1.
Versailles, France
The
famous French landscape designer
André Le Nôtre laid out these
gardens southwest of Paris in
the 17th century at the behest
of Louis XIV. The Sun King
wanted them to magnify the glory
of his palace at Versailles,
which was itself a monument to
his absolute rule. The 250 acres
(101 hectares) are riddled with
paths that lead to flower beds,
quiet corners decorated with
classical statuary, ornamental
lakes, and a canal that King
Louis used for gondola rides.
2.
Singapore Botanic Garden,
Singapore
Considered
one of the world's prettiest
botanical gardens, the Singapore
Botanic Garden was established
in 1859. Its 128 acres (52
hectares) are divided into three
"cores." Bukit Timah Core is
geared for educational and
recreational use. In Tanglin
Core, visitors can find a
bandstand and many statues
sprinkled among favorite native
plants and trees. The most
popular core for tourists is
Centre. The National Orchid
Garden is in this section, atop
the park's highest point, where
more than 60,000 colorful
orchids bloom.
3.Descanso
Gardens, La Canada Flintridge,
California
A
mere 20-minute drive outside of
Los Angeles you'll find a
bucolic paradise with more than
100,000 plants and one of the
world's largest collections of
camellias. The gardens and woods
of Descanso ("rest" or "repose"
in Spanish) unfold over 160
acres (65 hectares) of the San
Rafael Hills. Don't miss the
Japanese garden and the
International Rosarium that is
home to thousands of roses.
Children particularly enjoy
riding the Descanso Gardens
Enchanted Railroad, a
mini-diesel train.
4.
Butchart Gardens, Vancouver
Island, British Columbia
The
Butchart Gardens are a dazzling
example of a successful
reclamation project. The land,
used for years by Portland
Cement, by 1904 had exhausted
its value as a quarry. That's
when Jennie Butcher, the wife of
Portland Cement's owner, filled
the space with soil from nearby
farms. Her vision expanded into
a 55-acre (22-hectare) tract
filled with 700 varieties of
plants that bloom from March to
October.
5.
Villa d'Este, Tivoli, Italy
A
Renaissance cardinal decided to
make life in Tivoli bearable by
turning a dilapidated
Benedictine monastery into a
lovely villa, the Villa d'Este.
This was embellished by one of
the most fascinating garden and
fountain complexes in the world,
recently listed by UNESCO as one
of Italy's 31 major
historical/artistic sites. Among
the most bewitching of the mossy
fountains are the Fontana del
Bicchierone (water pours out
from a large shell-shaped
basin); the Rometta fountain,
which is a miniature Rom
complete with a wolf-suckling
Romulus and Remus; and the
Avenue of the Hundred Fountains,
where animal heads, lilies, a
small boat, basins, and so on
all spurt water.
6.
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington,
D.C.
You
might feel as though you've
stepped into a Merchant-Ivory
set in any of the gardens that
make up this estate at the north
end of Georgetown, one of
Washington's poshest
neighborhoods. Vines tumble down
stone walls enclosing the
Fountain Terrace. Lovers' Lane
meanders past a Roman-style
amphitheater built around a
small deep-blue pool. And what
used to be a simple cow path
leading away from the pool is
now called Melisande's Allée,
perhaps as a nod to the haunting
opera Pelleas et Melisande.
7.
Gardens of the Villa Éphrussi
de Rothschild,
St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France
In
the early 1900s, Béatrice
Éphrussi, a Rothschild baroness,
built a pink-confection,
Venice-style villa surrounded by
breathtaking gardens, with the
sparkling sea beyond. Pathways
meander through the seven themed
gardens, the focal point being
the French gardens, with a
lily-pad-dotted pool, dancing
fountains, and a Temple of Love
replicating the Trianon at
Versailles. There are also a
Provençal garden, filled with
olive trees and lavender; a
lapidary garden, with sculptures
too large to be displayed in the
villa; and Spanish, Japanese,
Florentine, and exotic gardens.
8.
Stourhead, Warminster, England
To
the English gentry of the 18th
century, the more classical
something could be, the better.
Stourhead is a grand example of
genteel fascination with the
past. Henry Hoare II punctuated
the gardens of his Wilshire
estate with re-created ruins and
classical buildings such as the
Pantheon and Temple of Apollo.
9.
The Master-of-Nets Garden,
Suzhou, China
This
residential garden in southeast
China, called Wangshiyuan in
Chinese, was designed during the
Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1270).
The arrangement of pavilions,
halls, music rooms, winsome
bamboo groves, and waterside
perches is an exercise in
natural harmony. The central
section is a small world within
itself; piles of yellow stones
form "mountains" complete with
caverns, and a tiny arched
bridge called the "leading to
quietude" crosses a pond to a
small pavilion in the center.
10.
Sans Souci, Potsdam, Germany
Frederick
the Great of Prussia built the
splendid rococo palace as his
summer place, where he could
live without a care, sans souci.
Busts of Roman emperors,
decorative statues, and a
Chinese teahouse dot the lavish
grounds.
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