Rising up, when my cousins visited Michigan, my mother and aunt would stroll round public gardens, with us children in tow. We’d spend perpetually traipsing down paths, needing to pee, and begging my mother to take pictures of us working in sluggish movement (was this a ’90s child factor?).
However now that I’m woman of a sure 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 beautiful gardens, as properly. (How superb would it not 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 here are a number of inspiring pictures…
Mothecombe Home in Devon, England, picture by Ngoc Minh Ngo. The backyard is open to the general public — with tea and cake! — each Tuesday.
Ian McEwan’s backyard within the Cotswolds, England, picture by Ricardo Labougle. I’m a sucker for a hedge.
Jasper Conran’s backyard 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 buddy Abbey’s backyard 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 vastly missed however her backyard is flourishing.
Do you backyard in any respect? Do you go to gardens? I’d love to listen to. Right here’s Barbara Kingsolver’s Appalachian backyard with Icelandic sheep and 40 totally different tomato crops.
P.S. 14 readers share their gardens, and 10 extra readers share their gardens. Plus, John Derian’s beautiful home and backyard in Provincetown.
(Prime picture by Ngoc Minh Ngo.)
