Black Teal Bay books to inspire and enhance your wellness.

“We still couldn’t live for a day without plants” says Simon Barnes . His book focuses on the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity. with a chapter on each - from the Strangler fig to the Strawberry which have changed the course of history.

The Hidden Universe written by Alexandre Antonelli the Director Science at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew is a concise overview of biodiversity – what it is, how it works, and why it’s the key to saving life on our planet and in combating climate change.

Katherine Mansfield the outstanding original short-story writer who adored flowers and the natural world. Her passion shone through in her short stories (such as The Garden Party), poems and letters, all complied in this beautiful book.

Saffron: A Global History explores the history and cultural impact of the world’s most expensive and prized spice, its threads literally worth their weight in gold.

“Weeds and What they Tell Us” is a classic book written in the 1950’s that outlines common weeds, how they grow, what to do about them and what they can tell us about soil health.

Silent Spring is one of the most influential environmental books of the 20th century. Exposing the destruction of insects, birds, rivers through the widespread use of poisonous pesticides.

Across history the rose has been a symbol of many things, often irreconcilable: of mortality, of immortality, of virginity and of decadence. By Any Other Name tells the story of the rose.

Soil is the story of how dirt makes us and can break us and how we are all responsible for protecting this finite resource.

This book is a Plant shows us how plants sustain life on earth. They are sensitive, complex and interconnected beings, playing surprisingly active roles in ecosystems and human societies.

Mindful Crafting: The Makers Creative Journey by Sarah Samuel is a book that explores our relationship with our creativity and self-expression, and how crafting and mindfulness can together calm our mind, body, and soul.

The Book of Seeds is a fully illustrated guide to 600 seeds ranging from everyday plants and trees to some of the weirdest plants on Earth. The seeds featured in the book have been selected from the estimated 370,000 seed bearing plant species on Earth

Booker Prize winner and bestselling author Penelope Lively has always been a keen gardener. Gardening, along with reading have been the two central activities, in her life along with her writing. Life in the Garden represents her reflections and appreciation of the role gardening has played in her life.

The Insect Crisis is a wakeup call of the very real threat to our global ecosystem from collapsing insect populations. In his book Oliver Milman explores the little understood emergency of declining insect populations and argues that the threat of an “insect apocalypse” and its consequences could rival climate change.

Jarman’s Garden was initially released in 1995 a year following his death from Aids and was re-reprinted in 2021. It is a very personal final book - by artist, filmmaker, theatre designer and activist Derek Jarman on his life and garden at Prospect Cottage.

Monty Don has now written a total of 25 books but The Jewel Garden stands apart for its real message is not really about gardening but coping with life’s challenges.

A timeless classic by writer John Stewart Collis telling the story of his second world war experiences as a naïve farm laborer together with wide-ranging reflections on rural life and nature at this time of transition from traditional to mechanized farming.

The Ghost in the Garden is a fresh perspective of Charles Darwin told through the lens of “The Mount”, the seven acre estate where Darwin was born and spent his childhood up to the age of 16.

Rooted explores connections between humans and the wild, natural world and focuses us back on how we can learn to live with the natural world at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit.

George Orwell is best known for novels such as “Animal Farm” and “1984,” that focused on the decline of empire, the rise of fascism and the tyranny of communism. What is less well known is that in 1936 he planted roses in the garden his small rented country cottage and remained a keen gardener throughout his life.

The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms by Naoko Abe

A Sting in the Tale is one man's quest to save the bumblebee and is an entertaining read that combines humor with real research and is no dry “science book”.

The Secret History of Here is an interesting and very personal book. It is a diary of daily life with a twist that draws you in, centred on a small farm in Scotland, progressively revealing its history together with the seasons.

The Well Gardened Mind is about more than the therapeutic uses of gardens and helps us understand why gardens and nature are beneficial for our wellbeing.

The Tokachi Millennium Forest is a 400-hectare ecological restoration project on what was formally degraded farming and land in Hokkaido Japan. Owner Japanese magnate Mitsushige Hayashi’s vision was to create a new public park that would bring people closer to nature and to be a sustainable garden for 1,000 years. He hired landscape designer Dan Pearson who together with head gardener Midori Shintani have made this vision a reality...

The Thoughtful Gardener is a beautiful autobiographical book by award winning garden designer Jinny Blom. It is the story of her quest to become a ‘master craftsman’ of garden design and the evolution of her style over 20+ years across more than 250 gardens around the world.