Angers Jardin des Plantes

Opened as a botanical garden in 1798, the Angers Jardins des Plantes became a public park in 1898, designed by Edouard Andre. The sweeping lines of the paths, the well-placed statues and the gardenesque planting are characteristic of his style. Le Jardins des Plantes in Angers a ouvert 1798 comme jardin botanique. C'est devenu un parc public en 1898, conu par Edouard Andre. Les lignes courbantes des chemins, des statues bien-places et de la plantation de gardenesque sont caractristiques du modle d'Andree.





from gardenvisit.com

Anet, Chateau de

Little remains of the once-famous renaissace and baroque gardens. It was one of the earliest renaissance gardens in France with an axial relationship between the house the garden. This was replaced by an example of what is known as the Anglo-Chinese style. The chateau was designed in the mid-sixteenth century by Philibert de l'Orme for Diane de Poitiers. The chateau survives and there is a drawing of the famed renaissance garden





from gardenvisit.com
Photograph © audinou
Photograph ©La Taverne de Nours

Abbaye de Royaumont

The largest Cistercian abbey of Ile-de-France was built between 1228 and 1235. It became a cotton mill after the French Revolution, a hospital during the First World War and an international cultural centre after the Second World War. The grounds were also restored. A park was made in the nineteenth century park and a re-created medieval garden was designed by Olivier Damée in 2004, south of the abbey. The marker on the location map below points to the medieval garden - if you zoom in you can see the nine squares that make up the garden. The park has canals and avenues planted with chestnut trees.








Photographs © Oxford Botanica/Adam Hodge
from gardenvisit.com

Gardens of Gothenburg

Garden fanatics will be converging on the Swedish city of Gothenburg for the ‘Gardens of Gothenburg’ exhibition which kicks off on 28 June 2008 and runs for three months. The exhibition will take place in four key locations in and around the city centre.

The four locations are; The Trädgårdsföreningen (the Garden Society of Gothenburg), Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Liseberg Park and Gunnebo House and Gardens. Rose lovers will gravitate towards the Trädgårdsföreningen where several European garden and design luminaries (Jane Schul, Piet Odulf, Gert Wingårdh and Nina Thalinson) will present their own particular take on the ‘rose garden’. These gardens will be permanent installations for the people of (and visitors to) the city of Gothenburg to enjoy for many years to come.

Internationally acclaimed landscape architect Ulf Nordfjell has been instrumental in the remodeling of the Trädgårdsföreningen, his inspiration was to show how to combine roses with architecture and design in an ecological way. He has separated the modern roses in the rosarium (built in1980) from the historic roses in the rose park and introduced modern varieties from Canada, the UK (David Austin) and Germany (Korbes). Additions to the 1980’s design include a huge pergola and gazebo for climbing roses and also spring and autumn flowering trees and bushes to extend the season and make the space more interesting. The rosarium is now approximately 6000 square metres with around 2000 species and the new rose garden is approximately 3000 square metres and boasts 250 different rose species.

A new axis combines the rosarium with the new modern rose garden which includes all historical roses in blocks and rows. The old pink and red roses are under-planted with perennials in white, purple and blue tones and orange and purples amongst the white roses. Taking inspiration from a rosebud and its multitudinous leaves, Nordfjell has created pathways of varying widths without clear beginnings or endings. The pergolas are curved creating softness and references to an English rose garden.

An ultra modern pond with rushing water contained by stainless steel has been designed for the area where weddings will be conducted in the round. This will be the centrepiece of the rose gardens and the perfect place for wedding photography amongst the stunning blue and white planting. Nordfjell’s personal favourites are Rosa ‘chinensis’ and Rosa ‘mutabilis’, for its charm and variation in colour from buds to flower. Gallica rose Rosa ‘ricardii’ is one of the oldest roses and thrives in the Swedish climate. Good shrub varieties include Albagroup ‘Maxima’ - a large white flowering bush and Albagroup ‘Celeste’ with its grey /green leaves and soft pink flowers.

