (listening thanks to Siri) I thought, an index with all these plant names (usually in Latin) would be awesome. Thank goodness that the publishers/authors had also considered that, because there at the end was an index with page numbers. (This pushed me over the edge in deciding that I will be purchasing.) So many great gardening ideas.

Both gardeners love food almost as much as gardening. Some of the flavors and foods described sound delectable! Yum!

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and the authors Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto for the opportunity to review the advance read copy of Dear Friend and Gardener in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 04 May 2021.

A series of letters back and forth between Beth and Christi,in the novel Dear Friend and Gardener, take us on a delightful tale of inspiration,,hope and discovery..The attention to detail, setting,temperature,and environment will leave gardeners everywhere delighted with the scenery and variances between the two environments and amused by the inside gossip shared between the two gardening circles.

I admittedly sort of skimmed this, seeking out the gardening chat in between the family news and gossip, because I didn’t really have any interest in Chatto and Lloyd beyond their expertise, but I learnt a lot from it. I do have to disagree with “Christo” though that homegrown onions aren’t better than shop bought - they most definitely are. Once published, it would make a nice gift for a keen gardener, but it just wasn’t really my sort of thing.

What a kaleidoscope of a book! Two infamous friends in two beautiful regions in England, different backgrounds and gardening tastes, wrote gorgeous letters to each other describing everything from what they did that week to the weather to bird visitors to perennial borders to vegetables. Beth Chatto was a flower arranger by trade but her plant knowledge and gardening sense was out of this world. Christopher Lloyd was a horticulturalist who inherited amazing Great Dixter (must be seen to be believed). They both made huge contributions to the horticulture world.

As a master gardener who gardens in both the hot Mediterranean and -40C in Canada I appreciate the plant gossip and weather conditions details very much. I meticulously record rainfalls and temperatures, too, so found this book incredibly relatable (except in Canada we can only dream of such a wonderful climate). The writing itself is gorgeous and the friends' appreciation for each other's observations is obvious. Food and cooking ideas are marvelous and very descriptive as are the most minute details such as beetles, leaf textures, counting numbers of broad bean tips picked (I do that, too!) and preserving fruits. But the plant descriptions are especially breathtaking!

If you enjoy plants and gardening you will undoubtedly find much to relate to and smile about in this epistolary book. It seems that both gardeners must have been very interesting characters!

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this personal and entrancing eARC.

I was hoping this would be focussed on their gardens and plants, but the letters are largely about gossip amongst the gardening community and the social scene of them and their peers. This was an interesting insight into their lives in an exciting time in botanical culture, but I was more interested in the gardening discussions specifically.