New Zealand's Homage to Gaudi.....
We're looking for your sympathy vote here. Scotland and the north of England has been buffeted by gale-force winds. In the garden, the pergola has fallen over, the grasses are trashed and the girls are nervous wrecks. You could say a lot of things are now "upside down".
So I thought we should all get away from it all, metaphorically speaking and join Katrina at Roses and Stuff. Her word this Friday is "Upside Down".
"Upside down" from here puts us roughly in New Zealand, Akaroa on the Bank's' Peninsula to be exact in an unique Artist's garden with a nod to Gaudi of Barcelona. The Giant's garden is renowned for it's many pieces of elaborate mosaic. It is a very spectacular garden. Plantings includes many different types of roses. We visited on a very warm day a few years back. Many more bits of mosaic sculpture may have been added since then.. ...
The spectacular giant echium which grow so well in New Zealand
Hope you enjoyed the mosaic garden tour Down under and please pop over to Katrina's blog and see what "down under" means to other people...
Fantastic mosaik garden.
ReplyDeleteI would like to visit it sometime.
Have a great weekend
Gunilla
I really enjoyed the tour....
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend :)
Thank you for showing these photos. Nice to se all these sculptures.
ReplyDeleteOh what a nice mosaik garden!!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day!!
Thank you for the kind comments. If you are ever in New Zealand the garden is well worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. Those are pretty fantastic mosaics. Hope those winds have died down for you. Sounds like it has been dreadful.
ReplyDeleteFun!
ReplyDeleteI hope the winds have calmed down; they can wreck havoc both on the garden and the nerves!
ReplyDeleteVery whimsical sculptures in the NZ garden. I haven't seen garden art like that before. I love that rose arch.
What a wonderful place. Ilove the group of mosaic figures sitting down for a chat. Can't fault a garden that makes you smile :-)
ReplyDeleteFun garden and good sometimes to get away from our troubles. I do hope the winds behaves and calmer times return soon. I do love Gaudi . . . the real thing in Barcelona too.
ReplyDeleteIt is a garden that made me smile and for once I didn't look at the plants.
ReplyDeleteThe wind has gone today but left havoc in it's wake. A lot of people still have no electricity...
Janet I was wondering about you glad you are alright but your garden probably thinks it's been taken to Orkney, I hope the pergola and plants can be saved and the girls have calmed down,
ReplyDeleteI like the rose arch and the exotic looking plants in 5 and the last photo, as blue is my fav colour I love the blue flowering plant and the blue mosaic vase and steps, the vase with the plants on top looks amazing, the 2 teapot number plaque made me smile, thanks for sharing, Frances
This is certainly a cheerful garden. I am sorry for you and your garden. I find storms really nerve wrecking.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely get the sympathy vote from here--the photos I saw online yesterday looked like about all the excitement anyone needs in a day. Hope the damage is easily mendable.
ReplyDeleteMosaic is one of those deceptive art forms--it looks so simple and folklike from a distance, and then you realize all the choices made in texture and shape, and the fine gradations of color here and there, and the slight angling of some of the tiles.
If I ever come close to those mosaics I´d love to see them. That echium is very special.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, close to my place there is a small village called Montrose.
/Anette
I'm sorry about the wind. Truly. Hope you're all recovering.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics on this though. X
So sorry to hear about your damage! Thank you for the tour through this incredible garden. Wow, I think I might have passed out. That rose arch!!! Have never seen one quite so magnificent. I love the fun mosaic work too.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of your weather and the resulting damage. Thank you for sharing your photo archives. I just read it is very good for our brain chemistry to reminisce and share our memories. Winter is a good time to reminisce about gardening for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Thank you for sharing this incredible garden. I love the people sitting at the fountain and the birds. Even the stone wall and boxwood shrubs along the stairs look like mosaics.
ReplyDeleteJeanette
Those mosaic sculptures are amazing! I would love to see them IRL!
ReplyDelete-Sorry to hear about your damage, though - it's hard to prepare for storms like these.
What a beautiful artistic garden to distract you from your nerve-wracking situation. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos. I sure hope your garden is faring better than you think. Take care!
ReplyDeleteSome interesting and super inspirational photos! Very creative.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about the damage to your garden, do hope that it can all be mended, although the forcast for the coming week seems just as bad.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your garden visit with us, lovely to see the blue sky and sunshine while we are so cold and grey.
Goodness me Janet i would like to be upsidedown and here!
ReplyDeleteAh wonderful, Janet! I’m not even hot or stressed looking at this…
ReplyDeleteOn our trip to Barcelona a few years ago we arrived on street below Casa Mila after briefly losing daughter (one you met) on our way there – the underground train doors closed with her inside and us on the platform! Add to that temps over 40 deg C and that rooftop tour just wasn’t going to happen :-0
What a wonderful place to visit, great images… very nice indeed :-)
Apologies Janet, forgot to mention sorry to hear about your storm damage. Do hope your wonderful sail pergola can be fixed. Not being able to read your top para easily and getting caught up in remembering 'A' disapperaing into the dark underground tunnel after thumping on the glass doors etc...
ReplyDeleteThrew me there for a mo with all that sunshine Janet - thought Scotland was basking whilst the rest of us were blasted. Brilliant idea for the upside down garden meme and what fun the topsy turviness of the designs
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here with a hot toddy and full of the cold.... so thank you for all you kind comments. If I had a choice right now I'd be in Banks Peninsula where it is warm. We won't mention the tremors that are still going on.
ReplyDeleteThe garden is not in too bad shape,apart from the pergola which was a bit flimsy anyway. I think we're due snow next so hope the family manage it up for Christmas
What an amazing garden, and such patience to create the mosaic sculptures, thanks for sharing it with us and brightening our day. I feel more storms are on the way this week, hope you're battening down the hatches before the next one comes. We caught one last night, floods everywhere today with so much rain, hope you don't get much more damage.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the Akaroa garden, Pauline. It's blowing a gale at the moment and pouring with rain. But i'm toasty inside!
ReplyDelete