In a Victoria Garden

Pleasance Crawford is a Canadian landscape and garden-history researcher
and writer, and the co-author of Garden Voices: Two Centuries of
Canadian Garden Writing.

Lynne Milnes, a self-described “landscape photographer and garden
snoop,” is the creator of the In a Victoria Garden calendar, which
features private gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. To produce the
book of the same name, she visited or revisited 32 gardens, interviewed
their owners (who range from keen amateurs to professional
horticulturists), and took additional photographs. The gardens are
arranged alphabetically by owner and occupy three to four pages each.
Color photos depict hidden spots and intriguing corners, close-ups, and
axial views.

This is not a book about landscape gardening. Milnes does not even
consistently state the size of the gardens. Its main purpose is to
capture the sensory qualities of plants, the ephemeral nature of
gardens, and the first-hand experiences of gardeners. In future, Milnes
should consult a standard horticultural reference to ensure the correct
spelling and use of plant names.