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ABOUT
LOUISA JONES
Canadian by birth, I
first fell in love with France as a student in the 1960's. Later
I taught French literature in Seattle, at the University of Washington,
where I met my French husband, Bernard Dupont. When in 1970 he became
director of a Study Abroad program in Avignon, we had to choose
where to settle ! In 1975 we bought a French farmhouse and begun
to garden, so I gave up Seattle and moved to Provence. Here for
many years I taught American students about French and Proven¨al
culture, learning myself as I went. My husband and I also organized
and accompanied weekly excursions in the region. My book Provence
: A Country Almanac, is based on those years of teaching as
well as on my current explorations.
Meanwhile, I was beginning
to garden myself and wanted to know about local traditions I knew
the Romans had left their mark on almost everything in Provence,
and that they had been great gardeners. But in the 1970's, everyone
told me there were NO gardens in Provence. In those days, people
were thinking of English mixed borders, full of flower in July when
most everything goes dormant in Mediterranean climates. I began
to ask around and visited some 200 gardens in Provence, which led
to my best-selling book Gardens in Provence (Abbeville,1992).
I wrote that book to explore for myself the range of styles found
of this region-both in its traditions and current practice. It was
followed closely by Gardens of the French Riviera -very different
in both respects !
Today writing is my
main activity-along with gardening. And tooting around in my old
car, discovering other peoples' gardens... And also, with my husband,
organizing visits for small groups to very private Proven¨al gardens
BOOKS
BY LOUISA JONES
 Provence
Harvest
in collaboration with chef Jacques Chibois, Stewart Tabori
and Chang, 2005, photography by Guy Hervais. Preface by Dan Barber
of Stone Barns. Recipes by a great country chef and good news of
how country life in Provence is adapting today to global pressures.
New
Gardens in Provence
Aubanel 2005, photography by Bruno Suet. Current trends in garden
design in the Mediterranean style, from small back yards to hikersÕ
trails. Thirty very different examples of creative gardening.
La
Bambouseraie
Presentation of the bamboo park at Prafrance, as much visited yearly
as Villandry (in French). History, lore and uses of bamboo.
Serre
de la Madone
Riviera gardens created by Lawrence Johnston, creator of Hidcote
in England : history and interpretation, showing how his work there
prefigures contemporary trends. Available in English only from the
gardens, on site or by mail (see Carnet).
La
Cuisine des jardins de Provence
Paris/Aubanel 2002. Photography by Vincent Motte and Louisa Jones.
Eighteen hands-on gardeners give their favorite recipes for genuine
Provençal family food.
Gardens
of Provence
Paris / Flammarion / 1992 et 2001 - Photographs by Vincent Motte.
Definition of a regional style, covering some 200 gardens.
L'Année
jardinière de Louisa Jones
Aix-en-Provence, Editions Edisud / 1999 - Photos de Louisa Jones.
A month by month garden almanac with plant lore, gardens to visit,
nursery advice and commentary on recent trends in gardening. (Not
available in English).
L'Esprit
nouveau des jardins : un art, un savoir faire en Provence
Paris / Hachette, Paris / 1998 - Photos de Vincent Motte
et de Louisa Jones.
Detailed analysis of ten very recently created and style-setting
gardens. Not available in English.
Gardens
of the French Riviera
Paris / Flammarion / 1994 and 2001 - Photographs by Vincent Motte.
Variations and explorations on Riviera gardening from the most glamorous
to small neighborly gardens
Provence
: A Country Almanac
Stewart, Tabori and Chang / New York / 1999 - Photographs by Louisa
Jones, Vincent Motte, and others.
Little-known aspects of Provence season by season. Recently updated
and republished with web sites and e-mail addresses.
The
New Provençal Cuisine
Chronicle Books / San Francisco / 1995
A travel and food book where fifteen young chefs in different places
provide menus and recipes (out of print).
AND...
The
French Country Garden
Albin Michel - Photographs by Gilles Le Scanff and Joelle
Mayer.
An exploration of the great garden expansion in the French provinces,
among home gardeners as much as designers. Four gardens from Provence
and the Riviera
Kitchen
Gardens of France
Albin Michel / Paris / 1997 - Photographs by Vincent Motte.
Portraits of potagers and their creators, from peasant plots to
famous garden designers and chefs.
The
Art of French Vegetable Gardening
Hachette / Paris / 1995 - Photographs by GillesLe Scanff
and Joelle Mayer.
Techniques and examples of decorative vegetable gardening from all
over France.
Saveurs
du Potager
in collaboration with chef Jean Bardet of Tours, Hachette, Paris,
1998.
Louisa Jones wrote the introduction and vegetable lore, Jean Bardet
contributed one hundred easy and imaginative vegetable recipes.
CURRENTLY
IN WORKS...
Gilles
Clément
ŅGilles Clement and the Planetary GardenÓ by Gilles Clement and
Louisa Jones Aubanel (La Martini¸re) 2006.
ARTICLES
by Louisa Jones
Gardens Illustrated,
House and Garden, The Garden, The Sunday Telegraph
Magazine, Jardin Passion, L'Express-Magazine,
France Magazine, Maisons Côté Sud, Mon
Jardin Ma Maison, Garden Life Magazine, Vogue Living
Australia, The New Zealand Gardener, Le Monde,
Hortus, Convivium , Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Handbook
on potagers. Contributing editor for Gault-Millau guide The
Best of France.
LECTURES
BY INVITATION
The Louvre, Watteau
Colloquium, Grand Palais, Paris 1985
The Friends of French Art, Los Angeles 1993
Horticulture Magazine French Garden Tour 1994
Garden Lecture Series, Sydney and Melbourne Australia, 1995
Phildelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia ,1996 and special French year
1998
New York Flower Show, New York, 1996
Santa Barbara Art Museum, Santa Barbara California, 1996
American Horticultural Society Tour of Provence 1996 and 2000
The English Gardening School, Chelsea, London, 1996
The British Garden Design Society, Kew, November 1997
Northhill Garden Colloqium, Vermont, June 2000.
Courson Plant Fair, October 2000.
The Irish Garden
Society Dublin 2003
Seminar Ecole de Hautes Etudes Paris January 2004
The New York Botanic Gardens March 2004
Morven Foundation Princeton March 2004
Joint meeting of British Garden Design Society and American Association
of Landscape Designers July 2004.
AGENCIES
AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES
for whom we have helped organize private visits
The English Gardening
School from the Chelsea Physic Garden of London (3 times); The Philadelphia
Horticultural Society (1995); The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (1994
and 2001); The Smithsonian (gastronomic seminars October 1998 and
September 2001).
Private garden visits organised for individuals include garden author
Christopher Lloyd, and Albert and Paola, King and Queen of Belgium.
Regular Provence garden tours with Louisa Jones and Bernard Dupont
through the H™tel la Mirande in Avignon every year, the third week
in April.
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