The Garden Visitor

A blog about Gardens of the World by Richard Jackson

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Versailles 3 – Escape from Reality

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
Le Hameau – The Mill

I cannot help but feel a certain sympathy for the French royal family. After Louis XIV created the absolute monarchy and centralised all the power at Versailles the pressures of state resting on the shoulders of one man, the king, … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Gardens Archive | Tagged Grand Trianon, Le Hameau, Lois XV, Marie-Antoinette, Petit Tiranon

Versailles 2 – The Slumbering Giant

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
The Fountains of Apollo’s Chariot

It’s a strange sensation when you study the face of someone who’s fallen asleep. You sense that although they are physically with you, they are not really there. It reminds me of when I was a small child lifting my … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Gardens Archive | Tagged France, Ile de France, Le Notre, Louis XIV, Paris, The Musical Fountains Show at Versailles

Versailles 1 – The Grand Vision

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
The Water Parterre and West Facade of the Palace

How can a garden be so famous yet so little understood, be so vulgar and so magnificent at the same time, and be a symbol of overwhelming power yet so ravishingly intimate? Versailles somehow manages to be all of these … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Gardens Archive | Tagged France, Ile de France, Le Notre, Louis XIV, Paris

East Ruston Old Vicarage – A Magpie’s Nest of Treasures.

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
Desert Wash 2

Where to begin? An old wife’s tale is that magpies’ nests are renowned for having a mismatched collection of things that have thrilled those beady little eyes, sometimes things of great value and interest, and others that are brightly coloured … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardens Archive, UK | Tagged Alan Gray, Desert Wash, Graham Robeson, Norfolk, Norwich

Promenade Plantee – Urban Blueprint for the 21st Century.

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
Grand Staircase and Ziggurat Beds

It’s one thing to have a brilliant idea, quite another to make it happen. I spend a lot a lot of time thinking, much of it of the ‘what if’ variety but one of my many failings is that most … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Gardens Archive | Tagged France, Hi-Line New York, La Coulee Verte, Paris, XII Arrondisement

Parc des Buttes Chaumont – Dynamite and Picturesque Charm

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Karen Blaylock
Ile de Belvedere

I doubt that the IXXth is a great arrondisement in which to live, but if I ever moved to Paris I would want Parc des Buttes Chaumont to be my neighbourhood park. It is curious, wacky and sublimely picturesque.   … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Gardens Archive | Tagged Adolphe Alphand, Eiffel, Hausmann, IXX Arrondisement, Paris

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View Gardens Archive
  • RHS Wisley 1 Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science
  • Pashley Manor Gardens – A Late Summer Gem
  • Lotusland – ‘The Enemy of the Average’
  • Getty Center, Los Angeles – A tale of Two Gardens
  • Hauser & Wirth Durslade Farm, Somerset – Cutting Edge in the Back of Beyond