Sunday, February 14, 2010

Virtual Tour: Hudson Valley - Innisfree Garden

Our previous post was a virtual garden tour in Kyoto, Japan. As a note, I mentioned there are Japanese Gardens to visit right here in New York, but alas, it's February (sigh).

So here is a virtual tour of Innisfree in Millbrook, NY. If you haven't visited there in person, you must! Visit in the spring when the primula are blooming (smack-dab in the middle of a flowing stream - the tag is not exaggerating when it says they like wet conditions!) and when the fountains that shoot water thirty feet in the air are surrounded by daffodils. And then visit again in the summer to see the wall of peonies in full bloom.













(note: the tree in the center of this photo is a standardized dappled willow - one of our favorite trees!)

"Innisfree Garden lies in the hollow which surrounds Tyrrel Lake; low wooded hills give the site enclosure. Innisfree embraces the Eastern design concept of asymmetric balance that combines rhythm, pattern, space and form in a harmony independent of formal symmetry. In Western gardens little is hidden. The garden, like a stage set, is there in its entirety; its overall design revealed at a glance. The traditional Eastern garden hides this complete view. Visitors walk into a series of episodes or pictures and can enter the sequence of pictures wherever they choose. The rugged topography of the Innisfree site invariably enframes these pictures called cup gardens. A garden picture may be composed of several small cup gardens within the larger one. "

The walk around the lake is an easy two mile loop, although dogs are not allowed. Admission to visit the garden is $5 for anyone older than 4 years old.

For more Innisfree Garden photos visit their website.