Tour the 'Great Gardens of Spain'

Book Review: Swedish author Anneli Bojstad teams up with her husband, the celebrated Spanish photographer Eduardo Mencos, to spotlight 40 alluring Spanish gardens, reaching across the countryside from north to south, onward to the Canary Islands, Mallorca and Menorca.

Great Gardens of Spain: Published by Frances Lincoln Ltd.

Copyright 2011 Anneli Bojstad and Eduardo Mencos. Frances Lincoln Ltd. $50.00

The reader who suffers from wanderlust will appreciate the inclusion of settings you will be able to visit, as each garden can be toured by garden sojourners. Boistad emerges as an excellent tour guide, enriching her engaging descriptions of design elements, outstanding hardscape features and important plantings by explaining the historical context and symbolism that colors each landscape. It’s quickly apparent, Spanish gardens vary with the terrain: they cannot be grouped within one style, nor do they all share similar growing conditions or habitat.

While you may be familiar with the idiosyncratic wonders of Gaudi’s Park Güell, or the magnificence of El Generalife and the Alhambra, I’m guessing even devout garden enthusiasts will find places they hope to visit if that next trip to Spain becomes possible. Boistad reveals Parque Sama in Cataluna, designed by the same architect – Fonstsere i Mestre, who designed Barcelona’s La Ciudedela. It’s believed that Gaudi may also have worked here, given the park’s oddly fantastical rockwork.

The exquisite formality of Segovia’s majestic Palacio Real de La Granja de San Ildelfonso is shown in a panoply of year-round seasonal vignettes: Likewise, Madrid’s Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, together with many other of the city’s public spaces.  Look for a garden in Aragon where nature reigns in stunning cascades of rushing water and serene woodlands, the Monasterio de Piedra.

Garden travelers may wish to make full use of the ‘Information for Visitors’ listing. All the pertinent contact information appears here, whether your future plans take you to the Atlantic region, the Mediterranean or Andalusia.