Category Gardening
Bloedel!
When I told Lady and Dad that Justin and I would be celebrating the 4th of July in Seattle, they decided to join us! They flew in on the afternoon of the 2nd just in time for the weather to turn cold and wet, which meant that instead of grilling steaks on the roof, we […]
The neighbour’s flower box
I live in a neighbourhood of terraced Georgian houses, many of which have flower boxes in their window ledges. This is my favourite: I love the height and unruliness and how none of the plants are ones I’ve seen in flower boxes before.
Greys Court
One last house and garden in Oxfordshire before going back to London. This time an ancient house called Greys Court. It did not have the expansive landscaping of Blenheim, or the highly manicured look of Waddesdon Manor. Instead, it had a charming, somewhat rambling series of walled gardens that I absolutely loved.
Moms and gardening
On my last morning in Oxford, I was the only guest at the B&B, which meant I had the undivided attention of my hostess Sylvia as she brought me breakfast. We started talking and I learned she was originally from Mexico but had been living in England for nearly 40 years. She had a son […]
Oxford Botanic Garden
On my last morning in Oxford, I walked down to the famous Botanic Garden. It’s small and, dating back to the 1500s, is the oldest botanic garden in England. It sits on the bank of the river, across from Magdelen College, which conveniently provides for a wonderfully atmospheric tower to loom over the garden. I […]
Waddesdon Manor
After visiting Stowe, with its classical splendor and Brownian landscape design, I drove to Waddesdon Manor for something altogether different. This was the Victorian lair of Baron de Rothschild, built in the grand French style, he hired a French architect to basically cobble together the greatest hits from the Loire valley chateaux . . . […]
Stowe
As impressive as the gardens and park at Blenheim were, the ones at Stowe (which Capability Brown did early in his career) blew me away. I loved the vastness of the views, which were designed to give the impression of going on forever without interruption (kind of like infinity pools today). And I loved how […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 