Cloudehill : A Year in the Garden

"Cloudehill: A Year in the Garden" tells the story of Cloudehill one of Australia's finest gardens and nurseries. Located at the top of Melbourne's Dandenong ranges, Cloudehill is inspired by the famous Arts & Crafts gardens of England and features some 20 garden compartments threaded through glorious 80-year-old European beech, magnolias, maples and a collection of fabulous Himalayan tree rhododendrons. Glorious herbaceous borders that focus on two of the finest Japanese weeping maples to be seen anywhere in the world further establish Cloudehill as a world-class destination. Cloudehill's owner-turned-author Jeremy Francis begins the book with an engaging account of his childhood on a remote farm in Western Australia and his subsequent farming career. Intertwined with this family history are intimate diary entries paralleling the gardening year and allowing an unforgettable insight into his passionate relationship with the land. Francis' account of his ownership of Cloudehill follows, providing extraordinary details of the more technical aspects of the iconic garden, including plantings, structural design, experiments and failures, the triumphs and disappointments associated with gardening, supplemented with detailed colour photographs. This multi-layered book is not just for gardening enthusiasts. Francis' charming anecdotes about his family, his childhood, farming and his deep insights into the bonds between man and the land will surprise and enchant all readers.

Jeremy Francis was born at Wagin in Western Australia. He lived and farmed on a property between Mogumber and Gillingarra in WA before moving to the Dandenongs in 1990, and has been engaged with the making of Cloudehill since 1992.