Each month we will provide our readers with a review of a book we think is particularly good. After reading Thomas Hobbs` Shocking Beauty, I can honestly say it will be one worth adding to your collection.

Aside from being an amazing collection of inspiring photographs, this book has depth. I don't mean in a real intellectual style complete with explanations of every plant shown or listed, but rather in a practical, understandable sense.

To start with the layout of this book is so logical. The book is broken down into ten components that Hobbs uses to create the looks he likes in his gardens. These are things that we all use at one time or another in our gardens, but don't necessarily understand, such as Inspiration, Zonal Denial, Staging Incidents and Portable Drama. Each component is covered in a chapter complete with good solid information and excellent examples of the concept in great photographs of named and unnamed gardens.

I especially like Hobbs` discussions of how important it is to be looking for inspiration wherever you are, to be using that inspiration in a way that you envision will work for you in your particular garden.

At times while I was reading this book I felt like calling up some of my more 'uptight' gardening friends and saying listen to this. Things like, gardening without fear means taking risks that saner heads would never contemplate, and planting heavy always looks better than trying to explain what your vision was meant to be would send them right into gardening rules orbit! For a nonconformist gardener like me I found Hobbs` approach very reassuring and refreshing.

As well, he has a real gift of explaining rather inexplicable concepts. For example, how would you explain inspiration? Hobbs uses a great analogy of a childhood toy he created for himself. Two dried pussy willow buds stored in a half walnut shell became two cute little furry animals in a perfect little home. His point being that children are naturals at seeing and acting on their own inspirations and realize that they are actually much happier with their own creations than with something someone else thought of and created.

So too it is with gardening. What may be inspirational and pleasing to one gardener is not necessarily so pleasing to the next gardener. So look around, be inspired and act on it to create a look in your garden that works for you. Hobbs however, does not stop with his inspiration advice. He backs it up with concrete suggestions as to what works and doesn't in the garden. He explains how `Blurring` works as well in the garden as it does in painting and gives written and picture of examples of how to achieve this effect. He also explains and demonstrates how 'Staging Incidents' in the garden creates interest and surprise in a garden.

Concrete things like strategically placing broken pots, unusual architecture and interesting processions of potted plants, around the garden. I could expound on the great elements of this book forever, but I don't want you to miss a good garden read so I won't. Be sure to pick up a copy of this book. You won't be disappointed, and you may just be inspired and instructed to create the very garden you always dreamed of.