to write about her life and her work. Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants was published in 2019 by Pimpernel Press. The Beth Chatto Gardens Construction of the Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market near Colchester began in 1960. It was attached to the Chatto family home, on land that had previously belonged to the Chatto family fruit farm. It had not been farmed before, as the soil was considered too dry in places, too wet in others and the whole area had been allowed to grow wild with blackthorn, willow and brambles. The only plants to survive from the earliest days are the ancient boundary oaks surrounding the Garden. The Beth Chatto Gardens comprise a varied range of planting sites totalling , including dry, sun baked gravel, water and marginal planting, woodland, shady, heavy clay and alpine planting. They now include the Gravel Garden, Woodland Garden, Water Garden, Long Shady Walk, Reservoir Garden (redesigned by the Head Gardener, Asa Gregers-Warg, and the Garden and Nursery Director, David Ward, with input from Beth) and Scree Garden. The development of these sites prompted Beth Chatto to write books on gardening about what could be considered as "problem areas", using plants that nature has developed to survive under differing conditions. Beth Chatto lived in the white house in the midst of the gardens. She worked with a team on developing the gardens and continued to inspect and approve their work until the day before she died. She contributed to articles for the international and national press and appeared in international media. Exhibitions In January 1975 Chatto created a small winter garden at one of the Royal Horticultural Society Halls, London SW1. More exhibits followed and eventually the Beth Chatto Gardens "Unusual Plants" exhibition arrived at the Chelsea Flower Show. Exhibits by "Unusual Plants" were awarded ten consecutive Gold Medals at the Chelsea Flower Show from 1977 to 1987, except that she did not exhibit in 1983. Exhibits by the Beth Chatto Gardens can still be seen at the Tendring Hundred Show in Essex. List of publications Beth Chatto was the author of many gardening books, including an exchange of letters with her friend and fellow gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd: (out of print) (out of print, rev. ed. Beth Chatto's Green Tapestry: Perennial Plants for Your Garden, London, England, HarperCollins, 1999) (reprinted in 2016 as Drought-Resistant Planting) (previously Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden,