In search of the world’s most unusual gardens . . .
When people hear the word “garden,” they are likely to conjure up images of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Others may think of gardens as a personal hobby, while some may imagine public gardens such as Central Park or Versailles in France. But there are other forms of gardens. Cheapflights.ca, an online travel site, has chosen its Top 10 Unusual GardJens from around the world. Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico. A surrealist Xanadu in the heart of the Mexican jungle, Las Pozas (the Pools) combines man-made structures with exotic flowers, native plants, waterfalls and pools to create a strangely harmonious and peaceful garden.
The gardens are the creation of eccentric English poet and artist Edward James, who bought the 80-acre former coffee plantation in the mid-1940s as part of an attempt to create his own Garden of Eden.
Between1949 and1984, James built 36 surreal concrete sculptures and structures with names such as the House with a Roof like a Whale. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Dumfries, Scotland. Science and mathematics plus sculptures and landscaping equal one fascinating garden. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation was created by landscape architect and architectural theorist Charles Jencks at his home, Portrack House in southwest Scotland. Inspired by science and mathematics, the garden’s sculptures and landscaping are suitably based on everything from black holes to fractals. Rock Garden of Chandigarh, India. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but in the case of the Rock Garden, a city’s junk was transformed into everyone’s treasure. Public servant Nek Chand began creating his masterpiece in 1957 from cast-off industrial and home waste he collected from demolition sites across Chandigarh. Today, the garden is spread over 40 acres. A French Kiss in Akaroa, Christchurch, New Zealand. Held every year late in the New Zealand summer, the Ellerslie International Flower Show attracts a global audience of garden designers and garden lovers who come to see the best of garden design, gardening trends and new products. In 2013, landscape designer Ben Hoyle picked up his sixth gold medal for his sunken oasis called “A French Kiss in Akaroa,” which featured a lounge pit filled with pillows where visitors could take in a unique view from below the waterline. The inspiration for the garden came from the history of the French settlement in the South Island town of Akaroa. Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno, California. Forestiere Underground Gardens are the creation of Sicilian immigrant Baldasare Forestiere, who built them from 1906 until his death in 1946. Inspired by a childhood fascination with the catacombs in Rome, Forestiere built the gardens as an escape from the scorching Fresno summer.
Today a listed California Historical Landmark, the three-level underground structure is a network of rooms and passageways and features a summer and winter bedroom, kitchen, fish pond, a parlour complete with fireplace, and several subterranean gardens.
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