 | There are many things to visit in Washington but in the company and guidance of
a friend with an interest in gardens and plants, we ended up at the
gardens of Dunbarton Oaks. They were designed by Beatrix Farrand for
the Bliss family in the 1920's. There are English, French and Italian
influences encompassing the informality of the design whilst providing
enclosed 'garden rooms' designed for entertaining. It is built on a steep
hillside, thus it is structured as many small gardens within
the whole, often separated by gateways offering views over other parts. |
| There are a number of pathways joining areas as one moves down
the hillsides. The formal gardens cover 10 of the original 53 acres and
took 20 years to landscape. The views at
different times of the year will be different. Here we have the bluebells
in the foreground and the cherry blossom in the middle distance. This was
the time for the flowering trees and they were truly spectacular. |
 |
 | The
individual magnolia blossoms were very striking and offered more colour
than we are used to. There are some with much larger flowers but these
don't flower until later in the year. |
| Some of the trees are quite old, having been planted before the
civil war, and are of some renown in the
gardening world. This American Beech is the feature of this little area and the root
system was amazing. |  |
 | This
small courtyard was dedicated to Aquarius although several other starsigns
were
mentioned. It was enclosed and quite private, suitable for quiet
contemplation although the family used it for family dinners. |
| The designer had commissioned many details but this urn on the
corner of the wall took our fancy with its wreath of flowers trailing down
over the stones. Most of the stonework is done in Indiana limestone and
was designed by Beatrix Farrand. |  |
 | Some
features formed the centrepiece of more formal garden terraces. The formal gardens
were quite bare of plants at this time of year but they will not be later
on. |
| One of the walkways was through these very striking beds of
forsythia which were just coming into bloom. Although the spelling is the
same, the pronunciation is quite different on this side of the Atlantic,
leading us to wonder what they were talking about to begin with.
For more pictures visit the Dunbarton
Oaks Website
|
 |
|