Tag Archives: garden design

Cordoba Botanical Gardens: Sustainable Gardening & the Kitchen Garden

July 11, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

The Botanical Gardens in Cordoba, Spain opened in 1887 and were designed for primarily educational and scientific purposes. They are laid out along a wide central alley leading on one side to the Collections, species native to Spain arranged in borders edges by low growing rosemary or hackberry, and on the other side the Agricultural School, featured in this post, with a large collection of citrus trees as well as an extensive vegetable and kitchen garden. In the center are greenhouses dedicated to species from the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Andalusia, as well as a lovely area dedicated to the Andalusian patio.

In the School of Agriculture, the emphasis is on sustainability and diversity, with sustainability and organic gardening on the forefront. Plants grown are those for human or animal consumption as well as any plants offering benefits or use to people. Many different methods of cultivation are used and in those collection one can observe the different cycless of plants through the seasons.

Botanical gardens, Container gardens, Patios & Courtyards, Theme gardens

Cordoba Botanical Gardens: the Scientific Garden

July 7, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

The Botanical Gardens in Cordoba, Spain opened in 1887 and were designed for primarily educational and scientific purposes. They are laid out along a wide central alley leading on one side to the Collections, featured in this post, species native to Spain arranged in borders edges by low growing rosemary or hackberry, and on the other side the Agricultural School with a large collection of citrus trees as well as an extensive vegetable garden. In the center are greenhouses dedicated to species from the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Andalusia, as well as a lovely area dedicated to the Andalusian patio.

he Collections are arranged scientifically along a central alley, by species and variety. All the plants included in the collections are autochtone to Spain.

Monastery and other religious gardens, Other gardens

Abbaye of Daoulas in Brittany: Art in the Gardens

July 4, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

The romanesque style Abbaye of Daoulas in the Brittany region of France dates back to the 12th century. This site is of interest not only for the monastery itself but for a remarkable cloister unique in Brittany, large grounds with a pond, old washouse and integrating outdoor art exhibits, but also for its medicinal garden which has one of the largest collection of plants in Europe. I am writing about these in separate posts.

In this post, I am featuring the grounds and art exhibit. The grounds of the abbaye form an unexpected background for large scale photos of the Omi people by photographer Hans Sylvester. Showing people who are so strikingly different from us at first glance, he also captures a human commonality in everyday gestures and occupations.

City Parks and Gardens, Historic gardens

Barcelona Ciutadella Park: Fountains, Gaudi and Gardens

June 30, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener 1 Comment

The Ciutadella Park in Barcelona is the largest and oldest city park. It was established in the mid 19th century and was for a long the only substantial green space in the city with about 70 acres of paths, trails, a lake, and assorted statuary and buildings. It is home to the Parliament building, the Barcelona Zoo, and the Geological museum. It is perhaps most famous for the very large waterfall fountain designed by Fontsere in the 1880s when Gaudi was his student and is believed to have contributed to it. It was inaugurated for the Universal Exhibition.

Cottage gardens, Other gardens

Unusual Post Office Perennial Borders in France

June 23, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

Not only is the architecture of this post office building in France a bit unusual and somewhat reminiscent of a ship with the round windows, but it has some stunning mixed borders in its front “garden”.

City Parks and Gardens, Formal gardens

Barcelona’s Archaeology Museum Garden

June 20, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

Montjuic is a majestic hill in Barcelona overlooking the port, west of the center. The entire hill is a series of parks, gardens, museums, and other monuments, as it was developed first for the 1929 International Exhibition held in Barcelona Spain, then again for the 1992 Olympics. It is home to the Olympic ring, Arata Izosaki’s sports palace, the Catalan Art museum, the Spanish village, the Barcelona Botanical Gardens, the Archaeology Museum, the Greek Theater, the Mies van der Rohe Pavillion, the Juan Miro Foundation, the Laribal Gardens, just to name a few.

The Archaeology Museum has small gardens laid out around a fountain. The arches and statuary in the back, and the tall cypresses give it the feel of an Italian garden.

Cottage gardens, Other gardens

Ploher’s Old Gothic Church Garden

June 16, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

In this small Brittany village, the gothic era church with its lacy steeple typical of this region of Brittany is decorated with colorful mixed borders, decorative grasses, hydrangea hedges, and seasonal containers boxes.

Conservatories and greenhouses, Formal gardens, Kitchen gardens

Castle of Trevarez in France: The Vegetable Garden & Greenhouses

June 10, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener 1 Comment

The castle of Trevarez near Chateauneuf du Faou in northern Brittany, France, is one of the last great castles built in France. Construction began in 1892 for a French politician and brought together all the faste and excess of the Belle Epoque, frescoes, carvings, marble, mosaics, ornate panels and fireplaces.

It is often referred to as the pink or red castle, because of the pink color it gets from the bricks used. It was unfortunately bombed in the 1940s, and has not been occupied since, but it is being renovated by the government who purchased it in the 70s.

The gardens were neglected as well for many years and have been slowly brought back to their original glory, one area at a time. The grounds are extensive, with stables, a large wash house, theme gardens, formal gardens and much more.

In this post, I am featuring the potager, or kitchen garden and the greenhouses. They have been under renovation since 2013 after being abandoned for many years. Historians, landscape designers, gardeners and staff cleared out the brush while cataloguing the plants found and located the original concrete edging to the borders and the central water pond. They were able to begin to recreate the four large quadrants that made up the walled kitchen garden. A large greenhouse closes in the potager at one end, and on the other side of one wall are the rest of the greenhouses.

The other greenhouses for the potager are still standing but also in need of renovation.

The gardener’s cottage and annex has a lean in hothouse that was used at the time for exotic plants and hothouse flowers.

Botanical gardens, City Parks and Gardens, Theme gardens

Brest Botanical Gardens Part II: The Preservation Gardens

June 5, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

In northern Brittany, the Botanical Gardens in Brest enjoy a privileged location in a small valley with a stream throughout, and creating a microclimate allowing endangered species to grow with additional protection. Long and narrow, these gardens are divided into the park area at one end, end the botanical gardens proper at the other.

In this second post, I am featuring the botanical gardens, which are largely dedicated to the preservation of endangered species of plants. The water features here are more extensive than in the park area, with large ponds and ducks in addition to the stream running the length of the park. Here again, the areas around the stream are reminiscent of Japanese rock gardens, and landscaped with a profusion of bridges, ferns or bamboo groves. Note the beautiful planting of Tasmanian tree ferns along the banks, as well as some particularly large gunneras.

Conservatories and greenhouses, Other gardens

A Romantic Garden in Old Toledo at the School of Fine Arts

May 22, 2015 Globetrotting Gardener Leave a comment

I have written other posts on the beautiful city of Toledo, and while it is full of monuments and old world architecture, there are few public green spaces as gardens are more often than not part of private buildings not open to the public. This romantic garden with a large bust of Don Quixote as its focal point belong to the School of Fine Arts. Even in the fall citrus and khaki trees and bursts of color. Note also the stunningly ornate glass and iron conservatory alongside the building.

vbnmvZ/kdAZQ`weT8IP\];P