Piet Oudolf’s rose garden is mostly peach and white and features only twelve roses of three different varieties, planted on a bed of grass and perennials. The roses are ‘Sally Holmes’, with single cream coloured flowers, silvery pink climber ‘Dainty Bess’ and blood red Altissimo’ compliments clematis ‘Gravetye’ beautifully. Roses are not necessarily a flower that one would associate with Piet so when he does use them they have to be fragrant. Organic thinking is always present in his designs as his inspiration is from nature and from wild flowers and the growing circle of life. Plants should also be visually interesting even when not in flower. Piet has also designed a woodland garden at the Trädgårdsföreningen.

Danish landscape architect Jane Schul’s garden is divided into squares of roses and perennials. Echinacea in new and exciting variations is colour matched to the roses. The squares are cut diagonally but also sometimes further cut into smaller rectangles. In between are hedges of straight cut and cubic formed yew. Like Ulf, Jane’s favourite rose is Rosa chinensis ‘Mutabilis’, a single rose with a remarkable colour range, from yellow to orange through to red and even magenta. Regardless of the slight difficultly in growing this rose here in this part of Sweden, Jane selected it for its sheer beauty, other roses have been chosen to compliment it. Jane’s rose garden is inspired from the rose garden in the Royal Garden in Copenhagen whose restoration she worked on. Jane is currently ‘Chair’ of the Royal Danish Gardening Society.

Sweden’s most acclaimed architect Gert Wingårdh and art director / designer Nina Thalinson have collaborated and come up with a garden that is a version of a historic British Sunken garden. The inspiration came from a visit to an English sunken garden and the Swedish East India ship Götheborg which was in London last May during the Linnaeus jubilee. The garden is stylistic and ship-like with horizontal and vertical steel constructions, a low black wooden deck and features pieces of porcelain from the last cargo of the Götheborg. Sitting down at the table on the wooden deck one is surrounded by a wall of water, 135 cm high and a 12 metre porcelain mosaic which will give the illusion of a waterfall. With the water flowing over the wall the porcelain is once more under water (previously spent 250 years at the bottom of the ocean at the harbour entrance in Gothenburg). Romantic flowers in pastel colours provide a fabulous contrast to the sharp architecture. Roses, clematis and perennials grow from beds surrounding the wooden deck. Gert’s recent projects include the Swedish embassy in Washington DC and his work is often described as controversial, daredevil and original. Nina has her own shop at the Röhsska design museum in Gothenburg and works on product design and exhibitions.

from thegardeningwebsite.co.uk

Shaw Park Botanical Gardens Jamaica

Situated high on a hill top overlooking the Bay of Ocho Rios, Shaw Park features 25 acres of tropical gardens, with a waterfall, natural pool, and an abundance of tropical trees, plants and flowers.





credited from thegardeningwebsite.co.uk

Cranbrook Flower Forest and River Head Adventure Trail, St Ann’s Bay Jamaica

An eco-tourism attraction set within 130 acres of tropical forest, with 40 acres of landscaped gardens, and dozens of tropical plants, flowers and birds. There is a hiking trail along the Little River that leads to its source. Other activities for visitors include bird watching and fishing.






credited from thegardeningwebsite.co.uk

Hope Gardens, Royal Botanical Gardens Jamaica

Hope Gardens, or the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hope, were formerly part of major Richard Hope's Estate. One of the English officers who helped capture Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655, Hope was granted a huge parcel of land as a reward. At one time Hope Estate extended from the sea to the hills in Newcastle. In the 17th and 18th centuries Hope was a sugar estate ­ one of the first where water (from the Hope River) was used to turn estate mills. The Hope Aqueduct (which can still be seen at Hope Gardens, Mona Heights and Mona Road) was built for that purpose. In 1766 Richard Elletson Hope arranged for Kingston to be supplied with water from his estate, but after his death, his wife remarried a British Duke and cancelled the water concession. Kingston lost its water supply. In the 1840s the duke's son sold the city of Kingston 234 acres of the estate bordering on the Hope River. Kingston's water was eventually drawn from this land as part of a publicly owned system. The 200 acres of Hope Estate land that eventually became Hope Gardens (and one of Jamaica's few public parks) in the late 1870s-early 1880s includes a Palm Avenue where sago palms are among the oldest living trees, a cacti garden, a bougainvillea walk, a maze, a forest and lily pond. Other attractions include a zoo, a lake, a fountain, military band concerts and even a poet's corner. There is also what remains of Coconut Park. When Queen Elizabeth II came to Jamaica in 1953, the gardens were officially renamed the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Gardens have been undergoing repairs since 1996. These gardens, along with Fern Gully in St. Ann and Holland Bamboo Grove in St. Elizabeth, are maintained by the Ministry of Agriculture's Public Gardens Division (927-1257). They are used regularly in photo shoots and to provide educational programmes designed to expose students to general gardening practice. Crop management and botanical information can be obtained on request and some plants are also available for commercial sale

