Windcliff

Book excerpt: “Dan Hinkley is a rare man, generous, inspired, and gifted with an eye for beauty that is given to few people. How I long to wander again in the galloping beauty of his garden at Windcliff. Here it is, in all its inspiring wonder.” —Anna Pavord, author of Landskipping and The Curious Gardener Daniel Hinkley is widely recognized as one of the fore­most modern plant explorers and one of the world’s leading plant collectors. He has created two outstanding private gardens—Heronswood and Windcliff. Both gardens, and the story of how one begat the other, are beautifully celebrated in Hinkley’s new book, Windcliff. In these pages you will delight in Hinkley’s recounting of the creation of his garden, the stories of the plants that fill its space, and in his sage gardening advice. Hinkley’s spirited ruminations on the audacity and importance of garden-making—contemplations on the beauty of a sunflower turning its neck from dawn to dusk, the way a plant’s scent can spur a memory, and much more—will appeal to the hearts of every gardener. Filled with Claire Takacs’s otherworldly photography, Windcliff is spectacular for both its physical beauty and the quality of information it contains.