Gardens of Obsession: Eccentric and Extravagent Ideas Visions 

by Gordon Taylor, Guy Cooper 

Synopsis
Visionary, magical, beautiful, mysterious, witty and bizarre describe these gardens of obsession conceived by gardeners driven by their dreams and fantasies. Landscape and garden designers Gordon Taylor and Guy Cooper have found more than 150 gardens throughout the world--all works of wonder made by obsessives from all walks of life and all economic resources.

 These gardens are metamorphoses of dreams into garden realities. Some are based on myths and allegories from the ancient world; others stem from personal fancies given form from one genus of plant or a particular material. Some reflect high culture; others are folksy or kitsch.

 Gardens of Obsession lie in the jungles of Mexico; in a back garden of mosaics in Chartres, France; in dew-swept lawns in Oxfordshire; extravagant topiaries in Ecuador; trees lovingly fashioned into seats and fantastic shapes in Oregon and a garden of 1,500 roses in Somerset planted in date order of their introduction to western Europe.

Each one of these extraordinary gardens is the realisation of a person's innermost, all-consuming and achieved fantasy