Susan Southam was born in Sydney, Australia. At the age of 11, she moved with her family to a small country town on the south-eastern coast of Australia where she found her passion for gardening. At Foxglove Spires, in her house and garden, Susan creates beautiful pictures, layered with romance and beauty.

A lavishly illustrated and highly personal story of the creation of an idiosyncratic Australian country garden, Velvet Pears is an inspirational book that's also full of practical ideas. Author Susan Southam lives in harmony with the seasons, cooking, eating, celebrating and decorating with her vast garden's bounty and she generously shares her life's lessons in this beautiful gift book. Key points: the book is beautifully illustrated throughout with photographs of the house and garden at Foxglove Spires, one of Australia s best loved gardens; the author includes suggestions for planting schemes as well as her favourite recipes, using produce from her own garden; there are lyrical descriptions of the garden through the seasons as well as inspiring text on how to create romance in the everyday; this elegant and feminine book is finished with a black velvet ribbon, making it a beautiful keepsake and an ideal gift for garden lovers