Gardens Around The World To See

“So much to see and do, but so little time.” is a reframe that bounces through my brain practically every time I pick up a travel book. That thought nearly paralyzed me a few days ago when I leafed through the new book, “1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die.”

Arranged by continents and by countries within, it functions as a travel book for those who love flowers, trees, and shrubs. In paging through the book, I couldn’t help but look for gardens my wife and I have visited.
 
The first section covers gardens in North America. I’m sorry to say we haven’t seen many. Oh, I’ve been to the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada, Central Park and the Cloisters in New York City. We’ve seen the Japanese Garden in Portland Oregon. In California we’ve been to the gardens at the mission of San Juan Capistrano, the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, and The Hearst Castle. We make annual pilgrimages to the Denver Botanic Gardens. In the East, we have walked around Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg. In the South, we have visited the Biltmore Estate, but there are well over 100 more other gardens we have not visited. So much to see….

In Europe, the percent of gardens we’ve visited takes a drastic dip. While in the Navy, I visited the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, although back then I was more interested in Danish girls than the plants and flowers.

English gardens are probably the best represented in the book, but I’m saddened that we have only viewed a few of those mentioned. The formal gardens at the Blenheim Palace are unforgetable. I’ve wanted to see the Sissinghurst Castle Gardens every since I read the two-volume biography of Harold Nicolson. A diary of his life during World War II, it describes how he and his wife, Vita Sackville-West, purchase a crumbling castle and slowly transformed it into a wonderful series of gardens, particularly one with all white flowers. I must see the “white garden” before I die.

I’ve never been in Germany. From the pictures in this book, the German gardens are awesome and I’ve got to make time to visit some of them.
The English and the French must have competed in garden planning. French gardens seem more formal while the British ones are often rustic. My wife and I spent a day in the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles. The grandness of the scale—called baroque---is overwhelming, just as planned. We strolled through the Luxembourg gardens on several occasions while in Paris. In the Tuileries, we watched children sailing model boats in large raised water basins.

Eastern Europe and Russia have many beautiful gardens to complement large country homes and municipal buildings. In Italy, Tuscany seems to hold preeminence in gardening. In Barcelona, Spain, my wife and I walked the paths of the Parc Guell which had originally been planned by Antoni Gaudi and decorated with fanciful colored tiles.

In Beijing, China, the Forbidden City dominates in garden splendor. A walk around the lake by the Summer Palace is breathtaking. It staggers the imagination to learn that a mountain was made from the soil laborers moved to make the lake. West Lake in Hanzhou was the inspiration for the Summer Palace Lake. Within West Lake there are over 100 gardens and scenic features from pagodas on the mountain peaks to colorful floating pavilions

In New Delhi, India, the gardens at the Red Fort, the Humayun’s Tomb, and the Mughal Gardens are on every visitor’s itinerary. Near Agra, gardens and long pools with flowing watter surround Akbar’s Tomb. At the Taj Mahal the formality of the gardens and pools, accent the sublime beauty of the Taj.

South America, Africa, Australia, Japan, Thailand….the countries and their gardens are all “must sees” before I die. But, is there time enough?
Memorial donations received by the Library Foundation include those in honor of Ruth Warner from Mr. and Mrs. Robert MacFarland, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kuska, Mr. and Mrs. James Gerhold and Helene Becker. The memory of Pixi Micek was honored by a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Jason Heesacker. A memorial was also received from Elizabeth Svoboda in honor of Beverly Schroeder.