Wild and Garden Plants

Remarkably few native trees, shrubs or flowers are to be found in British gardens. In fact, the British flora is very poor in species: yew trees and holly bushes are very much the exception to the general rule that our woody garden plants are exotics. Similarly, the wild flowers of our hedgerows and woods have contributed remarkably little to the traditional British garen. Why should this be? Where have all these now familiar plants come from? Have they been domesticated from the wild or brought from abroad? The aim of this book is to throw some light on the origins of the plants found in British gardens. All the factors which have given rise to our many and various garden plants are discussed, together with the roles played by botanists and gardeners in this process. The rise of ecology as a science is described, and the book brings the reader up to date with a discussion of late-20th-century attitudes to gardens and garden plants.