Rising up, when my cousins visited Michigan, my mom and aunt would stroll round public gardens, with us children in tow. We might spend endlessly traipsing down paths, needing to pee, and begging my mother to take images of us operating in sluggish movement (was this a ’90s child factor?).
However now that I’m lady of a certain age, all I need to do is go to gardens like this! When Freddie and I went upstate this summer time, we walked round Edith Wharton’s gardens in Lenox, Massachusetts. It felt just like the deepest breath, and entry was free.
Do you ever go to gardens? Any suggestions? New York Metropolis has two main botanic gardens, one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx. I’ve additionally examine some in Connecticut that enable guests, and naturally many Cup of Jo readers have gorgeous gardens, as effectively. (How superb wouldn’t it be to prepare a CoJ tour of gardens round Brooklyn?! Would you come?! My neighbor has a roof backyard that feels such as you’re strolling to the ocean in Maine.)
Listed below are just a few inspiring images…
Mothecombe House in Devon, England, picture by Ngoc Minh Ngo. The garden is open to the general public — with tea and cake! — each Tuesday.
Ian McEwan’s garden within the Cotswolds, England, picture by Ricardo Labougle. I’m a sucker for a hedge.
Jasper Conran’s garden in Dorset, England, picture by Simon Upton. Are you able to think about strolling right here throughout golden hour?
Le Jardin Plume in Normandy, France, picture by Clare Foster. These wave-cut hedges are magical.
My pal Abbey’s garden in Connecticut. (Right here’s the before-and-after.)
And, after all, nearest and dearest to my coronary heart, my grandmother’s small terrace in Cornwall, England. She is tremendously missed however her backyard is flourishing.
Do you backyard in any respect? Do you go to gardens? I’d love to listen to. Here’s Barbara Kingsolver’s Appalachian garden with Icelandic sheep and 40 different tomato plants.
P.S. 14 readers share their gardens, and 10 more readers share their gardens. Plus, John Derian’s gorgeous house and garden in Provincetown.
(Prime picture by Ngoc Minh Ngo.)