We built our senior gap year trip round travel by ship and on foot and with stops at many botanic gardens. I lived near the New York Botanic Garden in the Bronx and also Lincoln Park’s Caldwell Lily Pool. Neighborhoods immediately surrounding botanic gardens are invariably intriguing and enriched by proximity to green space. Here’s some garden eye candy from a few I have spent time in.
The Knot gate at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire.
Lincoln Park Conservatory Palm Court
Crazy Chihuly Sculpture at the New York Botanic Garden in the Bronx
Birmingham Alabama Botanic Garden the only one in the United States with a public library on the premises.
Llanathney Wales - The National Botanic Garden
National Botanic Garden in Dublin - this meadow is part of the Viking House & Garden where flax, madder and weld grow.
Botanic Garden of the University of Coimbra in Portugal
Porto’s Botanic Garden - Macau Gate
An important example of Prairie School landscape design - Caldwell Lily Pool in Chicago’s Lincoln Park - was designed by Alfred Caldwell who worked under Jens Jensen. It is one of my favorite places in Chicago.
The Botanic Garden in Dublin - I love this landscape and it is most definitely inspiration for my back yard.