Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

'Paradise haunts gardens', writes Derek Jarman, 'and it haunts mine.' Jarman's public image is that of a film-maker of genius, whose work, dwelling on themes of sexuality and violence, became a byword for controversy. But the private man was the creator of his own garden-paradise in an environment that many might think was more of a hell than a heaven - in the flat, bleak, often desolate expanse of shingle that faces the Dungeness nuclear power station. Jarman, a passionate gardener from childhood, combined his painter's eye, his horticultural expertise and his ecological convictions to produce a landscape which combined the flints, shells and driftwood of Dungeness; sculptures made from stones, old tools and found objects; the area's indigenous plants; and shrubs and flowers introduced by Jarman himself.

This book is Derek Jarman's own record of how this garden evolved, from its earliest beginnings in 1986 to the last year of his life. More than 150 photographs taken since 1991 by his friend and photographer Howard Sooley capture the garden at all its different stages and at every season of the year. Photographs from all angles reveal the garden's complex geometrical plan, its magical stone circles and its beautiful and bizarre sculptures. We also catch glimpses of Jarman's life in Dungeness: walking, weeding, watering, or just enjoying life.

Derek Jarman's Garden is the last book Jarman ever wrote. Like the garden itself, it remains as a fitting memorial to a brilliant and greatly loved artist who, against all odds, made a breathtakingly beautiful garden in the most inhospitable of places. It will appeal to all those who are themselves practising gardeners, as well as the legions of admirers of this extraordinary man.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, was a leading independent filmmaker best known for Caravaggio (1986) and Blue (1993). He was also a gardener. This book is his record of how he cultivated his garden from 1986 until his death. He created the garden outside a fisherman's cottage on the shingle at Dungeness, in southeastern England, beside a nuclear power plant. Jarman fashioned stone circles, sculpture out of driftwood and old tools, and a garden based on indigenous plants plus introduced shrubs and flowers that could survive in the area's inhospitable environment. Although his book is a tribute to a highly individual artist and to his struggle to create in the face of AIDS, both text and photographs are repetitive. Jarman says, "If a garden isn't shaggy, forget it." If you are not interested in highly individual and shaggy gardens, forget this book. Recommended only for specialized collections.‘Daniel Starr, Museum of Modern Art, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

It was an unprepossessing site‘a bleak, desolate expanse of shingle facing a nuclear power plant in Dungeness, Kent. Battered by wind, the area had the strongest sunlight, lowest rainfall and longest growing season in Britain. On learning that he was HIV-positive, filmmaker Derek Jarman purchased a fisherman's cottage and began to build an unusual garden. This book is his record of how it evolved from 1986 until his death in 1994. Jarman (whose films include The Last of England, Wittgenstein and Blue) started by collecting stones from the beach and arranging them in circles; he added driftwood, antique tools and found objects for sculpture, then put in native shrubs and flowers. Completed, the garden evokes serenity and pleasure, reflecting Jarman's talents in the visual arts. Sooley's stunning photographs are a fitting memorial to man and garden. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Derek Jarman (1942 - 1994) was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.