Peonies and Pomegranates: Botanic Illustrations from Asia by Celia Fisher

Many of the flowers and fruits growing in our gardens and greenhouses today were brought to the West by collectors or traders. This book describes the origins of these plants, with quotations from the people of Asia who first appreciated, cultivated and wrote about them. Almost all the illustrations are by Asian and Middle Eastern artists, some of them hired by European collectors. Celia Fisher begins with an account of the long history of gardens in the East, and of how Eastern plants and botanical knowledge came to be transmitted to Europe. This is followed by seventy-four alphabetical plant entries, ranging from acacia to wisteria, each illustrated with wonderful pictures from a range of books, manuscripts, paintings and drawings. A must-have for every gardener and appreciator of beautiful artwork, this sumptuously illustrated handbook describes over seventy plants that originated in Asia and the Middle East.