A Room with a Magical View

Arriving late afternoon at our AirBnb we were jet-lagged and weary having just flown from Seattle to Heathrow before then driving west for several hours. Yet, before I had even put the kettle on I grabbed my camera and dashed outside. The facade of this traditional Welsh farmhouse on the edge of the Brecon Beacons…

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Heligan: History, Romance & Adventure

Forget Hallmark movies for the Holiday feel-good factor. I've got a better story for you: The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Once upon a time, there was a vibrant estate in Cornwall, England called Heligan. The original Heligan Manor had been built in the 1200s, with Heligan House built in the Jacobean style in 1603, then…

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Pears & Parrots in Paradise

Tucked away down a dusty rural lane in the Franschhoek Valley, South Africa is one of the hidden gems  we visited on our recent tour. In all fairness, we arrived shortly after unseasonably heavy rains had caused devastating landslides so visitors would normally have a much less adventurous arrival! Le Poirier is a small farm…

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Unexpected Color Echoes

Repetition of color in a garden is an easy way to bring a sense of cohesion to a design and is often called a 'color echo'. When designing 'foliage first' this color echo may be between a leaf and a flower or even between two or more different leaves, yet there are many more adventurous…

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Art in Context: Inspiration from England

So many gardens, so many ideas….I'm just back from leading my tour England in Full Bloom and have so much to share with you. I tried to post daily highlights on Facebook but thought I'd take this blog post to share some of the fun art installations we saw on our travels that varied in…

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