England

An Ideal Garden .. Cothay Manor, England

Cothay Topiary/Walkway Photo © Alice Joyce

An ideal garden holds you in its embrace. Friends have heard me say that I left my heart in Somerset, a pastoral county in the South West of England known for its gardens – Tintinhull to Lytes Cary to Hestercombe & East Lambrook Manor. Yet, another Somerset held me in thrall with the romance of its garden rooms, sylvan meadows and bog garden: the lush landscape and splendid 15th century Medieval house of Cothay Manor. Fine topiary lends a formality to the landscape of Cothay Gardens, as do myriad vignettes revealed as you move from one perfectly composed garden room to the next.

Continue reading An Ideal Garden .. Cothay Manor, England

England

A Pastoral, Paradise Garden - Hestercombe

Hestercombe Rill  Photo © Alice Joyce

Among the cognoscenti, most any conversation about garden touring in England will surely touch upon a visit to Hestercombe. Situated in the sublime countryside of Somerset’s Quantock Hills, Hestercombe covers some 50-acres, and demonstrates gardens spanning 3 epochs, including the Arts and Craft design partnership of Sir Edwin Lutyens and gardening doyenne, Gertrude Jekyll.

Continue reading A Pastoral, Paradise Garden .. Hestercombe

England

Picturesque Gardens of Mapperton .. West Dorset

Mapperton Gardens, Lawn, Topiary Photo © Alice Joyce

The Dorset landscape of Mapperton House and Gardens is especially wondrous on a late-Spring or summertime ramble. Considered to be one of Britain’s outstanding manor houses, Mapperton is distinguished by a warm, honeyed Ham stone facade; hearkening to the Elizabethan era, the architecture was altered to a grander scale in the late 1600s. A highlight of the entrancing grounds is a formal Italianate garden constructed in the 1920s. Presently the family estate of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich, Mapperton gives rise to this Fountain Court of exquisite beauty.

Continue reading Picturesque Gardens of Mapperton