Riding the buses » Gardens of the world
International Garden Festival, Quebec, Canada
Along the banks of the St. Lawrence River in the province of Quebec an international garden festival that receives worldwide acclaim is held every year. This is no ordinary garden show; some would call it weird; the founder says it’s contemporary. Since the festival began in 2000, 110 gardens from 15 countries have been selected by a jury to be part of the exhibition. 290 proposals were received from 31 countries for the 2013 festival and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Canada, Featured garden, Gardens of the world
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sri Lanka are just outside the popular tourist destination of Kandy and easy to reach by tuk-tuk from any of the nearby hotels. It’s a lovely place, well laid out, and the map you get at the entrance is easy to follow. I’ve read that the orchid house is most popular but it didn’t hold my attention, perhaps because I recently visited the one in Singapore and that has to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardens of the world, Good trips, Sri Lanka
The Medici Gardens of Florence, Italy
As an amateur gardener, I’ve been captivated by British gardens, first in books and then through actual visits. It was not until I toured Italian gardens that I realized the considerable influence Italian Renaissance design had on early British landscapes. I also learned that the ‘art of gardening’ emerged in 15th century Italy through the work of architects such as Leon Battista Alberti. It was Alberti (1401-72), the multi-talented Renaissance man, who strongly affected landscape gardening … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardens of the world, Good trips, Italy
The Garden of Ninfa, Sermoneta, Italy
I really was not prepared for the perfection of Ninfa. I had watched Monty Don’s programme on Italian Gardens, purchased books on the subject and read the online blogs. I noted the comments of our tour organizers that “they had saved the best to the last” and was informed that the New York Times called Ninfa the most romantic garden in the world. Even so, the natural splendor of the place astonished me. Ninfa was the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardens of the world, Good trips, Italy
