Chatsworth: The Greatest Country House
My trip to England included the many gardens that I visited. Before leaving, I made a list of the ten or so gardens I planned to see. I would rent a car to get around the countryside to see these…
Garden as Culture
A garden both reflects and creates the kind of culture we share. In the process cultures can be very tolerant of new expressions and new symbolism. We simply say to ourselves, "Well, that's the way things are right now." Today,…
How Different Two Gardens Can Be
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to be part of a garden tour. The occcasion was the annual picnic of the New England Hosta Society. The picnic is an all-day affair: we tour gardens, we have lunch, and then…
Hermit in the Garden
Garden hermits, or ornamental hermits, were once people encouraged to live alone in purpose-built hermitages, follies, grottoes, or rockeries on the estates of wealthy landowners. It is an old English garden tradition and dates from the 18h and 19th centuries. It included…
The Gardener is My Friend
The English naturalist Charles Waterton (1782-1865) was a garden-lover. He was himself also a gardener, famous for installing bird houses on his own property. Walton Hall Gardens Waterton 's nineteenth century house, now called Walton Hall Gardens, near Wakefield, Yorkshire…