Hydrangea

Maurice Foster’s keen interest in hydrangeas began over 65 years ago when he took a summer job during the university vacation with writer and nurseryman Michael Haworth Booth, author of the first specialist UK book on hydrangeas. Although known as an evangelist for the hydrangea, his interest is in all woody plants, as demonstrated by his garden and arboretum at White House Farm in Kent, now a charitable foundation, where he also grows significant collections of maples, magnolia, camellia, birches and deutzias among many other genera. He has been a member of the RHS Woody plant committee for the last 27 years; is a Trustee of the Tree Register of Britain and Ireland; and received the highest RHS award, the Victoria Medal of Honour, in 2011. He has travelled widely across the world in search of cool temperate woody plants.

Physically, this is a handsome hardback, a pleasure to hold and to read, admirably laid out and printed on heavy silk-coated paper which means the photos are of excellent quality in both definition and colour. The bottom line is that even if you buy only a single book on plants in 2024, you really should make it this one.