megram - Index

megram - 55JulGTA - Index

seldom out of her thoughts. The French style garden —
which can’t all be seen at once but is a series of secret,
winding paths — is an almost totally green space,with high
hedges, tall cypress trees, and stone pathways.Around one
corner looms a symbol that appears several times in Dali’s
work, a large stone elephant with elongated legs and a
crow on its back. It’s absurd, but somehow quite ethereal.
34-972-488-655
www.salvador-dali.org/eng/fmuseus.htm
Rippon Lea, Victoria, Australia
Just 20 minutes’drive from Melbourne,this property was
one of the last privately owned great 19th-century estates and
is now run by the National Trust. Designed and built in 1868,
the mansion is surrounded by a Victorian pleasure garden, a
space designed originally to provide elegant walks and beautiful
vistas for the gentlefolk of the day. It includes a Victorian
fernery, a lake, a heritage orchard that grows several old varieties
of fruits — like the English Beauty of Bath,an old species
of apple that ripens early, is rather small, and has a delicious
flavour — and a 19th-century conservatory.
61-03-9523-6095
www.nattrust.com.au/info.asp?pg=Rippon_Lea
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania, United States
Created by industrialist Pierre S.du Pont 100 years ago,
these gardens feature more fountains than any in the
United States. The annual Acres of Spring celebration is
highlighted by the Flower Garden Walk, with tulips and
spring annuals in riotous abundance.There’s also a Wisteria
garden, a Peony garden, and numerous species of climbing
roses in the Rose Arbour garden.
610 388-1000
www.longwoodgardens.org
The Royal Botanical Gardens,
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Canada’s most prestigious garden, and one of the
world’s largest,is actually five gardens and four nature sanctuaries
on 2,700 acres, linked by shuttle bus and open all
July/August 2008 • 58 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
year.This is home to the world’s largest collection of lilacs,
as well as nearly two acres of roses. Eighteen miles of trails
weave through nature sanctuaries and marshland, including
Cootes Paradise,one of North America’s largest wetland
restoration projects.
905 527-1158
www.rbg.ca
Bermuda Botanical Gardens,
Hamilton, Bermuda
The 36-acre public garden in the middle of the island
dates back to 1898, and incorporates Camden, the official
residence of the Premier.Visitors can walk from a subtropical
fruit orchard into a formal garden and out again into a
grove of gigantic ficus trees. There is even a garden for the
blind, with signs in Braille and an abundance of fragrant
flowers and aromatic herbs. John Lennon visited the gardens
in 1980 and named his album Double Fantasy after a
flower he found there.
441 236-4201
www.bermuda-online.org/gardens.htm
Chateau Villandry, near Tours, France
These Renaissance-inspired gardens have been called
the most beautiful in France.Their perfect geometry is outlined
by hedges and interspersed with pathways,fountains,
and ponds. One of its most popular sections is a French
potager, a garden of vegetables and ornamental flowers
arranged in complex patterns and colours to create a marvellous
integrated design.
33-0-2-47-50-02-09
www.chateauvillandry.com
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve,
near Lancaster, California
The window of opportunity for viewing poppies at
their best is elusive. If the conditions are right, between
mid-March and mid-April the miles of brilliant orange-red
California poppies, as well as other wildflowers like clover,
lupine, and coreopsis, paint an unforgettable picture in this
1,745-acre state preserve.
1 800 777-0369
www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=627
Lismore Castle Gardens
County Waterford, Ireland
Occupying seven acres within the 17th-century defensive
walls of the castle, the gardens feature gorgeous herbaceous
borders and a fine selection of specimen magnolias,
camellias, rhododendrons, and a famous yew walk where
Edmund Spenser is said to have written the Faerie Queen.
353 585-4424
www.lismorecastle.com