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The good garden blog is about sharing garden inspiration and ideas from historic gardens around the world and some right next door. Garden stories explore garden history, design, and the garden people behind famous and not-so-famous gardens. My garden photographs span dozens of places across 5 continents. Please join me in celebrating good garden design.
“April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote;... I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can't keep, ... and we're doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares?" Barbara Kingsolver. Read more...
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After passing through half a dozen intimate courtyards, the view opens up to this amazing central water feature. Smaller gardens are arranged around this.
A favorite outdoor room of peonies, lily turf, and bamboo.
Detail of carved stone planter that defines this space.
Close up of a peony. The star of this garden.
As February is the month of romance, I'd like to continue to celebrate romantic gardens from around the world.
One of these is the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, China. Built in the 1590’s by Xu Tai, this garden delivers an idealized vision of nature. The design focuses on harmony and balance, seamlessly integrating buildings, stone work, and plant material.
Street entrance to the Lingering Garden.
To reach the garden you pass through half a dozen intimate courtyards, linked by hallways lined with poetry and rock sculpture. This passage is rewarded when the view opens up to a beautiful naturalistic lake that marks the center of the garden. You know that you’ve arrived, and the water frames views of woodland and a wisteria covered bridge. The lake is surrounded by a series of garden rooms—each one has its own feel and interest.
One of several intimate courtyards that ultimately open up to the central garden.
One room that I found hard to leave has a rectangular stone raised bed. Lily turf provides an outline for a mound of peonies. Various types of bamboo offer a simple backdrop.
The Lingering Garden of Suzhou, China. Simple, elegant, lush, romantic. Check out this wonderful video if you want to learn more about this garden.
See more photos from Chinese gardens here.
