If you put a fine, thorough-bred Arab stallion and a cutesy, shaggy donkey together in the same pasture you can appreciate their respective characters and charms, but they are bound to be compared to the detriment of one or the … Continue reading
Lotusland is a garden that I have long wanted to visit; a botanical fantasy created by a wealthy failed opera singer with the added allure of very restricted opening times. Set high in the hills above Santa Barbara it is … Continue reading
I stumbled across Mendocino by accident. We had arrived in San Francisco the weekend of Gay Pride where we were confronted with a difficult decision. Were we going to party with about half of the city or do what we … Continue reading
So-called as the reflection of the moon appears to be trapped in the pavilion’s shadow on the pond. It has always struck me as strange that Chinese gardens in the West are rare, but Japanese gardens are comparatively common. … Continue reading
It may seem strange that a middle-sized American city has what is widely acclaimed to be the finest Japanese garden in the United States but also considered to be the most beautiful and authentic in the world outside of Japan. … Continue reading
It should not be surprising that some of the very best examples of Japanese gardens outside of Japan are to be found in the Pacific North-West, in view of the region’s close cultural ties with the Far East and the … Continue reading
I was first captivated by Dale Chihuly’s glass sculptures in an exhibition of his work at the Palm House in Kew Gardens in 2005, and so the visit to the Chihuly Garden and Glass was always going to be one … Continue reading
‘Not since Central Park opened in 1857 has a park reshaped New Yorkers’ thinking about public space and the city more profoundly.’ New York Times 20 September 2014 … Continue reading