Great book on Balinese Gardens

20 years ago

OK, I'm sure this book isnt new to many of you, but I really enjoyed 'Balinese Gardens' by William Warren. Its not a how-to, more a coffee table book showing off some of the islands truly magnificent gardens, along with a subtle history lesson on Bali in the text. I admit to having been quite ignorant of the fact that Nusa Dua has a drier climate than the Bali itself, but its clear that landscape architects (in the case of hotels) and private gardeners alike havent let this stop them from creating lush, verdant gardens. Having been deterred from visiting Bali by it's 'Asian Bondi Beach' image as a lad, I can see that I have missed out on something magical.

The author makes the point that Bali's warm climate and rich volcanic soil mean accelerated growth for most plant life, but its clearly the monsoonal rains which make all the difference IMO. How many of us have wandered out into our gardens after a few days of steady rain and been stunned by the 'instant' growth in our gardens ?

Plant choice is very much in line with subtropical and tropical regions of Oz - bougainvillea, frangipani, Delonix Regia, ficus, cordyline, croton and a host of large palms and ferns - but the texture is even more striking. I have seen some very nice tropical gardens in different parts of Asia, but I dont remember any of them being as intoxicatingly *green* as those depicted in this book - quite overwhelming.

If you havent seen the book, hopefully you have a friend with a copy - well worth an hour or two of your time.

Cheers,

Artie

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

silvercargo
20 years ago
Totally agree Artie . Another one by the same author is 'The Tropical Garden' which is just as good. Amazing and beautful photo's. Inspiration plus!!!
artiew
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks silvercargo - its a shame that they charge such a premium for anything on tropicals - $90 seems to be the going rate ! Admittedly, they are mostly large hardcover 'coffee-table' books, but thats a sizeable chunk of change when the majority of gardening books come in at around half that price. Such is life.
Related Discussions
HAVE: gardening books and garden supplies to trade.
Q
Comments (1)
If you dont get rid of all of the things by trading for plants and still want to get rid of them, please let me know. I do not have any plants yet, still have snow, but I am interested in some of your things. thanks
...See More
Great book on Gardening Green!
Q
Comments (1)
I love gardening books, picked up 2 today at an estate sale for $3
...See More
Looking for coastal garden photo for New England gardening book
Q
Comments (1)
Why don't you contact landscape architect Patrick Chasse? He is from Maine and has designed numerous beautiful gardens such as you describe--coastal, ecological etc. He's currently working at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and you could contact him there. He's a great guy and great LA.
...See More
Balinese garden. How to create in Cool climate?
Q
Comments (6)
Dead easy unless you get massive frosts.... I have a rich tropical garden in Melbourne no frosts here though. Big abysinnian bananas or real bananas grow really fast and look fantastic. They are brilliant to begin...Almost any palm will do but not the Queen or cocos palm you will regret the day you put them in. I have lots of small and tall phoenix roebellini which are stunning and bangalows. a few other sorts but they are slow to get going. Bamboo clumping type is brilliant or even running kept in a root barrier cannot be beaten. try the big culm sorts in a small grove...do not be put off by the small plant large price tag they grow stupendously fast I got mine from Bamboo oz and they are nearly 2 and very big and juicy. Fruit trees...well I went mad from Daleys and have 47 varieties...may as well get something from all that green Cannas fast and spectacular especially the coloured ones Hibiscus from Perrys SA(they also have fruit trees and bananas)coleus, corylines, gingers, brugmansias...anything with fragrance big leaves and colour...they all live with one another happily...there are great books about like "palms won't grow here and other myths' " and "the new exotic garden " by will giles Also his website (just google on will giles) they have built fabulous gardens where it is under snow for part of the year. Ah also water gardens papyrus and I even have a big pond of lotus...anything is possible have fun
...See More
Tacca
20 years ago
I also agree - both Balinese Gardens and The Tropical Gardens are very good books.

Tropical gardening books do not seem to be readily avaible, at least here in Brisbane anyway. Brisbane bookstores seem to be dominated with cold climate stuff for some obscure reason instead of sub-tropical and tropical books that I would think of as being more suitable.
CoralCoast_Tropicals
20 years ago
Tacca,
That has been an argument of mine for years and believe me it is the same here and further north. Even when I lived in Cairns, books on tropical plants or garden styles were rare. This carries onto everyday life too. Have you tried to buy a decent pair of shorts in winter in Queensland?! For someone like me that wears shorts year round it is almost impossible.
artiew
Original Author
20 years ago
Whilst I cant comment on CoralCoast's shorts :), I believe that the bookstores largely take whatever is foisted on them by the distributors. I'm sure the big chains have their own marketing teams, but the decisions would still be made in Sydney and Melbourne.

Whenever I've approached an individual manager re the lack of titles covering tropicals/ natives / whatever, he or she has told me that they can only work from the feedback they get from customers - if there is enough demand, they will order books in. Ultimately, we all have access to Amazon and other online booksellers, although I agree that its nice to be able to wander into your local bookstore and have stacks of 'relevant' books at ones fingertips.
Tacca
20 years ago
It seems to be a bit of a vicious circle regarding what books are in stock. Same goes too for what plants garden centres stock.
A brief look at the history of gardening in Qld shows that initialy people struggled with trying to grow plants in climates not suitable for them. It seems that this circle has not really been broken yet although the range of sub-tropical /tropical plants available is certainly becoming more readily available. I guess though that many of us will always want to grow something from outside our climate.

As for books, another good William Warren co-authored book I would recommend is 'Thai Garden Style'. It give a really good overview of the different regions for garening in Thailand from the coastal areas in the South to the highlands of the North.
pogonantha
20 years ago
I just wanted to add a book to you list,I got it from Stokes Tropical's in Louisiana! It is called TROPICAL GARDEN DESIGN and it is by Made Wijaya who by the way is Australian. It has a great history of tropical colonial gardens and covers Wijaya's work as a landscape designer.On another note,I subscribe to to garden magazines and for the wet tropical gardener,it's a total waste of time. For a while there it looked like the Cairn's Post was putting out a little magazine every year on tropical gardening but they stopped.We can grow soooo many exciting plants in this area but nurseries continue to cram golden canes and yellow almanda down our throats.
islandgirl
20 years ago
If your looking and can't find a book,if its out of print,or your a long way away from a bookstore,any book at all,try www.bookfound.com. or 1800 132 100 they are good at finding things and you don't get charged,just for them to look for you. Cheers Sue
helen_tropical
20 years ago
Haven't posted here in a while. One of our book publishers in Sydney is looking for books to publish on tropical gardens but someone needs to write them first. I think I have most of the books on tropicals and it doesn't take up very much room on my bookcase.
Helen
P.S.
Hi Andrew
Hi Scott
Udon
20 years ago
I too am a fan of William Warren and am trying to get 3 of his titles, his photographer is just brilliant.

Why no Amazon in Oz??