Winter Gardens: Reinventing the Season by Cedric Pollet

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Winter Gardens displays an unusually fetishistic perspective on plants in winter. I arrived at the book as an artist not a horticulturist because although I can capture plants visually I cannot keep them alive so my review will entirely be from that perspective. The book drew my attention because I wondered what a winter garden could be composed of and so I requested a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I use the term fetishistic because there is a stylized fixation with these trees and plants in subdued tones that is at once artful but also an introduction into a world of winter that is not the sterilized white wonderland. Instead there is a lushly naked defiance of plants in the heart of winter, stripped bare of their leaves but still so beautiful and alive. Rather than having a stark quality, Winter Gardens feels enduring and inspiring.

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