Shakespeare's Garden

Completing Rebecca Harris ’s trilogy of Shakespearean puzzles, a wonderfully satisfying jigsaw celebrating literature and horticulture alike

William Shakespeare loved the natural world and constantly referred to native flora and fauna in his poetry and plays. Local tradition has it that he kept a fine garden, planted with a mulberry tree, at New Place, his Stratford-upon-Avon home.

Now Rebecca Harris draws upon this rich poetic legacy to imagine a fabulous version of Shakespeare’s garden. Flowers (like violets, roses, and marigolds) bloom alongside herbs (rosemary, thyme, lavender) and vegetables (onion, cabbage, turnip). Above them grow fruit trees (apple, pear, pomegranate) and bushes (gooseberry, blackberry): through the leaves buzz bees, butterflies, ladybirds . . . and round the edge, a suitably horticultural quotation frames the scene.