English gardens

A holiday in Great Britain invariably includes one or more visits to a garden. The country is rich in gardens and garden landscapes. Gardening is in the British blood! Every week, a program about gardens and gardening can be watched on BBC Television or another network. And they are proud of their gardens! Virtually every estate is or was surrounded by gardens and parks. In 1983, the British Post (Royal Mail) issued a series of four stamps featuring the garden. The formal garden from the seventeenth century of Pitmedden is a landmark. The garden was laid out in 1675 commissioned by Sir Alexander Seton. In 1950, the garden was transferred to the National Trust for Scotland who has the garden maintained. The length of the box hedges is eight kilometers, and there are more than 40.000 plants to admire in the flowerbeds. The estate includes a museum about farm life. The estate and gardens are located approximately 22 kilometers north of Aberdeen in Scotland, near the village of Ellon. Near Oxford, at the town of Woodstock, lies an enormous palace: Blenheim palaceThe palace was built for the First Duke of Marlborough and is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The palace was a gift from Queen Anne to the Duke in gratitude for his victory after the Battle of Blindheim on August 13, 1704. The parkland was laid out in 1764 by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. He had the artificial lake constructed that can be seen on the stamp. He designed more than 170 park landscapes belonging to country houses and castles, many of which still exist and can be visited. He owes his nickname 'Capability' to a saying he used with his clients: 'Your garden has great capabilities'. And he certainly lived up to that, with patches of large trees and plenty of water. He is considered the greatest gardener of his time. Two Egyptian Sphinxes flank a stone passageway in the garden of Biddulph Grange. The garden and manor house are situated near Stoke-on-Trent in the county of Staffordshire. A grange was originally a manor farm, but later increasingly became a comfortable country house. The garden was laid out by James Bateman, who lived from 1811 to 1897. He moved to Biddulph in 1840, where he designed the garden with the help of his friend Edward William Cooke. He was a great lover of orchids. Famous are the rhododendrons and azaleas in the garden, which bloom profusely in late spring. One of the most famous gardens is also known as 'The most beautiful garden of England', a creation from 1930 by writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson. The garden has been owned by the National Trust since 1967, and many thousands of visitors enjoy the countless flowers. The garden is located near Cranbrook in the county of Kent. Many walls have been erected and hedges planted in the garden, creating dozens of beautiful passageways. The most beautiful garden is undoubtedly the white garden, which features only white flowers. And, of course, a magnificent rose garden, which contains many varieties, also depicted on a series of stamps. It is lovely to spend time in an English garden. I long for summer again when I see these stamps.