Author Archives: Nan Quick
Two Mannerist Gardens in Northern Lazio, Italy
For many years, I’d been contemplating making a trek to the hills of Northern Lazio, to see a duo of dramatically different gardens that had long piqued my curiosity. The Sacro Bosco at Bomarzo ( constructed from 1552 until 1588 ), and the Villa Lante at Bagnaia ( made from 1566 until about 1595 ) … Continue reading
My Recipe for a Stress-Free Week in Rome
November 2014 Winter has just arrived in New Hampshire…with typically indecent haste. For all of us who thrive during summertime, these first days of snow and chill — which promise months of the same to follow — pose a challenge: how indeed, are we to cope cheerfully with the absence of regularly-appearing sunshine, of green-growing … Continue reading
The Chelsea Flower Show of 2014: Contemplating the Biggest Pop-Up Gardens in the World.
Late July 2014. September of 2008: As I was displaying my garden furniture in a rather grotty convention hall in Birmingham, England, I was invited by a representative of the Royal Horticultural Society to exhibit my designs at their next Chelsea Flower Show. And so, in May of 2009, I found myself and my creations … Continue reading
Part Five. Rambling Through the Gardens & Estates of Kent, England.
April 30, 2014. In just a matter of days I shall once again be heading out into the World…for a month of still-deeper England-explorations, and also for an additional nine days in Italy. During the Italian portion of this forthcoming journey I’ll photograph the quiet corners of Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood; I’ll travel north toward Viterbo, … Continue reading
Rambling Through the Gardens & Estates of Kent, England. Part One.
January 2014. As we in Northeastern America endure our most violently cold winter of the past 40 years, I’m finding it therapeutic to begin considering my August 2013 perambulations through Kent, the southeastern-most peninsula in England which is often—and accurately– called “The Garden of England.” I’d never been to Kent, and so it had behooved … Continue reading
Hudson River Valley Gardens–Part Two: Stonecrop, & Kykuit
December 2013. The impulse to collect–whatever one happens to want to accumulate—is powerful. As one hunts for treasure, each discovery, rather than satisfying, seems instead to whet the appetite; after all, treasures exist most properly in troves. Humans are greedy souls. At first glance, the shaggy, encyclopedic collection of plants at Stonecrop Gardens (which perch … Continue reading