- Author: Peggy Smith
We are a gardening family, nothing very grandiose, garden size and configuration determined by the situation, a few pots or postage stamp sized at times, other times more landscaped. One of the great delights and joys of visiting family and friends is to see the changes and development of their gardens since the last visit. Having spent my early childhood in England often, as part of these visits, we would explore a local ‘Open Garden' often attached to one of the great English houses, many special memories are of these trips with friends and relatives to these ‘Open Gardens' after which we would have a picnic or stop by the local tea shop for traditional Eccles cakes and Bakewell tarts. With moves to different countries and cities there has always been a desire to look for, explore, enjoy, but also to learn from local public or open gardens.
Ancestors of my family worked at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, England, where in the early 1800's a pioneering young horticulturist and innovative garden designer, Joseph Paxton, with his wife Sarah developed and oversaw the creation of many of Chatsworth's most famous gardens and features. You may have seen the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly and Mathew Macfadyen where Chatsworth and its gardens are featured as ‘Pemberley'. With our ‘lowly' family connection, to visit Chatsworth, we would always catch the bus from home to Derbyshire then walk over the moors past the ‘Eagle Rock' and the Wellington monument, then drop down through bracken that was often shoulder high on my 6-foot father, through what we called ‘Fairy Glen' with its babbling brook through the bluebells to the cottage in which my family lived. To the childish me, Chatsworth was ‘owned' by my family as we would ramble throughout the estate. Memories of riding down the path to ‘Fairy Glen' on my father's shoulders, my head popping over the tall bracken feeling as though I was swimming in a sea of fronds, playing imaginary games in nooks and crannies of the garden are still special to me.
With a move to Australia something similar to the tradition of the English great house open gardens was no longer a possibility. Walks through the ‘bush',rainforest and botanical gardens of Australia on family visits were now to be looked forward to with the tradition of family picnic or afternoon tea, still a punctuation point of the exploration, now enjoying ‘Aussie' cream buns andLamingtons. Much of Australia's flora is rugged while seemingly delicate and small but there are bold plants, such as theWaratah that catch the eye easily and a wattle in full bloom cannot be beaten. This gave me an added appreciation of the diverse beauty in the natural world.
California was the next stop, the Descanso Gardens and Huntington Gardens with its themed garden areas showing examples from around the world were places of peace and beauty in a busy city. Living up against the San Gabriel mountains I learnt not to pick the glorious red, three-leafed poison oak and loved to see the tall candles of Yucca miraculously grow on so little rain to display themselves on the shale of the hillsides.
With relatives in Seattle I have become a regular visitor and have been exploring the garden viewing opportunities there – quite a feast. A walk through the UW Botanical Gardens in March/April when the Rhododendrons and Azalea are out in full bloom is a feast for the eyes. On a recent visit I sampled the Japanese Garden and the Botanical Greenhouses on the UW campus. There is also theSammamish Big Rock Park Central where theSammamish Botanical Society has two projects, a Heritage Garden and a Lower Commons Native Garden.
https://www.sammamishbotanical.org/projects
https://seattle.curbed.com/maps/seattle-botanical-gardens-visit-horticulture
We have wonderful gardens in Yolo and nearby counties to explore but for me it is also a treat to discover gardens of other climates when traveling. I may not be able to grow the plants I see there in our Yolo County climate – too hot, too dry, not cold enough, too cold but I love seeing the adaptations, diversity and beauty in the plants that populate our wonderful blue marble home. Plus, I have happy memories of family and friends, whether local or far away, combined with garden adventures – who could ask for more?
