As well as sharing her design ideas and planting advice via her Substack newsletter, The Gardening Mind, Jo’s garden design books include The Gardener’s Palette and The New Romantic Garden (coming in February 2025).
The New Romantic Garden
Known for her keen eye for colour and modern romanticism, Jo Thompson explores thirty exquisitely planted gardens with dozens of ideas of how to adapt traditional garden design elements for today’s more ecologically based aesthetics and how each garden can be given a personality and atmosphere of its own.
Jo reminds us that we are never, in complete charge of how our gardens grow; other forces are always at work, as they should be when we allow sustainable practices to help us guide rather than try to dominate nature’s own efforts. Hundreds of beautiful colour photos and chapter-by-chapter case studies of individual gardens designed around various themes provide inspiration for all gardeners who want their gardens to feel not merely well planted, but truly alive and atmospheric.
The Gardener's Palette
Colour can set a mood at a glance. We want colour in the garden, but each gardener’s preferred palette is unique. How do you choose the right colour palette for your garden? In her latest book, The Gardener’s Palette, Jo shares her mastery of using colour to great effect and shows how to pick the right plants to fulfil your vision.
Published in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, The Gardener’s Palette is an entirely new way for gardeners to incorporate colour confidently and successfully. Jo curates over 100 evocative and fresh palettes, pairs them with images of her own and other designers’ work, and breaks them down with charts showing the exact plants used.
“A glorious celebration and classic guide to the richness and variety of colour combinations available to gardeners and designers.”
Gardens Illustrated
Jo’s five favourite colour schemes
Green & White
Green and white for me is the freshness of morning light, the elegance of midday light, the serenity of the light in the evening. A gentle palette which is timeless in its appeal.
Sherbets
The mention of a sweetshop seems to strike a chord with many: mouthwatering sherbet colours work softly with each other to create a feel that at the same time both looks backwards and forwards, bringing with their soft tones both familiarity and excitement
Tutti Frutti
An eye-opener of a colour collection, bright magentas and fizzing oranges delight as they catch the eye.
Wine, Peach, Coral
A combination of colours that work together and create surprising harmony due to the surprising tones that they share deep within their petals.
Pink
A classic, this shade resonates in the memory. Soft and pretty, elegant, a colour which stops us in our tracks.
