{"product_id":"gardens-of-colombia-9789589393116","title":"Gardens of Colombia","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnlike architecture  sculpture or painting  the art of gardening produces living works that grow  blossom  change  and fade. As such  the garden could be considered the supreme work of art  and indeed it has been so in all civilizations. A garden on any scale enhances the architecture it surrounds. What would Versailles have been without its spectacular gardens and their orderly vistas  or the great country houses in England without the eighteenth-century landscape designers? Likewise it is hard to imagine rural or urban houses in Colombia without their planned patios and courtyards.  The jagged geography of Colombia divides it into several contrasting regions: the Caribbean coast  Antioquia  Santander  Cundinamarca and Boyac  the Cauca valley  and the plains of the Llanos  to mention a few. The climates and flora of these areas are markedly different  but their inhabitants share in common love for plants and a keen interest in gardening. Long before there were professional gardeners and landscape designers  all Colombians  from the wealthy hacendados to the modest campesinos  devised and planted their own gardens  according to personal taste and economic limitations.  A delightful eclecticism is captured in these pages in hundreds of photographs of every type of garden from extravagant parks to minute flowered niches. Experimentation is commonplace; each journey and Sunday excursion brings home additional plants. With the added factor of unpredictable rainfalls and prolonged droughts  most Colombian gardens are aesthetic and horticultural laboratories.  In the course of compiling the photographic material for this book  it proved impossible to include all gardens worthy of presentation  nor could all the gardens featured here be photographed at the peak of their splendor. Nevertheless  the attentive reader will be able to enjoy an impressive range of plants  color  composition and integration of cultivation with the natural landscape  which  in the absence of a great classical tradition  make up the particular charm of the Colombian garden. Unlike architecture  sculpture or painting  the art of gardening produces living works that grow  blossom  change  and fade. As such  the garden could be considered the supreme work of art  and indeed it has been so in all civilizations. A garden on any scale enhances the architecture it surrounds. What would Versailles have been without its spectacular gardens and their orderly vistas  or the great country houses in England without the eighteenth-century landscape designers? Likewise it is hard to imagine rural or urban houses in Colombia without their planned patios and courtyards.  The jagged geography of Colombia divides it into several contrasting regions: the Caribbean coast  Antioquia  Santander  Cundinamarca and Boyac  the Cauca valley  and the plains of the Llanos  to mention a few. The climates and flora of these areas are markedly different  but their inhabitants share in common love for plants and a keen interest in gardening. Long before there were professional gardeners and landscape designers  all Colombians  from the wealthy hacendados to the modest campesinos  devised and planted their own gardens  according to personal taste and economic limitations.  A delightful eclecticism is captured in these pages in hundreds of photographs of every type of garden from extravagant parks to minute flowered niches. Experimentation is commonplace; each journey and Sunday excursion brings home additional plants. With the added factor of unpredictable rainfalls and prolonged droughts  most Colombian gardens are aesthetic and horticultural laboratories.  In the course of compiling the photographic material for this book  it proved impossible to include all gardens worthy of presentation  nor could all the gardens featured here be photographed at the peak of their splendor. Nevertheless  the attentive reader will be able to enjoy an impressive range of plants  color  composition and integration of cultivation with the natural landscape  which  in the absence of a great classical tradition  make up the particular charm of the Colombian garden.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45666185150517,"sku":"ByrdShop_958939311X","price":66.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9789589393116.jpg?v=1782422100","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/gardens-of-colombia-9789589393116","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}