Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst

From 1946 to 1957, Vita Sackville-West, the poet, bestselling author of All Passion Spent and maker of Sissinghurst, wrote a weekly column in the Observer depicting her life at Sissinghurst, showing her to be one of the most visionary horticulturalists of the twentieth-century.

Edited by Sarah Raven, VITA SACKVILLE-WEST’S SISSINGHURST draws on this extraordinary archive, revealing Vita’s most loved – and most hated – flowers, as well as offering practical advice for gardeners. Often funny and completely accessibly written with colour and originality, it also describes details of the trials and tribulations of crafting a place of beauty and elegance within the confines of walls and hedges.

Sissinghurst has gone on to become one of the most visited and inspirational gardens in the world and this wonderful book, illustrated with drawings and original photographs throughout, shows us how it was created and how gardeners everywhere can use some of the ideas from both Sarah Raven and Vita Sackville-West.

Author Biography

Sarah Raven is a writer, cook, broadcaster and teacher. She runs a mail order company, Sarah Raven’s Kitchen and Garden, and holds cooking, growing and gardening courses at her school at Perch Hill in East Sussex. With her husband, the writer Adam Nicolson, and family, she divides her time between there and Sissinghurst in Kent.