Park Güell , Barcelona , Spain
Park Güell was commissioned by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy.The park contains amazing stone structures (see below), stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. You can see from this picture the Gaudí dragon fountain that is at the entrance to Güell park. This dragon is adorned in beautiful coloured tiling and there is something rather hypnotic and magical about it.Here you can see a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks. Although these are rather irregular in shape they do feel strangely natural too.Gaudí was strongly influenced by natural shapes and used them in his work.At the top of Güell park is a terraced area where you get a wonderful view of the park and of Barcelona City. Here you will find multi-coloured tiled mosaic seats as shown in this picture. The vibrant colours of the tiles are truly breathtaking.
Botanic garden in Curitiba, Brazil
The
Botanical Garden of Curitiba was inspired on the French gardens.
Besides being a famous postcard-picture landmark of Curitiba, the
greenhouse has an exotic and wide ranging collection of tropical and
sub-tropical flora and fauna that attracts many tourists and
researchers from all over the world. Gorgeous! It is considered
Curitiba´s main sightseeing place.
Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, France
This
was the first French garden to be influenced by the Italian Baroque.
The gardens, and the palace, were begun in 1612. The Luxembourg has
long been seen as a quintessential Parisian space and remains very
popular. It was designed for anoter Medici princess, Marie de Medici
(1573-1642) , who became Queen of France. Like the Boboli garden
where Marie had spent her youth, the Luxembourg plan has two axes at
right angles. Jacques Boyceau superintended the layout. Today, as in
the seventeenth century, it is a good place to savour the
cosmopolitan atmosphere of a rich palace garden. It has changed over
the centuries but, judging from Evelyn's description (below), the
character of the garden is not so different. During a period of
neglect, some of Watteau's romantic garden scenes were painted here.
The Medici Fountain was moved from its original position and does not
do justice to the famous name. There are some public park facilities,
including tennis courts and children's play areas, and over a hundred
sculptures, including statues of Stendhal, Chopin, Montesquieu,
Phidias, Baudelaire, Delacroix and Blanche of Castile. The parterres
on the fringe of the Luxembourg have been laid out in an informal
'Anglo-Chinois' manner. The Luxembourg Palace is now used by the
French Senate.
Majorelle Garden, Marrakech, Morocco
The
garden was made in the 1920s by the French painter Jacques Majorelle,
with marble pools, raised pathways, banana trees, groves of bamboo,
coconut palms and bougainvilleas. Perhaps unsuprisingly as the garden
was designed by a painter, the garden is composed and coloured like a
painting. Many of the built features were painted in a dark blue
('Majorelle Blue') which works very well with the soil, climate and
plants. In fact, Majorelle's garden rather than his paintings was his
masterpiece. Water is an important feature of the garden - there are
channels, lily-filled ponds and fountains. Majorelle was an avid
plant collector. After years of neglect, the garden was then taken
over and restored by the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his
partner Pierre Berge.
Medellin Botanical Garden, Colombia
The
complexion of the Medellin
Botanical Garden was
drastically changed starting in 2005 when the entire area underwent a
major revival during ex-mayor Sergio Fajardo’s urban investment
initiative. The two year initiative and project included the
construction of both the glass science building as well as the wooden
and steel 50 foot tall flower patch called the Orchideorama. The
latter was a design by Plan B Architects and was carried out in
coordination with other developmental government agencies in the
city. The overall character of the newly renovated Medellin
Botanical Garden suggests
a symbiotic relationship between man, nature, science and education.
The area is enjoyed by thousands of people every week including local
families as well as tourists.
Exbury Gardens, England
The
Gardens are a spectacular 200 acre (100 hectare) site, world-famous
for the Rothschild Collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias
and rare trees and shrubs. This earthly paradise offers a riot of
colour in spring, an oasis of tranquility in summer followed by a
splendid show as the leaves change in the autumn. Capture Exbury’s
hidden beauty and escape the cares of the world as you explore a
myriad of pathways. Let the train take the strain on a 20 minute
journey or ride a chauffeur driven buggy to tour the Gardens. In
December 2011 the Gardens were awarded the prestigious Hudson's
Heritage UK "Best Garden" award.
Keukenhof Gardens - Netherlands
Each
year over 7,000,000 bulbs are hand-planted to create the world's
largest flower garden in the small town of Lisse (about 15 miles
south of Amsterdam in the Netherlands). The mere mention of Keukenhof
makes the hearts of gardeners (such as me) skip a beat.
Timing
is everything when it comes to visiting the world's largest bulb
garden because it is only open for 8 weeks in the Spring of each
year. In 2013, it will be open from March 21st - May 20th. The peak
bloom time for the spectacular display varies slightly based on the
weather conditions such as temperature and amount of rain, but
visiting in mid-April is usually the best bet. Fortunately
my husband indulges my love of gardening and agreed to plan our 2008
trip to Europe specifically around the blooming tulips. So we spent a glorious day in mid April perusing the
gardens of Keukenhof. It is a day we won't soon forget and as luck
would have it, we got blue skies. For any of you that have visited
Amsterdam in the Spring, you know that those kind of days are few and
far between.
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