Diary September 2006 - Vacations

Vacations away from home are wonderful! Don’t get me wrong - I truly love my home and of course, my garden, but sometimes it’s nice to be somewhere far away, where you can’t notice all the big and little jobs that need doing. (Although, heaven help me, when I got home after being away for a few weeks, the weeds were one hundred feet tall, I swear!)
Oh well. Weeds will happen no matter what but it’s always fun to see what types of gardens exist elsewhere.
Several years ago we were lucky enough to visit Salzburg and Vienna Austria, as well as Prague in the Czech Republic. A very stylized but utterly relaxing and gorgeous garden is the Mirabell Garden in Salzburg.

Over the years we have also been lucky enough to view the Loire Chateaux in France with their superb gardens

and of course Keukenhof in Holland:

This year we had a fabulous time visiting friends in Moncton and then we spent a week in Prince Edward Island. Even though they weren’t formal, I loved the gardens surrounding Inn at Spry Point, where we stayed. In the back area, rugosa roses thrived in the salty, (very) windy environment. The gardens in front were composed mainly of annuals with some perennials and shrubs. Some of the plants were “old friends”, ones I had grown in years past but not lately: calendula, lavatera, alyssum, snapdragons, stargazer lilies, violas and Liatris.
Here are a few photos showing calendula, white stargazer lilies and a long shot of one of the beds:

Most of the houses on Prince Edward Island are fairly simple but include tidy gardens.
We were fortunate enough to visit the Dunes Gallery near Brackley Beach http://www.dunesgallery.com/
The owners have done a lovely job out back displaying the sculpture that’s for sale within a gorgeous garden setting. I could have sat there for hours just soaking up the atmosphere!
You can see why:

So, when you’re on vacation, make a point to view formal gardens as well as informal home gardens – it’s usually a good reason to take some great photos (even if they’re not always of flowers! Ha ha! )