Kew Gardens

From the middle of May until early June, we went on a garden trip with Angus Stewart to the UK, France and then Spain. This is a report of some of what we saw.
When we arrived in London, it was early morning and too early to check into the hotel so we left our luggage and took the Underground out to Kew Gardens. It was a beautiful day with bright sun and warm temperatures. We walked around Kew for most of the day. Kew consists mostly of wonderfully green meadows with mature trees.

Most of the meadows have wild flowers and spring bulbs which were not in bloom when we were there. They keep the grass long in the meadows to allow the spring bulbs to mature and only cut paths through so you can ramble.

The very Victorian intermediate house is closed for renovations but is still a magnificent sight. They have raised a significant amount of money to do the job and expect it will take several years to accomplish. They have removed most of the plant material to other greenhouses.

These palms are among the last to be moved.

This is a view from one of the entrances to the temperate house and shows how dramatic a relatively simple planting scheme can be. There is a long vista with a path planted with small trees on either side which are spaced in meadow grasses. Kew, because it is large, has the ability to have such dramatic features but even a small garden can have a similar effect although on a less dramatic scale.

There are more formal gardens within Kew. This again shows the value of space with a vista to a "folly". The main colour in this garden is from Cistus.

Perhaps the most famous vista is this one with mature oak trees in a mown lawn. This vista stretches almost a kilometre.

The Palm House is magnificent and with its formal annual plantings in front as well as rose gardens and topiary features makes a great sight.

Finally, it is well worth a visit to the Marianne North Gallery in the gardens. This building contains a remarkable collection of paintings by Marianne North who painted plants in Victorian times from around the world including Australia. There are literally hundreds of paintings covering the walls which show the diversity of flowering plants.

Chelsea Flower Show 2014

On Thursday 22 May we visited the Chelsea Flower Show. This is one of the oldest flower shows and is probably the most prestigious in the UK, if not the world. Outside there are a number of large display gardens, many smaller gardens and lots of garden art and furniture displays. In the very large pavilion, nurseries and organizations have displays showing their plants.

 These display gardens are designed and planned over many years and are put together over a 10 day period before the show, which lasts only 6 days. After the show, everything is removed. This is one of the show gardens.

The best garden in Show this year was the Laurent-Perrier (yes the Champagne maker) garden. Last year it was an Australian garden designed by Phillip Johnson. The Laurent-Perrier garden had very formal elements with a simple colour palette.

Some of the show gardens are less formal with a large variety of plant material.

Other gardens have used many plants but planted among birch trees whose white trunks complement the white of many of the flowers. The few red flowers stand out in such a colour scheme.

In another part of the Show are the smaller display gardens done by volunteer groups and younger landscape designers. This garden features a Norwegian theme.

 While we were there, the BBC broadcast the Show each night with host Monty Don seen here discussing one of the smaller gardens.

Inside the very large pavillion are all the displays of the nurseries a few of which have been coming to Chelsea for almost a century. Peter Beales Roses have a large display of their best roses, many with wonderful fragrance. Unfortunately he died quite recently, but his company continues.

There are clematis in abundance.

There are displays that mix flowers with vegetables which is very fashionable these days

And of course there were orchids. Thailand had an incredible orchid display this year.

In addition, there were several nurseries that displayed a wide variety of plants including Cypripediums (slipper orchids found in cooler climates). 

There were several specialist orchid nurseries as well with lots of different plants.

Santa Clotilde on the Spanish Costa Brava

This Italianate garden was built on the site of an old vineyard for a wealthy family who built a summer house there. It is on a sloping site overlooking the sea. The entrance is a cool tunnel of trees.




The garden overlooks a small beach which is popular with the locals

Much of the garden is simple with lawn, hedges of various plants and Cypress trees

At the end of the garden is a round gravel area with avenues leading off in several directions

A view up one of the "spokes"

A view down showing the mermaids at the top

The only colour was a grouping of blue Agapanthus, a very familiar plant to most Australians

Jardi Botanic Marimurtra on the Costa Brava

Created by Karl Faust, this garden on the hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea is a botanist's collection of plants of the world organized into areas. For example these plants from the Canary Islands.

 Plants from South Africa

There are generous paths between the areas

The view of the sea shows the dramatic coastline of the Costa Brava

It is not a shore I would care to get wrecked on in a storm

There was even a mature flowering Grevillea robusta in the garden

Some parts of the garden are very formal

While others are less formal

In places the colours were terrific

Parc Guell in Barcelona

Parc Guell is an 18 hectare park in Barcelona. It was created in 1900 in a rocky area outside the then city limits of Barcelona as a housing development based on the English Garden City movement. Count Guell hired Gaudi to design the site with gardens and places for houses. Unfortunately it was too far out of town and not a success financially. However, the Park is now magnificent and well worth a visit.
Below is a map of the park showing the one house that did get built at the top and its access road winding down the steep hill.

In places the road has to be supported by pillars under which is a promenade. The architecture is typical Gaudi, extraordinary and fanciful.

A view under the road on the promenade

 The gardens are quite naturalistic and contrast with the striking architecture

In one area, a large sand filled promenade area with seating was created on columns that juts out of the hillside. This area was intended as a gathering place for people to walk about. It also served another purpose as rain water was filtered through the sand into tanks below. The water was used to irrigate the gardens. The seating around the area was made from disused and broken tiles collected from potteries in the area.

The seats were curved so groups of people could sit and talk to each other while seeing their companions.

Looking over the edge of the promenade, you can see the two gate houses that guard the entrance. The decoration is typically fanciful Gaudi

The overflow from the water tanks is a dramatic reptile again made using broken pottery and tiles. It is a very famous structure that attracts tourists who seem to like to climb on it to be photographed.

The tile work and design of even the simplest walls is amazing

Jardin de la Noria

Jardin de la Noria is a private garden near Avignon that was designed by Arnaud Maurieres and Eric Ossart for the owners Mr and Mrs Deparis. The garden was created out of a hectare of level orchard on the grounds of their farmhouse. The garden features extensive use of water as in this pool.

A view of the plantings with an old Mulberry tree which is very sculptural and is still alive.

Below is an obvious reference to Moorish garden design. Such water features would make the garden lovely and cool in the hot summers.

Below is the water wheel or Noria after which the garden is named. The well was here originally but the water wheel has been restored.

Other parts of the garden are more wild in nature but still very much under control

The design is a lovely mixture of formal and informal planting

A great hedge with contrasting plant shapes and textures