A ‘Box' Of Delights Awaits In The Capital Region USA
Whilst taking its own time to grow into full splendour, the formality and symmetry of boxwood - whether in a knot garden or providing edging in a parterre - holds both a timeless and transatlantic appeal. Whether you are exploring an historic English garden, a ‘new world' Virginian plantation, a Cathedral garden in Washington, DC or the perhaps visiting the ‘most outstanding topiary garden in America', boxwood is one of the most versatile and adaptable plants in the landscape gardener's box of tricks.
www.MyCapitalGardensUSA.co.uk is a new website which showcases historic, botanic and distinctive gardens in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland, collectively known as the Capital Region USA. Many of these public gardens feature outstanding examples of boxwood planting; many featuring the ironically-named English Boxwood, which in fact is the native Virginian species (Buxus sempervirens).
One such garden is Agecroft Hall, which was originally built in the 15th century in Lancashire but, like London Bridge, was shipped in 1925 and restored stone-by-stone, beam-by-beam, in its new setting on the bank of the James River in Virginia.
A walk through these Tudor-inspired gardens really feels like a stroll back in time, with the elaborately clipped herbs of the knot garden, a collection of exotic plants once recorded by Kent-born botanist and gardener John Tradescant the Younger - who visited Virginia between 1628-1637 to collect plants - plus a medicinal, flavouring and aromatic herb garden.
Stroll through a boxwood allée
The words of patriot and statesman George Mason have inspired generations of Americans and others throughout the world. Mason was among the first to call for basic liberties as freedom of the press, religious tolerance and the right to a trial by jury. Although he was instrumental in the shaping of the US government he shied away from public office himself and preferred to manage Gunston Hall, his 550-acre estate beside the Potomac River, which is now a National Historic Landmark.
This mid-18th century plantation house is an outstanding example of colonial Georgian architecture and Mason's garden was the crowning glory of the property. Mason was particularly partial to English boxwood and visitors can stroll through the central boxwood allée, the impressive shrub lined promenade believed to have been planted during Mason's residence, and enjoy views of the Potomac River and surrounding woods from his garden overlook. The garden leads down the banks of the river and a short distance from the house is the Mason family graveyard.
Geometric parterres
William Paca House is one of the most elegant National Historic Landmarks in Annapolis, Maryland, and was built between 1763 and 1765 as a town home for William Paca, a wealthy young planter who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Paca laid out the two-acre pleasure garden, an oasis of natural beauty, while the house was being built. The garden is defined by a series of stylish terraces. The upper terrace provided Paca with space for entertaining and viewing the rest of his garden. The precise geometric parterres of the middle terrace show off three seasons of colourful blooms, heirloom roses, and period-styled topiary. The lower terrace features an innovative fish-shaped pond with a bridge leading to a summerhouse, plus serpentine paths winding through lush lawns and beds of native plants. The garden is filled with plants popular in the 18th century that were researched from books and letters of the period.
The ‘most outstanding topiary garden in America'
Nature is full of surprises but you'd be forgiven for thinking your eyes are deceiving you at Ladew Topiary Gardens. A hunt in full flight with horses, riders, hounds and a fox clearing a hedge, a Chinese junk with sails, swans and a giraffe are among the many incredible and often comical scenes that await visitors to Ladew.
Numerous visits to England inspired larger than life character, keen huntsman and self-taught gardener Harvey S. Ladew to create 13 themed garden areas on 22-acres of his Maryland property. Garden rooms - devoted to a single colour, a single plant or a single theme - were all the rage in England in the 1920s when Ladew embarked on numerous foxhunting visits. He was among the first Americans to recreate them across the Atlantic. He also discovered the English art of topiary when he saw a clipped hunt scene atop a hedge in Gloucestershire and this resulted in the best-known feature at Ladew.
The topiaries are an absolute delight and Ladew's vibrant personality is reflected in the unique design of his garden. He would doubtless be thrilled to know that The Garden Club of America has described Ladew as "the most outstanding topiary garden in America."
A pleasure garden fit for an heiress
Ivy clipped from Buckingham Palace is just one of the many unique attractions waiting to be discovered at Hillwood Museum and Gardens. American breakfast cereal heiress and gardening visionary Marjorie Merriweather Post acquired Hillwood in 1955 and began creating a series of pleasure gardens for her leisure and the entertainment of her guests.
She came up with the idea of a series of ‘outdoor rooms' bordered by hedges or large plantings and containing statues, fountains and pools as focal points. The resulting 12-acres of formal gardens, which are surrounded by 13 acres of woodland, contain more than 3,500 varieties of plants and trees that are a delight to the eye and the imagination. Highlights include the French Parterre, Rose Garden, Lunar Lawn that was used for lavish parties and Japanese influenced garden with its miniature mountain and tumbling streams.
Each quadrant contains a low hedge of English Boxwood which has been tightly clipped into a fluid, organic pattern of scrolls.
Over 4,000 azaleas bloom in profusion through April and May, accompanied by hundreds of rhododendron, spirea, lilacs, and viburnum. From September to November, chrysanthemums join with the deciduous trees throughout the gardens to create a brilliant spectacle against the blaze of colours from the hardwood trees in the adjoining woodland.
Visit www.MyCapitalGardensUSA.co.uk before 31st May 2009 and you could win a fabulous 11-night holiday for two to Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland, courtesy of the Capital Region USA and America As You Like It.