credited from fiwiroots.com
images jtbonline.org

Cinchona Gardens Jamaica

St. Andrew's Cinchona Gardens, located on 7 hectares of a 10-acre property more than 5,000 ft above sea level, were established in 1868. Named after the Cinchona plant brought to Jamaica from Peru by the Spanish, these gardens offer spectacular views of the Blue Mountain Ridge and parts of Kingston. Quinine, an extract of this plant, was used to treat malaria. The Spanish learned about this medicinal property by observing the Peruvian Indians and the plant came to be known as Jesuit's Bark before being renamed for the Countess of Cinchona, the wife of the Spanish viceroy of Peru, who benefited from treatment. When Cinchona was first planted, it fetched a high price on the world market and a good return on the funds invested realized. However, due to poor roads, a lack of general transport in the area and labour costs, this project could not compete competitively on the world market. It eventually failed in 1899. A second section of the land was planted out in tea but Jamaica never could compete with tea from India. A third section, which is all that remains, was known as a 'European Garden' with the cinchona tree, mulberry, camphor, cork oak, juniper and rubber trees as well as garden flowers that thrive in northern climates.




credited from fiwiroots.com

Castleton Gardens Jamaica

Castleton Gardens in St. Mary lies on 10 hectares of land through which the Wag Water River runs. Located on both sides of the Junction main road, at one time these gardens boasted the best collection of plants on the island, including over 400 specimens from Kew Gardens. The Poinciana (1869) and Bombay mango (1869) tree were first planted at Castleton, as were the navel orange and tangerine (1870).




credited from fiwiroots.com

Bath Botanical Gardens, St Thomas Jamaica

The Bath Botanical Gardens was the second botanical gardens to be developed in the western hemisphere (the oldest is on St. Vincent). Located in St. Thomas, this 1-hectare property was specifically put aside when the town of Bath was laid out. It was under the care of Dr. Thomas Clarke, a botanist who was also in charge of the Bath hospital. The garden was stocked with Chinese and Japanese herbs and exotic fruit trees, including the breadfruit, ackee and Otaheite apple brought by Capt. Bligh. The croton, jacaranda and bougainvillea were also fist planted at Bath. Frequent flooding in the 19th century by the Sulphur River wreaked havoc on the gardens and that along with the realization that the soil was not as nutrient rich as had been hoped caused its relocation to Castleton in 1862. Bath Gardens is still maintained for its historical value.


credited from jamaica-gleaner.com
flickr user elizabean

Le Jardin Plume

The summer garden is a kind of modern knot garden with a very formal layout of clipped box in a square edged pattern. Each 'box' is then filled with a very natural planting of grasses and perennials but the colours are superb. Lots of golden yellow, deep red, burning oranges... The overall mix of formal and informal, the somber green of the box and the jewel colours of the flowers is really superb. Favourite plants here are dahlias, crocosmias, heleniums, kniphofias and of course grasses - giving the plumes the garden is named for.

Because of the strong structural element to the garden and the use of plants which remain interesting in the winter the garden is still beatiful in the winter.

Masses of euphorbias and hellebores and many other plants mean that spring is wonderfully fresh and verdant in the jardin plume .

Autumn is my favourite. All the grasses and cimifugias make the backdrop to the asters and helianthus etc a bit like a firework display. Magic.

Added to all this there is a fabulous garden centre where you can buy most of the plants grown in the garden.

credited from french-gardens.com