Berry

We went with the garden club to visit some open gardens at Berry - a little town on the coast about a two hour drive away. The garden club took a bus but I am too motion sick to think about that so we drove separately ... good decision as the road is quite windy. All sealed (except for about 5 km) but still not something I'd be happy doing in a big bus.

The gardens were all lovely although Berry is a very different climate - higher rainfall, higher temperatures and not the deep frosts. It was stinking hot when we were there; only 32 degrees but humid enough to make the shade very welcome.

The gardens were all different but not really anything we felt we wanted to re-create at home, and not just for the climate differences. They were all very manicured - although, in fairness, if I was having several thousand people traipse through my garden I would have it quite manicured as well - and very designed. We did think that having a bit of garden art might be a good idea though. This ballerina framed a view and looked super cool.

Some of the broader views were just amazing. So lush.

This photo was taken in an old turpentine  plantation where they'd kept the big trees and underplanted entirely with shade loving plants. And lots of seats (we need to put in more seats). It was really charming, and not just because it was out of the sun.