As in one of my previous posts, this cottage garden is also in the coastal village of Landevennec in northern Brittany, France. This garden right by the water puts out a stunning show of fall blooms in September, with a riot of color from hydrangeas, roses, and foliage from grasses and perennials mixed into lush border.
If you have ever travelled through a village France and noticed a group of people having a heated discussion looking at balls on a dirt patch, you have seen petanque. It is a very simple game where each player has three metal balls and tries to throw them as closely as possible to the small wooden one called the “cochonnet”. It is usually played in teams, and while the rules are simple, the unevenness of the terrain must be taken into account, and there is skill involved in trying to hit the opponents ball to get it out of the way for example.
This small petanque terrain in Brittany couldn’t want for a more idyllic location, right on the water and surrounded with a small park!
This garden lies behind the house on a hill up from the waterfront. It has the feel of a tropical retreat with lush banana trees and bamboos offering a lush backdrop for the many perennials such as hydrangeas or roses found in so many Britttany gardens.
I happened upon this lovely seaside garden in the village of Roscanvel. The plants and flowers in the raised beds are all carefully labeled. The beds are arranged in a grid pattern with grapevines and apple trees growing along the back wall. When the vegetables in a raised bed have been harvested, wildflowers are planted as cover crops. The ocean view of course is beautiful!
Globetrotting Gardener 