The Gardener's Year - Karel Capek

The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek with illustrations by Josef Capek / ISBN 9781529096248 / small 176-page hardcover, 4 x 6 inches, published by Macmillan Collector's Library.

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"A work of great charm and considerable subtlety which requires no more of the reader than a willingness to agree that it is a pleasant thing to own and cultivate a small patch of ground" - Literary Review

"This is a book no gardener should be without. This delightful little book is cram full of information, philosophy, and humour." - Sunday Times

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Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. This edition features lively black and white illustrations by Czech artist Josef Capek and is translated by M. and R. Weatherall.

The Gardener’s Year is a charming and light-hearted insight into the life of an amateur gardener. Structured loosely around what to plant, grow or cultivate each month, Karel Capek takes us on a rollicking journey through a year in his own small garden.

From making puddles with an untamable hose to sowing luxuriant weeds instead of grass, Capek reveals how a gardener grows into his surroundings 'spurred on by each new failure'. Subverting the tradition of a 'how to' gardening book, he teaches his readers about the magic of seeds, the perils of planting vegetables and the thrilling surprises of a rock garden. As the year progresses and frail buds turn from flowering stems to drooping bulbs and falling leaves, Capek's small garden buzzes with life, wisdom and humour.