A Tiny and Lush Terraced Front Garden in Brittany

October 31, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

Planted on a steep hill dropping sharply from the house to the street, this garden packs in a whole lot of greenery in a truly tiny space! The shrubs planted are low maintenance and also hold the soil in place on this slope. They include buddleia davidii, hebe, ceanothus, barberry, juniper and many more. Many are also blooming shrubs that provide color an interest spring through fall, in addition to all the varied foliage colors and shapes making this a charming setting for the house year round.

Japanese gardens, Other gardens, Theme gardens

Unusual Japanese Rock Garden Roundabout in France

October 28, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

I am endlessly surprised and often delighted at the thought and effort French towns put into landscaping their roundabout. I will be writing other posts on more of those roundabouts, some with tropical plantings, other with cottage garden good looks. This is one is inspired by Japanese gardens.

Other gardens

Le Faou: Extravagant Tropical Mixed Borders

October 24, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

Listed among France’s “Plus Beaux Villages de France” (most beautiful villages), Le Faou in Brittany puts out a display of stunning plantings and borders of shrub roses, cannas, silk trees, and many other shrubs and perennials. The mixed borders have the feel of a tropical garden.

Cottage gardens, Kitchen gardens

Landscaped Orchard Garden and arbor near the sea

October 21, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

Much like the Normandy region, Brittany, France is known for its apples. Countless varieties are grown in every garden of Brittany. This garden divided a small orchard from a vegetable garden area with a rustic wood arbor covered in vines. There is also a row of espaliered fruit trees hedging the side of the property.

Cottage gardens, Kitchen gardens

Brittany Garden and Pumpkin patch

October 18, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener 2 Comments

Tis September and the season for pumpkins and assorted squashes that absolutely thrive in Brittany, France, and few vegetable gardens fail to have a patch of pumpkins spilling over. This one also has some rows of trellised tomatoes approaching the end of the growing season. Flowering shrubs hedges and a “flowered” wall covered in blooming groundcovers enclose the garden.

Cottage gardens, Kitchen gardens

A Picture perfect kitchen garden in northern France

October 14, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener 3 Comments

The elderly couple who owns the house tends this kitchen garden or “potager” as the French call it almost year round. Come September, a cover crop is coming out to replace the potatoes in the center patch, and fall vegetables such as leeks, pumpkin and artichokes still fill the garden. The marigolds at the end of the rows repel certain garden pests from the vegetables.

On the other side of the house, a row of kiwi vines, some over 30 years old, are trellised along the wall, and a garden bench offers a peaceful place to rest for a moment.

Botanical gardens, Theme gardens

Nantes “Jardin des Plantes” Part 3: the Botanical Gardens

October 10, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener 1 Comment

My first post on the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes was about the hothouses and scientific garden, the second one was on the art and statuary, this one focuses on the theme gardens and plantings.

Meandering through the park, from the scientific garden, I first came across the shade garden, ferns and hostas surrounded by an amazing variety of evergreen shrubs and trees.

The theme garden “the Mountain” is inspired by 19th century gardens such as Kew garden in England, and was installed in 1847 by the then director of the Jardin des Plantes. A labyrinth of plantings guides a circular ascension to the top and a lookout point to the Loire river.

Water features dot the park.

Thousand of annuals, perennials and shrubs create lush borders year round. Photos below show just a small sampling and include gunnera, pennisetum, gingko, silk tree, hydrangea borders and mixed borders throughout the park.

Cottage gardens

Fairytale Cottage Rose Garden in France

October 7, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener 1 Comment

Climbing roses and purple clematis cover the arch at the entrance to this stone cottage straight out of a fairy tale in a small fishing village of northern Brittany, France. More climbing roses cover the front of the house, although they have finished blooming for the summer, and yet more roses, old fashioned knockout roses, cover the hedge. Hydrangeas flourish in the shade of the side wall.

The photos above were taken in August. The ones below were taken in September when the roses were reblooming in a stunning display of color!

Cottage gardens

Roscanvel, Brittany Garden with Outdoor Fireplace

October 3, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

This is a very traditional French country cottage garden with such features as climbing roses trellised over the hedge, hydrangea borders, mixed perennial borders, a collection of potted floral arrangements throughout the garden, and a brick outdoor fireplace.

Theme gardens

French Wash House Basin Converted into Aquatic Garden

October 1, 2014 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

As already mentioned in one of my previous posts, every French village had one or more communal wash houses, many of them just a fountain filling a basin to wash clothes in.

This one on the edge of the village of Roscanvel has been converted into a lovely aquatic garden basin with papyrus and other aquatic plants, and assorting plantings of ferns, erigeron … around it.