...public and private, that it's very hard to even list them
all, let alone convey the special inspirational beauty of each.
We're going to try, however.
Begin. To begin is half the work.
- Ausonius -
We begin here with this baker's dozen. Then, as with our regular
features in What's Up, we'll add to the
collection over time. More and
more gardens...
Kailzie Gardens near Peebles,
in Scotland's South Borderlands. A place we could imagine making
our own, venerable but embraceable and not too big... Except the
incredible yews. (Below, left.) It's a place of mild, long
fall,
where katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) does
its fall color change (with accompanying spicy cinnamon
scent) in January (below, right).
The Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
Harvard's arboretum, the oldest public arboretum in the country,
has awesome trees so long in place that they're forest.
Attadale Gardens, Wester Ross, the Highlands,
Scotland. Maybe it's the magic of the Highlands, or maybe this
estate-turned-public-garden is truly enchanted. It felt that way to
us. One of the photos most often requested for a print from Steven's
library, Forest Seduction, was taken in Attadale Gardens.
The Chinese Scholar
Garden in Snug Harbor Botanical Garden on Staten Island, New
York. Long ago, our friend and Super Moderator, Margaret Thele
dubbed Janet "The Perfessor." Janet says if she is going to be
assigned to an academic community, could it be one from China's
past, when gardens such as these were designed as meditative
retreats for deep thinkers?
Cranbrook Gardens, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Beautiful gardens that snagged Janet's soul when she was a student
at Kingswood School, another part of the Cranbrook Educational
Community. 20 years passed before she realized the soul of those
gardens is volunteerism, and she signed on to help tend the gardens
for several years. Once connected to the gardens and the
gardeners -- there's no breaking those ties!
Dawyck Botanical Garden, near Peebles in the
region of Scotland known as the Borders. It's one of the three
Regional Gardens that are part of the Royal Botanical Garden,
Edinburgh. Once a manor and estate, it's been planted with
collectors' jewels since the 1700's. While studying for her PhD in
Scotland, our daughter Sonja visited here and sent us a photo of
the manor with the note, "I found the house I want. Landscape this
for me!" This photo is of the scene upstream from our favorite spot
in this favorite garden, the Swiss Bridge. (To save you the
chortles we heard when first asking directions to and within this
garden, it's pronounced "Doik.")
The Detroit
Zoo. We volunteered at the beginning of the Adopt-a-Garden
program and are still in it -- 23 years as of this writing.
Hundreds of gardeners maintain hundreds of beds, every one a gem.
Look for our own contributions in the southwest corner between
kangaroo and bison, and near the Great Ape viewing area.
Dow
Gardens, Midland, Michigan. So many places here are perfect for
copying as-is and reproducing in one's own yard. That personal,
approachable scale appealed to our children when they were young,
so that they called this one of their favorite places "When we
have to go with you to gardens!"
Ireland's gardens, great and small, cultivated and natural,
public and private. Here we feature those we saw during a whirlwind
spring trip: Dilllon's of Dublin, Powerscourt, Butterstream, the
Burren, the roadsides and cottage gardens along the Ring of Kerry
Road, Ilnacullin on Garinesh Island, Larchwood B&B, and
the Japanese Garden at the National Stud.
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Such a variety of styles shown, from the formal topiary garden to
the wild meadow, and full of unique places such as a fantasy-story
tower in the woods. Always fun to figure out where the gardeners
are working, to check what, how and why...
Michigan State University Horticulture Gardens.
One of the most plant-rich and well designed campuses in the
country, not only for its for its designated gardens but plantings
throughout. The Horticulture Gardens have a special place in our
hearts as the setting for our book Caring for Perennials.
Take a little
tour!
Olbrich
Botanical Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin. A gem of a city garden,
delightful all year but absolutely unbeatable in its fall and
winter color. We are awed by the designers who made so many fine
choices -- not just the usual fall foliage but berries, bark, twigs
all selected and combined to showcase their charm.
Reaume-Coventry Garden, The Queen Elizabeth II Royal Sunken
Gardens in Jackson Park, Dieppe Park and other jewels in the
Windsor, Ontario park system. Visit early in the day and look for
the gardeners who have a great deal of practical information and
the cheer to share it.
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.
Rock garden, vine collection, perennial garden, rose collection,
arboretum... 30 years we've been going there and still haven't seen
it all.
Royal
Botanical Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland. A beautiful place in one
of the most beautiful cities in the world. The alpines and rock
garden conifer areas are our favorites. One shouldn't envy one's
own child but our daughter did her PhD years at University of
Edinburgh and so walked regularly through these grounds.
South Carolina Botanical Garden, of Clemson
university. A friend and former co-gardener connects us to this
great garden. We who volunteer in public gardens have a special
appreciation for all that goes into the beautiful scenery.
University
of California-Santa Cruz Arboretum. Talk about feeling like
we'd stepped into another world. What a great way to take a walk in
South Africa, Australia and New Zealand without leaving the
continent.
University of Mexico Botanical Gardens, Mexico
City. Steven thought he'd seen every color, until he saw these
gardens.
More and more gardens
This list will become too unwieldy for one page -- the more
photos we add right here, the slower the page will load for you. So
from here on out we'll list gardens and link you -- to the gardens'
own sites, to start with. Eventually we'll add our photo
collections from those gardens, with separate pages for each place.
(We'll dedicate that addition to J.J., whose enthusiastic feedback
to the launch of our site was "Wow, wow,wow. And now, more gardens,
take us on tour!")
Cornell University Plantations, Ithaca, New
York
Garden in the Woods, Framingham,
Massachusetts
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania
Niagara Falls Botanical Gardens, Niagara
Falls, Ontario
Master Gardener program demonstration and display gardens:
Lapeer County, MI; Kent County, MI; Champaign, IL;
Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio