Around the World in 80 Gardens (2008)

In his first journey, Monty travels to two very different but neighbouring countries. Mexico is one of the most plant-rich and artistic cultures on the planet - from the ancient water gardens of Mexico City, to the modernist extremes of Luis Barragan and a surrealist fantasy hidden in the rainforest. Traveling to Cuba, Monty finds that the crumbling colonial grandeur of its urban landscape is now host to a very green revolution. Gardens: 1. Mexico - The Floating Gardens, Xochimilco, Mexico City 2. Mexico - The Gardens of Luis Barragan: Casa Barragan, Prieto and Galvez 3. Mexico - The Ethnobotanical Garden, Oaxaca 4. Mexico - Las Pozas, Xilitla 5. Cuba - Alberto's Huerto, Havana 6. Cuba - Vivero Organoponico Alamar, Havana 7. Cuba - Maria's Garden, Havana

Monty travels to two of the youngest gardening cultures in the world. But it's not just about dreamy climates and wonderful plants. Monty sets out from the aptly named Botany Bay to uncover a story of culture clash and invasion, where the gentle habits of the indigenous people and the extraordinary natural landscapes have been dashed aside in favour of imported plants and a very 'English' garden style. In New Zealand, he sets off in search of the wild heart of the country, where he revels in a magical rainforest garden created entirely of native plants. Gardens: 8. Australia - The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 9. Australia - Kennerton Green, Mittagong, New South Wales 10. Australia - The Sitta Garden, Sydney 11. Australia - Alice Springs Desert Park, The Northern Territories 12. Australia - Cruden farm, Langwarrin, Melbourne 13. Australia - The Garden Vineyard, Moorooduc, Melbourne 14. New Zealand - Ayrlies Garden, Auckland 15. New Zealand - Te Kainga Marire , New Plymouth

Monty sets off on a technicolour tour of India, taking in some of the most opulent and heavenly gardens in human history, including perhaps the most famous architectural garden in the world, the Taj Mahal. As he travels through the spectacular landscapes of tea country, arid plains and urban mayhem, Monty's quest to gain insight into India's own epic cultural journey leads him from the majestic tomb gardens of the Mughal emperors and the pleasure gardens of the Hindu Maharajahs, to the quaintly nostalgic heritage of the British tea planters and a unique rock and sculpture garden little known in the west. Gardens: 16. Taj Mahal and the Mehtab Bagh, Agra 17. Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra 18. The Monsoon Palace Gardens, Deeg 19. Jal Mahal, Jaipur 20. Hindu Temple Shrine Garden, Jaipur 21. Mr Abraham's Spice Garden, Thekkady, Kerala 22. The Old Railway Garden, Munnar, Kerala 23. The Rock Garden, Chandigarh

South America, almost twice the size of Europe, is a continent with the most diverse climate and range of landscapes on the planet. It's also home to more than 50,000 endemic plant species but is a land under intense ecological threat. Monty starts his journey in Rio de Janeiro to see the private garden of Brazil's greatest artist, Burle Marx, before travelling by boat to the ingenious floating gardens of the Amazon. He also takes in a crumbling traditional 'estancia' in the wind-swept Pampas, before finally ending his journey on the craggy Pacific coast of Chile where one man has created a garden completely in tune with its landscape. Gardens: 24. Brazil - Burle Marx's Copocabana Promenade, Rio de Janeiro 25. Brazil - Burle Marx's Sitio Garden, Rio de Janeiro 26. Brazil - The Floating Gardens, The Amazon 27. Brazil - Bacu's Forest Garden, The Amazon 28. Argentina - Estancia Dos Talas , The Pampas 29. Chile - Bahia Azul, Los Vilos

Monty Don continues his extraordinary journey with a visit to the richest and most powerful nation in the world: the United States of America. There, he meets garden guerrillas who are creating community gardens from derelict land in New York, visits a Virginian garden that reflects the birth of the nation, and finally travels west to California, to see if gardens there reflect more than the glitz of the movie industry. Gardens: 30. LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY 31. Gantry Plaza State Park, New York (designed by Tom Balsley) 32. Liz Christy Garden, Manhatten NY 33. James Van Sweden's garden at Ferry Cove, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland 34. Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia 35. The Huntington Botanic Garden, San Marino, California 36. Lotusland, Montecito, Santa Barbara 37. Roland Emmerich's Garden, Hollywood, California 38. The Greenberg Garden, Brentwood, Los Angeles (designed by Mia Lehrer)

Monty samples the very different approach of one of the world's great gardening civilisations: China and Japan. His researches lead him to the ancient scholars' gardens of Suzhou, as well as the awesome Yellow Mountains that inspired them. By the time he reaches the Imperial Summer Palace Gardens of Beijing he's beginning to get a little insight into the secrets of the enigmatic Zen gardens of Japan. Gardens: 39. China - The Humble Admininstrator's garden, Suzhou 40. China - The Lion Grove, Suzhou 41. China - The Imperial Summer Palace, Beijing 42. Japan - Ryoan-ji Temple, Kyoto 43. Japan - Issidan, Ryogen-in Temple, Kyoto 44. Japan - Totekiko, Ryogen-in Temple, Kyoto 45. Japan - Urasenke Tea Garden, Kyoto 46. Japan - Tofuku-ji Temple Garden, Kyoto

Monty Don continues his journey with a trip to the Mediterranean - cradle of European civilization. In Italy, he visits some of the elaborate high Renaissance gardens which have hugely influenced western garden design. But he also travels to Marrakech to visit the oldest continuously maintained garden in the world and on to Spain to visit the Alhambra, thought by many to be the most perfect garden in the world. Gardens: 47. Italy - Villa D'Este , Tivoli 48. Italy - Villa Adriana, Tivoli 49. Italy - Elio's vineyard, Tivoli 50. Italy - Villa Lante, Bagnaia 51. Morocco - The Aguedal, Marrakech 52. Morocco - The Majorelle , Marrakech 53. Spain - The Alhambra/Generalife, Granada 54. Spain - The Patios of Cordoba, Southern Spain 55. Spain - Casa Caruncho, Madrid

Monty revels in the amazing flora that we've inherited from one of the most plant-rich zones in the world, including the strange King Proteus, South Africa's national plant. He also takes a journey to the Drakensberg Mountains to see some botanical treasures in their natural environment and traces the garden-story of the Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in the nineteenth century. Gardens: 56. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town 57. Henk Scholtz's garden, Franschhoek near Cape Town 58. The Company Garden, Cape Town 59. Stellenberg, Kenilworth, Cape Town 60. Donovan's L'il Eden, Hout Bay, Cape Town 61. Kirklington, Ficksburg, Free State 62. The Savanna Rock Garden, Magaliesberg, Johannesburg 63. Brenthurst, Parktown, Johannesburg 64. Thuthuka School Garden, Tembisa Township near Johannesburg (supported by Food & Trees for Africa)

From the floral wonders of Britain’s Sissinghurst Castle, to the garden palette of impressionist painter Monet, to the quirky individuality of two of Monty’s most admired contemporary designers, he's forced to wonder why this part of the world is so rich in gardening glories, and how we can care for this massive horticultural heritage. Gardens: 65. UK - Rousham Park, Oxfordshire 66. UK - Sissinghurst Castle , Kent 67. France - Chateau Villandry , The Loire Valley 68. France - Claude Monet's Garden , Giverny 69. Belgium - Jacques Wirtz's Garden, Schoten, Antwerp 70. Netherlands - Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn 71. Netherlands - The Boon Family Garden, Oostzaan, Amsterdam 72. Norway - The Arctic Alpine Botanic Gardens, Tromso

Since the nineteenth century, Western gardeners have harboured a stereotype image of the perfect exotic garden and Monty visits the pre-eminent of these - the mysterious Jim Thompson's Garden in Bangkok. He then pushes on to Singapore, 'a City in a Garden', before finally touching down in the lush and sensuous island of Bali, where what he learns about South-East Asian gardens surprises him.