Guide to knocking off pros

A garden plan is to a gardener what a recipe is to a chef: a great idea made better when adapted to your own space or taste. Such is the premise of this colorful tome filled with layouts based on 16 famous gardens of the world.

Among the enticing landscapes to knock off: "The Moonlight Garden" at the Amber Palace, Jaipur; "A Desert Garden," based on Frank Lloyd Wright's landscapes; "The Sunset Prairie," by designer Piet Oudolf of the Netherlands; and "The Artful Orchard" in Ashton Wold, home of naturalist Miriam Rothschild.

Each sketched and water-colored plan is accompanied by distant and close-up photos of the actual garden; historical background; details on plants plus possible substitutes; how to build, plant and maintain such a garden; and a "shopping list" of plants with eye-popping photo portraits.

With such vivid inspiration, creating an intimate version of any of these classic gardens falls into the range of possibility.

Lili Singer