In 1733, American farmer John Bartram dispatched two boxes of plants and seeds to London cloth merchant Peter Collinson; the resulting trees, evergreens, and shrubs would soon transform English landscapes and gardens. As the author of Founding Gardeners details here, these men found kindred spirits in Philip Miller, author of the influential Gardeners Dictionary; Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus; and Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who discovered new flora through their voyage on Captain Cook's Endeavour. Indeed, Andrea Wulf posits, this international collaboration laid the foundation for gardening as we know it today.

"Wulf's flair for storytelling is combined with scholarship, brio, and a charmingly airy style…. A delightful book—and you don't need to be a gardener to enjoy it."—NYTBR