I bought this book in the St Andrews second hand bookshop, it cost more than I usually like to pay for books but I didn’t think I would easily come across it again outside the internet so I thought it was well worth it, especially as the money was going to a bookseller who obviously loves books too, and I want him to be able to continue trading. So many bookshops are having to close down.

I enjoyed the writing as well as the lovely illustrations. You can see images of the bookcover and illustrations here.

I haven’t been able to find out much about the author, whose full name was Emily Handasyde Buchanan, but I think it’s fair to say that she must have been Scottish as there are quite a lot of Scottish words used in it and the gardener was Scottish as were some of the gardens.

The gardens in the title are: The Haunted Garden, The Old Fashioned Garden, The Poor Man’s Garden, and The Rich Man’s Garden. Possibly only of interest to those who are keen on gardens and plants, very old fashioned, sweet descriptions of gardens and flowers and gardening techniques, such as how to take cuttings of pansies – I didn’t know that you could! But if you enjoy stories about Edwardian children then you might like this one.

My copy was published in 1912 and the illustrations are by Charles Robinson. You can see more of his work here.