
Bright
blooms at Auberge in Quebec Province
SUMMER RECALLS BUDS AND BLOSSOMS
A green thumb is not one of my
talents, but I do appreciate the loveliness of flower gardens and have
done my
share of exploring them around the world. Some of the more outstanding
were Singapore’s
famous Orchid Garden,
and the amazing display of intricately shaped hedges outside Pattaya,
Thailand.
In sharp
contrast to those beautiful sights was London’s
Covent Garden which turned out to be
no garden at
all…just a huge flea market with street entertainers.
One of my best garden memories
occurred many years ago at Longwood
Gardens
outside of Philadelphia,
where I
was privileged to attend the Shakespeare drama “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.” It
was presented on the tiered lawn with high hedges concealing dressing
rooms,
and spouting fountains serving as the curtain. Decades later, that
mystic memory
was replayed at the Shakespeare Festival in my former California
neighborhood, cleverly staged in the outdoor glen at UC Santa Cruz.
Near the
end, as the actors wandered through the darkening forest in search of
each
other, the Bay Area’s famous fog drifted eerily among the giant
redwoods,
creating an unforgettably realistic scene.
My favorite fun garden had no
blossoms at all. It was a hedge maze on an estate in Denmark.
I was visiting a friend, and we ventured into the tall hedges on a dare
from
her 11-year-old daughter. I love mazes, but this one was a real puzzle,
and
there was no way we could cheat by looking over the too tall ‘walls.’
If it
wasn’t for the giggling of her daughter and companion, who found their
way ahead
of us with no trouble at all, I would still be wandering through the
twists,
turns and dead ends on that island in Denmark.
Twists and turns? Kind of reminds
you of the Garden of Life.
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