Hamilton Gardens, 1

We've seen our share of gardens: botanical, Renaissance, French, landscape, roomed, specialized, and many more. Hamilton Gardens is unique in our experience, providing a sort of history of gardens on a compartmentalized basis. That is, Hamilton displays some twenty or so different gardens, each depicting a different garden style, nationality, age, or purpose. The emphasis is on plants, of course, but also on what humans have done with plants, practically, aesthetically, and otherwise. It is one of the best and certainly most interesting gardens we have seen, whether national, state, municipal, or private, and it will take more than a couple posts to convey even a little of its richness. Thanks, Rebecca, for finding this gem on your sabbatical visit to New Zealand.

On the banks of the Waikato River (New Zealand's longest), almost

within the city center

Intro depictions of the various gardens represented; click to enlarge

In the Japanese garden

Moving right along...

In an almost white room, reminiscent of Sissinghurst

Now in the Chinese Scholar's Garden; reminding us of Suzhou

As thick as we've ever seen bamboo

Celestial turtle

Overlooking the Waikato

Modernist's garden...or possibly any backyard in North Dallas

The signage throughout was excellent, and I'll let it describe

some of the pix

Of course "Mughal" means Muslim...

Next post...